AGENDA DATE: 1/22/2025
TITLE:
Title
Personnel Policy Amendments
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Consider amendments to County personnel policies to comply with federal and state laws, best practices, and reflect organizational values.
ITEM TYPE: Consent Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Herrick, DeLoria, Shifflett, Rice
PRESENTER (S): N/A
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: Foundational work in establishing a government-focused HR Department includes a full review and revision of all County Personnel Policies, which is underway. During this review, staff identified opportunities to modernize existing Personnel Policies to align with changes in legislation and public sector best practices.
Under the County Code, personnel policies and amendments are adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Workforce & Customer Service - Recruit & retain engaged public servants who provide quality government services to advance our mission.
DISCUSSION: Staff is proposing updates to the Personnel Policies listed below with a summary of the proposed changes for each. The revised policies have been renumbered to improve ease of use and accessibility for all staff. The personnel policies utilize a new template in an effort to standardize the appearance of the documents.
§P-36 Reduction in Force
Previously § P-30 Employee Reduction in Force (Attachment A), the proposed changes add sections for Roles and Responsibilities and Definitions; clarify decision authority for vacant position elimination and filled position elimination; provide that position elimination cannot be used as discipline or for performance management; added a separation pay benefit for part-time regular employees; and provide that employees do not receive separation benefits if they are placed in an alternative position.
The following personnel policies are no longer relevant and proposed to be archived, as explained below.
§P-38 Athletic Coaches
Archive P-38. This policy specifies that Athletic Coaches are volunteers. The County currently manages athletic coach staffing for parks and recreation programs and middle school athletics. Employment categorization for the coaches is already established in policy P-17 Classification and Compensation. Therefore, P-38 is redundant and unnecessary. P-17 states: “Unclassified Positions - Unclassified positions, for the purpose of compensation and benefits, are not subject to the County Pay Plan, unless otherwise specifically indicated by resolution of the Board of Supervisors. The following positions are unclassified:
*Volunteer and internship personnel, to include those receiving honorarium payments, such as Athletic Coaches.”
§P-41 Release Time for Advance Study
Archive P-41. This policy allows employees to take classes pursuing optional advanced degrees in lieu of performing work for the County through a reduction in scheduled work hours, thereby resulting in service level and productivity reductions or incurring overtime to cover the work utilizing other staff. The provisions in this policy are not in alignment with local government operations. The policy was adopted in 1996 to assist the school division with recruiting educators, who are required to hold an advanced degree and can begin working without the degree and teaching certification. Currently, Social Workers (DSS) are the only local government employees required to hold an advanced degree. This is a state requirement and the degree must be obtained prior to beginning employment. Therefore, P-41 is unnecessary.
BUDGET IMPACT: There is no budget impact associated with the proposed adoption of these amendments.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board adopt the Resolution (Attachment B), to amend personnel policy § P-36 and archive policies § P-38, § P-41.
ATTACHMENTS:
A - Proposed § P-36
B - Resolution