MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
APRIL 11, 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Work Session: Strategic Planning and Key Issues..................................................................... 1
Employee Handbook................................................................................................... 1
Local and Countywide Smoking Ordinances................................................................. 9
NACo Presidential Project.......................................................................................... 9
Biodiesel Committee................................................................................................. 10
Arbor Day................................................................................................................ 10
Buy Local................................................................................................................ 10
Green Building Policy................................................................................................ 10
Review of Tornado Drill............................................................................................ 11
Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:03 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek said the Employee Handbook Committee has been reviewing the revised Johnson County Employee Handbook highlighting their recommendations for policy change. The current handbook was revised and effective on May 16, 1991. Throughout the last 16 years, many policies have been revised and added, with the most recent policy change being in wireless telecommunication. The revision being presented today is a cover-to-cover rewrite and a culmination of over 80 Employee Handbook Committee meetings. It was challenging to write uniform policies given the nature of county government. Respective collective bargaining agreements are still the first frame of reference for union covered employees. Shramek explained that the Employee Handbook Committee tried to establish consistency throughout the County, while leaving room for department head discretion when necessary. They tried to be thorough yet precise in attempts to make the Handbook more user friendly with new formatting and organization. On March 27, copies of the revised Handbook were distributed at the Department Head Meeting. Comments and questions were encouraged as was an invitation to today’s meeting. Nine content changes that were submitted have been incorporated. The Handbook has almost doubled in size. Approximately 25 new policies have been added. Shramek thanked the following members of the Employee Handbook Committee for their many hours of commitment: Secondary Roads Administrative Assistant Diane Kaster, County Attorney Janet Lyness, Supervisor Terrence Neuzil, Information Services Director Jean Schultz, Shramek, Human Resources Assistant Susan Viletta, and Director of Public Health Ralph Wilmoth, and alternates Information Services Desktop Assistant/Secretary Shannon Carter, and Public Health Business Manager Becky Mills. Shramek noted that each committee member will present a portion of the handbook to the Board.
Shramek changed the word “citizens” to “people” in the first pages of the document. Then, there is the department directory with several small changes. In the introduction, they talked about the policies being organized into five main sections: Employment, Compensation, Benefits, Policies, and Safety. These tabs with the 3-ring binder format should make future updates easy to install. She said the network version is available in public folders. The Handbook does not constitute an employment contract. Also, the Board reserves the right to change, revise, or eliminate any of the policies or benefits in the handbook. Department heads may not unilaterally make changes to the Handbook policies. They must have written authorization from the Board. Whenever policies conflict with law or a collective bargaining agreement, the law and the collective bargaining agreement prevail.
Shramek explained that in the employment section, attendance is a new policy. Employees are expected to report to work at established times. Employees may be terminated if they are absent for two consecutive working days without giving proper notification. The new conflict of interest policy refers to a conflict between personal interest and responsibilities of an employee and the official acts of the County. It could be financial or other personal considerations that would compromise or have the appearance of compromising an employee's judgment in carrying out his or her responsibilities. Employees are responsible for and obliged to report activities and interests that may present a conflict of interest.
Shramek noted that regarding employee evaluation, they changed the wording to reflect evaluation at the end of the probationary period and annually at their service date or position anniversary. Evaluation forms are available at Human Resources. Steps for improvement should be discussed and an action plan outlined if job performance does not meet expectations. If in the event that job performance continues to be unsatisfactory, appropriate measures will be take up to and including termination of employment. Employee orientation is a new section. It will discuss the County, department, and benefit orientations that are currently being administered and what each covers. This includes applicable safety changes. Employee recognition is new to the handbook but certainly not new overall. The Board of Supervisors have been recognizing County employees for their years of service for the past several years.
Shramek explained that the employee records section covers types of files, their location, content, and access. It covers employment files, medical information, personal data, and compensation history. Under employment classification, they added on-call employees who are not regularly scheduled but called in on an as needed basis. They also added the words exempt in front of salaried and non-exempt in front of hourly. They added that exempt employees are expected to work at least their normal work week. Employment of relatives is not encouraged because of potential conflicts and problems with favoritism and employee morale, especially when direct supervision is involved. These conflicts can be carried into the day-to-day working relationship. Breaks may not be taken at the beginning or the end of a shift because it defeats the purpose of the break.
Shramek explained that the human rights policy is new and straightforward in establishing no difference in treatment with employees. She thanked former Auditor's Office Account Clerk II Mona Shaw for her contribution on the human rights policy.
Shramek said that regarding job posting, there is a new policy stating that all Johnson County applicants must complete the County application for employment. Selections are based on the best-qualified candidate, taking into account affirmative action and equal employment opportunity efforts. In the notice of termination and resignation section of employment, they left out the previous language about the normal retirement age being 70 years. They added the return of County property and the exit interview sections.
Shramek said that in the open communication section, the main idea is that an employee talks to one’s supervisor before filing a grievance. Open communication within an atmosphere of mutual trust is of prime importance in maintaining productive working relationships. Civil service employees were added under the probationary period section. Civil service employees have a one-year probationary period.
Regarding rehiring for County employment, Shramek stated that credit is currently given within two years. The Committee proposed a change saying that if a County employee returns to County employment within six months, they would be given previous employment credit pertaining to vacation etc.
An employee’s activities outside of work shall not involve dissemination of information not generally available to the public, Shramek explained. They also cover the on-call response volunteer activities. If an employee is not fit for duty, the department head may allow the employee to use available accrued vacation or earned compensatory time even if it doesn’t fit within the normal requirement periods. She said that this is because safety is of prime importance. For example, if there is a volunteer fire fighter who also works for the County who has been up all night fighting a fire, the County would want to give that employee the chance to rest before coming into work. Shramek said that employees may not get involved with political activity while performing their job duties or during work hours.
Stutsman asked if on the rehire section it is assumed that the employee pass the six-month probationary period to be considered for this. Shramek replied that they would still have to fulfill that six-month probationary period. They would have had to work six months previously and then six months in the current position. Facilities Director David Kempf asked about employee evaluation forms. Shramek said that this form is just for non-bargaining employees. Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards offered a few changes regarding the organizational chart in the front of the Handbook. Stutsman said that the Board of Health and the Conservation Board are two areas where the Board only has authority over the budget, and she wonders how they can show that in the organizational chart. She wondered if a dotted line would work. R. Sullivan said Veteran’s Affairs is in a similar situation.
Kaster covered the compensation section. Kaster said the previous sentence under employee review said the first day of full-time employment. The Committee changed the wording to annually on the anniversary date of the employee’s current position. This would give the opportunity to evaluate and provide feedback to employees in a more timely manner should they change positions or departments.
Kaster explained that longevity pay has been in practice for some time. It is a non-discretionary benefit given each year based on years of service. Each of the collective bargaining contracts does address some sort of longevity pay. R. Sullivan asked if deputies receive longevity. Shramek said they can but usually don't. Their salaries are capped by law and if they are not at the cap they could receive longevity pay, but almost all deputies under elected officials are at the cap. Kaster said the policy reads that deputies receive longevity pay if it does not violate statutory amendments and if the elected official approves payment. Harney asked why longevity pay is in the handbook rather than the negotiated collective bargaining contracts. Shramek said it is in all the collective bargaining contracts. It also applies to non-bargaining employees as well and therefore has to be in the Handbook. They are trying to put those all into one cover policy. Stutsman said they might want to add that the lump sum is prorated based on time of service if an employee leaves. Shramek thought that was a good idea.
Regarding overtime, comp time, and flextime, Kaster said the first section applies to non-exempt employees who are usually hourly employees. They added workers’ compensation. When an employee’s 40 hours are calculated for the work week, they are currently not including sick leave or workers’ comp. They are now adding workers comp to the language so that current practice is listed in the handbook. If employees work for more than 40 hours per week, they will be compensated at a rate of one and half times the employee’s regular hourly rate for those excess hours as set by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Exempt employees are generally the salaried employees. The employee should work an average of 40 hours per week. The flextime is intended for partial day absences such as arriving late or leaving early. It is not to be used for taking multiple days off. The policy does say “intended,” which is not as strong as “shall be.”
Kaster noted that employees are paid every other Friday for hours worked through the previous Saturday. Past history was that some departments were on a different pay period and were actually being paid ahead of time for hours not yet worked. Over the last several years, Shramek has worked very hard to get all employees converted to the new payment system.
Kaster said that IPERS (Iowa Public Employees Retirement System) rules and regulations are set by State legislation. Those rules and regulations do allow elected officials and temporary employees to opt out, however the current handbook does not list that information. The current book also does not talk about the employer's contribution which the Handbook Committee thought worthy of note so that employees understand that the County is also making a contribution toward their retirement.
R. Sullivan said that if a person worked four ten-hour days in a given week and then on Friday decided to take vacation, it looks as if they could be compensated at time and a half. In that case, it seems to make more sense to take flextime and just not work. Shramek said that vacation counts toward the 40 hours. An employee cannot flex if she or he is non-exempt. Wilmoth said that he isn’t sure that is right. Wilmoth said suggested the scenario of a person who is scheduled to work five eight-hour days but because of overtime, they worked four ten-hour days. Now, they want to take off on Friday, the question is if the County has to pay that employee overtime for those first four days or can they have them flex their time so that they take the fifth day off as comp time. Wilmoth asked if that is the scenario R. Sullivan is asking about. R. Sullivan said basically yes. Wilmoth said as far as practice goes, they do that for non-bargaining employees. Edwards said that he wondered if the policy about receiving a minimum two hours of pay should apply to all employees. It would increase the Auditor's Office costs for poll workers quite a bit during elections because poll workers have a couple of tasks that need to be done that take less than an hour. Shramek said there is a minimum two-hour call-in pay under all of their collective bargaining agreements, but poll workers aren't collective bargaining employees.
Kaster said that they added a summary table under benefits to make the policy easier to follow and would offer a quick reference. The chart shows when a benefit becomes effective or when the employee would be eligible for it. The next section is COBRA coverage governed by Federal law. It has to do with health insurance coverage when an employee terminates at their own expense. The policy changed in 2005, mostly regarding timing. Under the employee assistance program, the current handbook refers to this only once under the drug and alcohol abuse policy. But this program is designed to assist families with other issues as well, so the Committee decided to list that separately. Flex spending is not really a new policy. The County has been providing this option to employees for about ten years. It does need to be renewed on an annual basis. Employees who elect health, dental, or optional LTD (Long Term Disability) coverage will have their contributions automatically taken out on a pre-tax basis. If they don't want these services, they do need to opt out. It used to be that employees had to elect to opt in, but now it is the other way. That change was made because the majority of employees were opting in.
Kaster said that regarding holidays, the major change has to do with employees who work less than 40 hours per week. A full time employee who works 40 hours a week receives eight holiday hours per holiday, while a full time employee who works 37.5 hours per week receives seven and a half hours for holiday pay. This clarifies the language. There are a few employees who still work 37.5 a week. They are considered a full time employee, and full timers were offered eight hours of holiday pay. This is why they changed the language. She said that part-time employees receive four holiday hours per holiday if they are eligible. They are recommending this language because if a part time employee is scheduled to work eight hours on a particular day, they should not get all of those hours at pay. This way, all part time employees would get equal coverage regardless of the work schedule. The floating Christmas holiday shall be December 23 through January 2, as designated by the Board of Supervisors or department head. The section on personal days has not changed except for the prorated days for individuals who are hired mid-calendar year. There are exceptions to the holidays that are recognized, and these are now listed in the new handbook.
Kaster noted that there was one small change to LTD. Previously, it had said 90 working days, and the committee changed it to 126 calendar days for elimination.
R. Sullivan thought that the idea behind the personal day is that the supervisor couldn’t say no. This is the difference between vacation and personal days. Shramek said that the personal day does still have to be approved, but she can’t think of a time when one was denied. Wilmoth said that he thought the only difference between a personal day and a vacation day is that you have to take it all at once. Schultz said she thought the difference is that a vacation is scheduled in advance, while a personal day is not. Stutsman said that on page 19, in the last paragraph, she wondered if it was spelled out earlier what LTD is. If not, they need to spell out the acronym. Shramek thanked Stutsman. Stutsman asked if the thirty or thirty one days on the taxes falls on the weekend, then the deadline goes to Monday. Shramek agreed. Stutsman thought this should be explicitly stated.
Stutsman said that she is bothered by the idea of the floating Christmas holiday and who determines it. It could be inconvenient for the public if one office is open while another is closed. She thought it should be the same throughout the County. County Recorder Kim Painter said that she thought that the floating holiday fell under some kind of code. This is because elected officials determine their own hours, and this carries over into the holidays. She said she could be wrong on this. Kempf said this is sometimes a challenge because even if one office has a holiday, facilities still has to come in to open the buildings and such.
Wilmoth said that under miscellaneous leaves of absence, emergency absences may be taken in quarter hour increments to match the Administrative Unite collective bargaining contract. Under funeral leave, there are two significant changes. First, this change extends the benefit to eligible part-time employees. They also added some classification to the funeral benefit because every specific relative relationship is identified. They added domestic partner as a category with five days of leave. Also, immediate family is defined as including domestic partners and step siblings. They changed the last sentence from full time employee to a benefit eligible employee, so that is similar as a pallbearer. Under jury duty, it previously excluded temporary employees and now includes them. They also added that parking reimbursement did not need to be returned to the County if a person wanted to be paid for that time off. Witness leave is newly added to the handbook. The purpose of this is to encourage good Samaritan behavior. If someone is a witness, she or he should not drive away. Witnesses will receive a paid leave of absence not to exceed 16 hours per calendar year.
Wilmoth explained that employees may be required or permitted by the department to attend college classes. If the employee voluntarily leaves County employment within one year of training completion, the employee may be required to reimburse the County on a prorated basis for the cost of the training. Other employers have done this.
Wilmoth noted that there are a number of changes to the sick leave policy. They offered a formula for calculating the accrual of sick leave. It accrues at a rate of 50% of the full time benefits for eligible part time employees. Sick leave is taken at quarter-hour increments. It will not be paid in advance, and an employee does not accrue sick leave when on unpaid leave. FMLA eligible employees needing sick leave for consecutive or intermittent leaves totaling three weeks or more will complete Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) forms. That is consistent with current practice. The Committee just wanted to add it to the handbook for clarity. The County expects that employees use sick leave benefits for the purposes intended.
Wilmoth clarified the policy on returning to work after injury, work-related or not. Under sick leave, any six consecutive months during a 12-month period, unless covered by FMLA, can be the time to determine whether a person is misusing sick leave. Currently, the Health Department captures two six-month periods to determine sick leave use. This would give the flexibility for that to be a rolling time period, he said. It would have to be a real problem before a department head or elected official would want to calculate that on a rolling six-month period as opposed to looking at a snap shot. Employees with more than 20 years of continuing employment when they retire or terminate in good standing shall receive payment for 25% of their accumulated six leave to a maximum of 30 days. Under family sick leave, three more relations have been defined as family including domestic partners, step children, and step parents.
Wilmoth explained that in the paternity and/or adoptive parent leave section of the Handbook, it was three days but is now up to 80 hours of available accrued sick leave. This is not a new benefit. It is being able to use leave they have earned. Under conversion of sick leave, 720 hours is the equivalent of 90 days. Under vacation, they added that employees will receive credit for all time worked in benefit eligible status as long as their employment remains active with the County. Vacation does not accrue while on unpaid leaves of absence such as workers’ comp, long-term disability, or laid off. Non-benefit eligible employees do not get this benefit. Vacation may accrue up to twice an employees' annual accrual amount plus four and a half days accrued from sick leave conversion. This describes the current practice. Vacation accrual in excess of this will be forfeited and the employee shall accrue no additional vacation until the total accumulation is reduced below the maximum. This does come up. Vacation should be requested in writing three weeks in advance, but should not be requested more than 180 days in advance. The vacation period may be changed if an unforeseen circumstance arises which would be applicable to a different paid leave prior to the start of vacation. Wilmoth said that he was scheduled for vacation on Monday through Friday and broke his leg on Saturday. He still had to take it as vacation even though the event occurred before his vacation started. So, he took a week of vacation while he had a broken leg.
Wilmoth also explained that employees can choose to transfer their sick leave to an employee who has been on leave for at least two weeks due to a personal illness or injury to the immediate family. The current policy states that it has to be a consecutive two weeks. This now allows intermittent leave of two weeks to receive donated leave. County employees are allowed to use up to five hours of County time annually to participate in these and other programs and sponsored activities. This is not a change in policy. It is just that the policy had not been delineated anywhere.
Stutsman asked if employees can only exchange vacation leave for donation. Wilmoth said they can only donate vacation time, but they can convert sick leave to vacation time. R. Sullivan said the phrasing of participation in this program on page 24 was a little confusing. Wilmoth said professional development activities or educational activities that result in compensation. R. Sullivan said on the same page, he thought employees ought to know before they go into a training that they could end up having to pay this back. Wilmoth said they don’t say that here, but they do need a written agreement to that effect. He said that in the Health Department, they have a lot of required training because of grant requirements. R. Sullivan asked if department heads will be required to ask employees to sign the form. Wilmoth said yes, it would be the responsibility of the department head or elected official to determine whether or not they need the agreement and in which case. He noted that this came up with the Spanish in the Workplace classes that Neuzil was involved in. R. Sullivan wondered if training could also be a condition of employment. Lyness said that in her office, they are required to get continual legal education hours. They have to do that, so they should never have to repay that since it is required to have a license for the job. Wilmoth said that health professionals are required to keep their license up. They get opportunities to go to events that provide them with continual education units, but the County does not look for those on their behalf. If employees don’t get enough continuing education units, the County does not offer to pay for them to go to other continuing education activities; it is up to the employees. They do have some part time employees, who do not, through the natural course of events, get to go to enough activities for continuing education. They do have to go out on their own and pay for those. They have had some of those part-time employees come to them and say this is something that would really benefit the agency, and they need continuing education units. They have asked to have part or all of that training paid for because of the benefit to the agency. Then, it is up the department head.
Harney asked about the pallbearer section in the funeral leave policy. He wondered if the employee has to come back to work right after the service. Wilmoth said he was once asked to be a pallbearer for someone he didn’t have much of a relationship with, so he did act as the pallbearer and then immediately return to work. Stutsman said that the policy seems to discriminate against someone who goes to the funeral in the morning versus someone who goes to a 2:00 p.m. funeral. Wilmoth said the idea is that if the funeral is in Arkansas, obviously, the employee can’t be back in hour, but if the funeral is in Iowa City, the employee wouldn't need the entire day off to be a pallbearer. Stutsman said the policy is confusing because it sounds as if someone can take a whole day off even if the funeral is not until 4:00 p.m., whereas if the funeral starts at 9:00 a.m., he or she can only be gone until 10:00 a.m.
R. Sullivan wondered why there is so much should language on page 28 of the Handbook. Wilmoth said that part of the philosophy of developing policy is the notion that a department head or elected official can use that as guidance. But they do have some discretion. R. Sullivan said that hypothetically, if Schultz wants to give people time off in 5 minutes increments and Wilmoth says it has to be at 30 minute increments, employees would surely talk and ask why one gets one and the other gets the other. Wilmoth said that his preference is to use “must” and “shall” in all the policies because it makes life easier for him and the employees. R. Sullivan asked if they run into problems if a department head wants to go beyond the should. Shramek said that department heads are evaluated in relation to personnel policy. Shramek said that employees will hopefully to talk to their supervisors. R. Sullivan said that the discretion does not give employees much leverage to make a grievance. The Board decided to schedule another work session reviewing the changes to the Employee Handbook on April 18, 2007 at 8:30 a.m. The Board commended the Employee Handbook Committee for their work.
R. Sullivan said that various city council members throughout the county were talking about the local and countywide smoking ordinance issue and thinking about whether the County should have an ordinance for consistency. He asked what the expectation is. Stutsman asked if they can pass an ordinance that would apply to cities. Lyness said it depends on what the legislative session concludes. She said she can’t give an answer at this point. Wilmoth said the legislation is still hopeful and alive. He thought all the cities really want the County to do something. What will work most effectively is if the County and the cities all write the same policy. There will be some enthusiasm for that with most of the cities. The Board decided to put this on May’s Key issues work session so that they can have the discussion after the legislative session is over.
Neuzil said that if the Board has any opportunity to meet any of the presidential candidates, they agreed to give them the packet regarding County priorities and issues. R. Sullivan said that last time, they said they were going to send a letter to each of the campaigns inviting them to Johnson County. R. Sullivan asked if Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan had done those. M. Sullivan replied that he thought people were going to do that individually. Meyers thought they were supposed to hand out the NACo issue cards to candidates. He said that he read about Barack Obama getting one of those cards in Linn County. Painter said that if they are ever in a position to have a candidate in their area it would be beneficial to set aside time to discuss issues that affect counties and to frame them in that way. NACo is trying to leverage its membership to get county issues on the plate with the presidential candidates which they have not previously done.
Administrative Secretary Casie Kadlec said that she located the minutes from the aforementioned meeting. She noted that she was not at this meeting and so has no personal recollection, but the minutes state that the Board did agree to send a letter to the top 15 or so presidential candidates. They first asked M. Sullivan to write the letter, but then decided to check to see if Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) had a form letter they could send. Neuzil said that ISAC might not have a letter but NACo would. County Recorder Kim Painter said that she could try to locate a letter via NACo and get it to M. Sullivan. Neuzil asked Painter to include the dates of the NACo convention and when they want candidates at ISAC.
Stutsman asked who the lead person on the Biodiesel Committee is going to be. Neuzil said that Conservation Director Harry Graves and County Engineer Greg Parker volunteered at the last meeting. Meyers agreed to also sit on the committee. Meyers asked who the other members on the Biodiesel Committee are. Harney answered that SEATS Director Tom Brase and Ambulance Director Steve Spenler have also agreed to sit on this committee. R. Sullivan said they are also going to ask the Sheriff’s Department if they would like to participate.
Stutsman said that she is waiting for information back on Arbor Day. There is an initiative at the State Capitol’s west entrance terrace. They are going to put in trees honoring County residents. Stutsman wondered if the County would be interested in purchasing a tree for someone like former State Representative Minnette Doderer, who had a huge impact on the State and Johnson County. Stutsman said she will check into the cost.
R. Sullivan said the Chamber wants to ask the Board to participate in their Buy Local campaign and he wondered how the Board wants the Chamber to do that. He wondered if they wanted a work session or a formal meeting. The Board decided to invite them to an informal meeting.
Stutsman wondered if the Board would like to set a County policy for green buildings. She said they would tell their department heads they will recycle or buy recycled paper. Neuzil said this could be something that the liaisons could work on with Kempf. She asked if they want to start saying that they will start doing what they can to become a green County. Neuzil said that they have a number of informal policies, but it might be a nice statement to put something together. Neuzil said that perhaps he and Kempf could work on that and get back to the Board. Stutsman said they could put together a press release. Harney said he is fine with making the statement and having the policy but he isn’t sure he wants to spend the extra money for green certification for County buildings. He said that it is just another chunk of money they could put toward something else. R. Sullivan said it could be something like organic foods where if it isn’t certified, then others don’t trust it. Harney said instead of spending money for a plaque on the wall, he would rather spend money for the equipment needed to be green.
Stutsman said that the Board has talked about having a tornado drill. M. Sullivan said that Kempf is going to schedule that.
Stutsman said that she would like to put the Eide Bailey audit on a future Key Issues Work Session agenda. R. Sullivan said that he would like to follow up on the NACo item next month. R. Sullivan asked if as a general rule on the Key Issues agenda there can be an agenda item about internal processes so they can talk about scheduling meetings and other items that affect the day to day workings of the Board of Supervisors office.
Adjourned at 10:50 a.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Casie Kadlec, Recording Secretary