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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPersonnel Committee - Minutes - 5/7/2015Minutes of the Bayfield County Personnel Committee Meeting 4:00 PM, May 7, 2015 Emergency Operations Center, Bayfield County Annex, Washburn, WI Members Present: John Bennett, Dennis Pocernich, Brett Rondeau, Harold Maki Members Excused: William Bussey Others Present: County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison, Kristine Kavajecz-Assistant, Elizabeth Skulan-Human Services Director, Anita Haukaas-Family Services Manager, Craig Parks Meeting called to order at 4:15pm by Chairman Rondeau Public Comment: None received Approval of Minutes: Motion Pocernich, Bennett to approve minutes of the April 2, 2015 Personnel Committee meeting. Motion Carried. Social Worker call-out policy: Approximately 2.5 call-outs occur on a weekly basis in Human Services based on 2013 statistics. Skulan explained that Child Protective Social Workers are required to be on call 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. They may authorize Emergency Detentions for medical purposes. Data from 2013 in the form of a chart was provided to the committee as a handout. Most call-outs require a phone call, but on occasion may require that the worker physically go to the location of the child due to certain circumstances. Abeles-Allison explained that the county’s current policy is to follow the FLSA which pays time and one half after 40 hours physically worked in the week. Social Workers that are on-call currently receive $1.40 per hour for every hour they are on call. If they are called out, they are paid the regular wage (or overtime if applicable) for actual time worked. Skulan pointed out that employees are compensated with compensatory time, they are not “paid” for the time worked. Social Workers feel undervalued since the FLSA has been implemented. Skulan provided options for the committee to consider with regard to on-call time. Skulan reported that under the former union contract, Social Workers received time and one half for any time worked outside of the regular work day. Skulan argued that the scope of work done outside of the work day in Human Services is vastly different than other departments. Options: 1) Pay time and one-half for all hours worked in excess of the normal work day. 2) Implement ½ hr minimum pay for call-outs. 3) Implement 1 hr minimum pay for call-outs. Motion Pocernich to increase on-call pay to $1.50 per hour and ½ hour minimum for Social Workers that are called-out to work. Motion Carried. This policy to be effective with the first day of the next on-call rotation. Contracted and regular county employees, comparisons and terms: The current contract employment company is going out of business the end of May. We currently have a couple different categories of employees that are contracted. Recommendation is to continue to contract Long Term Care workers due to the billing complexity required by the state for these positions. Recommendation is to employ part-time employees as county staff. Recommendation is to continue to contract full-time grant-funded positions. Abeles-Allison explained the costs and liabilities associated with each recommendation. Motion Pocernich, Bennett to maintain Long Term Care and Full-time Grant employees as contract employees and bring part-time employees on as county employees. Discussion regarding costs followed. Motion Carried. Wage Comparables for 2016: Several departments have requested wage adjustments for positions. When the wage study was conducted, the consultant recommended that comparables on a certain number of positions should be conducted annually. Cost for comparables is $300 per position for a public/private comparison provided by the consultant. No action was taken on this item. Abeles-Allison reported that the recently hired cleaning person wage is being evaluated for adjustment. There was an error in the advertisement for the position. Motion Maki, Pocernich to raise this position to the advertised rate retroactive to the employee’s hire date. Motion and second were withdrawn. Abeles-Allison will make the wage adjustment as discussed. Reports: • HR Specialist: Abeles-Allison reported that personnel actions have significantly increased over the recent years. He would like the committee to consider implementation of a designated Human Resource employee, potentially a transfer of some duties to the Assistant to the County Administrator. Suggestion was made to evaluate priorities and identify if there are items that can be dropped. Abeles-Allison will bring further recommendation on this subject in the future. • YTD 2015 Payroll Financial Report, end of March: Revenues and expenditures are in line with the budget for the first quarter of the year. • Personnel Summary, New Hires and Advertisements: Recent hires and current vacancies were reviewed. • Health Insurance and Wellness: Expense ratio is at 117% for the year, which is concerning. The Wellness program is going well. A recent presentation was made at the Highway Department. • Vacation for new employees: Several employees that have recently left the county have commented on vacation allocation for new employees. Abeles-Allison presented a proposal for the committee to consider. Motion Pocernich, Bennett to enter in and out of closed session pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes §19.85(1)(c) for the purpose of Approval of closed session minutes of April 2, 2015, Reclassification and promotion, Exit Interviews, Employee Performance evaluation, and Performance statute letter. Entered closed session at 5:40pm. Motion Maki, Bennett to return to open session. Motion Carried. Returned to open session at 5:55pm. Maki brought up the topic of an elevator at the Oaks Assisted Living Center. Abeles-Allison has brought up the topic to the Northern Lights Executive Director. Meeting adjourned at 6:02pm. Respectfully submitted by Kristine Kavajecz, Assistant to the County Administrator.