Riverside trustees approved a new collective bargaining agreement on Thursday, Nov. 5, between the village and the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents Riverside’s officers and sergeants. The deal is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026, and will expire Dec. 31, 2029.
The new contract was established through negotiations that began at the start of the year. It includes pay raises for officers and sergeants of 3.33% in 2026, 2027 and 2028 and of 3.75% in 2029.
The contract was adopted by the village as part of the consent agenda at the Nov. 5 meeting, meaning trustees did not discuss or vote on it individually.
For both officers and sergeants, step increases raise police staffers’ salaries after they’ve been employed by the village for a certain number of years in addition to the year-over-year percentage raises.
For officers, the four steps are hit at years one, two, five and seven of employment, over which time their base hourly salary will increase by about $16. For sergeants, the three steps are hit at years two, five and seven, with hourly salaries increasing about $4 over time.
An officer starting in 2026 will make $41.68 per hour while one starting in 2029 will make $46.17 per hour, according to a salary chart included in the contract. A newly promoted sergeant will make $63.97 per hour in 2026 and $70.86 per hour in 2029.
After 20 years, both officers and sergeants receive additional raises of 50 cents per hour, and after 25 years, they receive raises of $1 per hour.
The final step for sergeants’ step rate increases dropped from the ninth year to the seventh in the new contract, according to a village memo summarizing the agreement.
Other changes include the prohibition of employees taking a second job that would prevent one getting eight hours of rest between scheduled 12-hour shifts.
Staffers can now request their compensatory time off, earned in place of overtime payment at an employee’s discretion, be paid out in June, a new addition alongside the existing time in December when employees can request such.
Sick leave that is leftover when an employee retires will be now paid into their retirement health savings account, and field officers are now paid time and a half for each shift of training rather than earning straight pay.
The last notable change is the inclusion of a new section detailing the assignment procedure for officers, in order of seniority, to be offered the chance to voluntarily fill vacant shifts. If no officer agrees to fill a vacant shift, the least senior on-duty officer will be responsible for filling it, according to the agreement.
