HomeMy WebLinkAboutPersonnel Committee - Minutes - 3/6/2014Minutes of the
Bayfield County Personnel Committee Meeting
4:00 PM, March 6, 2014
Emergency Operations Center, Bayfield County Annex Building, Washburn, WI
Members Present: Brett Rondeau, John Bennett, Shawn Miller, Neil Schultz, William Bussey
Members Excused: None
Others Present: County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison, Kristine Kavajecz-Assistant,
Kenneth Jardine, Ben Dufford-County Conservationist, Dennis Pocernich, Dee Kittleson, Marco
Bichanich, Susan Butterfield-Highway Office Manager, Thomas Toepfer-Highway
Commissioner, Kay Cederberg-Clerk of Court
Rondeau called the meeting to order at 4:00pm.
Motion Schultz, Bennett to approve minutes of the February 13, 2014 Personnel Committee
meeting. Motion Carried.
Revised County Position Requests: Consensus of the committee to move this item to later in
the meeting.
Employee Status Updates across departments
• Human Services: Support Staff modification. One FT converted to PT and one
offsetting PT converted to FT.
• Health: WIC Director/Nutritionist resignation. Currently Recruiting
• Child Support: Support Staff from Planning & Zoning is assisting one day per week in
the Child Support Office on the scanning project. This employee will be able to transfer
these skills to other departments for scanning projects.
• Highway: Advertising for Summer Interns. Office Manager has made a request to
review the current job description with regard to bookkeeping and accounting duties.
• Veteran’s: CVSO Kevin Johnson started last week, but will be gone the next 2 weeks for
National Guard training.
Health Insurance:
a. Health Insurance Seminars: Abeles-Allison and Kavajecz attended two seminars this
week on implementation of the affordable care act. County will need to discuss
requirements and how they will make adjustments to be in compliance.
-PCORI Fee of approximately $200 in 2014
-Reinsurance fee of $5 per month per covered individual for 3 years.
-Cadillac Plan: Defined by the ACA as $10,200 single or $27,500 family. County
currently exceeds these amounts on several plans. Excise tax is 40% of the amount over
the allotted limit. This will begin to be assessed beginning in 2018.
-Penalties if plans are not affordable or of minimum value. Cost to employee may not be
more than 9.5% of their county income. Penalty is $3000 if the employee signs up for the
exchange in this instance.
-Must offer insurance to all employees that work on average more than 30 hours per
week. If this provision is violated and one of those employees enrolls in the exchange,
there is a $2000 penalty for all employees, less 80. This is paid by the employer.
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Recommendation: Consider dropping insurance for employees working less than an
average of 30 hours per week.
b. Direction for 2015: The committee continued discussion of items that could be
considered with regard to controlling health insurance premiums. These are discussion
topics only at this time.
-HRA Rollover. Currently 25% remains with the employee if unspent.
-Reduction of HRA, which would result in an increased out of pocket expense to
employees.
-Specialist co-pay was suggested by the insurer as an option
-Low generic co-pay and increased co-pay for brand drugs.
-Tobacco premium differential. No other counties are currently doing this.
Review of 2013 summary of health insurance costs and utilization.
Motion Bussey, Bennett to enter in and out of closed session pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes
§19.85(1)(c, e, i) for Discussion and Possible Action Regarding: Approval of closed session
minutes of January 2, 2014, Teamster Negotiations Update, Employee Performance Evaluation,
Report on EEO Complaint, Reclassification Review for Specific Land Conservation and
Highway Employees. Toepfer and Dufford were invited to remain in the closed session until
excused. Motion Carried.
Motion Schultz, Bennett to approve closed session minutes of the January 2, 2014 Personnel
Committee meeting. Motion Carried.
Land Conservation Reclassification request for Jennifer Schierman, Clerk I: 6 years in the
position. Currently 74% time. Department very satisfied with work. Proposal is to increase from
Clerk I to Clerk II and increase in work hours from 74% to 100%. Dufford reported that in the
recent 3-4 years, the amount of grants and detail required for grant reporting have significantly
increased. The increase in time would be offset by grant administration revenues. Funds have
been secured for the next 2 years. Recommendation is to reclassify from Clerk I to Clerk II and
increase the hours to 100% for 2 years. The Land and Water Conservation Committee has
recommended the reclassification and increase in work hours. Abeles-Allison recommend that
April 1-June 30 Schierman work one day per week in Child Support and after that, work full
time in Land Conservation through July 1, 2016.
Dufford reported on Travis Tulowitzky, Land Use Specialist. Dufford recommending changing
position to Conservation Technician. Dufford reported on position duties that have recently
changed due to the UW Extension agent no longer doing these tasks. Abeles-Allison reported
that he has no concerns about the changes to the job description, however, he does not feel that it
justifies a new wage level. This would require creating a new position. Dufford is proposing a
2% wage increase to accompany the title change. Suggestion of the committee is to revisit this
discussion following further investigation. Dufford reported that this position is reimbursed at
100% by the state.
Highway: Tom Toepfer reported that there are 5 employees in Iron River. The department has
appointed one employee as Working Foreman at that location on a temporary basis. The request
is to make this a permanent position.
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Current Washburn Highway Shop Foreman has taken on a lot more responsibilities. He is
currently less than 90% of the wage study scale. Request is to approve increasing the Shop
Foreman to 93% of the wage scale.
Highway Office Manager feels very strongly that she should be classified as an accountant.
Toepfer referred to a presentation that is in the Highway Department drop box folder regarding
the Office Manager position and what that position does. This topic will be discussed and
investigated further.
Equal Rights Division Complaint was filed against Bayfield County based on age and disability.
Individual did an internship with the county, then applied for a position and was not hired.
No news on Teamster negotiations. Still waiting for WERC decision.
Next meeting will include discussion on Social Worker wages on the Wage Schedule.
Abeles-Allison reported on letters that were drafted to employees hired prior to 2014 that outline
how they will progress to the same wage as co-workers in the same or equivalent position.
Motion Schultz, Bennett to return to open session. Motion Carried. Returned to open session at
5:42pm.
Motion Bussey, Schultz to reclassify Jennifer Schierman from Clerk I to Clerk II, increase to
full-time employee effective April 1, 2014. Schierman to work one day per week in the Child
Support office through June 30, 2014. Commencing July 1, 100% of her time be allocated to
Land Conservation. Jardine objected to the time in the Child Support office. Dufford asked if
the Child Support Director is aware of this proposal. Full-time status to revert to 74% position
on July 1, 2016. Motion Carried.
Motion Bussey, Schultz to approve the job description modification for Travis Tulowitzky as
presented, but defer action on any wage adjustments until further discussion. Motion Carried.
Motion Miller, Bennett to change John Lazorik to be permanent Working Foreman effective
immediately at a wage of $20.05 per hour. Motion Carried.
Motion Schultz, Bennett to increase Mike Gustafson Shop Foreman wage to $21.20 per hour
effective immediately.
Motion Schultz, Bussey to table discussion regarding Susan Butterfield’s request until the next
meeting. Motion Carried.
Meeting adjourned at 5:50pm.
Respectfully Submitted by Kristine Kavajecz