The Employee Suggestion Award Program was created in 1951 by Ordinance 79944 to provide a means whereby employees could submit ideas which might result in more efficient City operation. A seven-member Suggestion Award Board, comprising members from different city departments and employee organizations, reviewed suggestions made by City employees. In some cases, employees whose suggestions were accepted received monetary awards. To be eligible for award, a suggestion had to extend public service without incurring additional City expense or to reduce City expenditure without reducing the quality of service.
The program was discontinued in 1997 and replaced with the Seattle Works! Excellence Program.
Annual Reports for the Suggestion Award Board date from 1952 to 1991, although reports do not exist for every year. Reports include narrative describing the year's highlights and Board membership as well as statistics documenting the year's activities. The 1952 report includes a summary list of suggestions: the suggestion, suggester, department, and the outcome of the suggestion are listed. Beginning in 1953, only accepted suggestions are listed; these lists include the suggester's name, a description of the suggestion and amount of award, and an estimation of the yearly savings resulting from implementation. A sample Employee Suggestion Form and other information publicizing the program are found in many reports.
Annual reports are arranged chronologically by year.
Records are open to the public.
[Item and date], Suggestion Award Board Annual Reports, Record Series 1802-I8. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.
Records were originally filed with the City Clerk in the Comptroller/Clerk's Files (CFs) and were removed to create this record series.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.