Pulaski Council, Commissioners Discuss Personnel Policy

Pulaski County Commissioners Larry Brady, Vice President Terry Young, and President Tracey Shorter
Pulaski County Commissioners Larry Brady, Vice President Terry Young, and President Tracey Shorter
The Pulaski County Council and commissioners met in a joint session last night to discuss the personnel policy, particularly holiday pay and paid time off for sheriff’s department and EMS employees. Paula Reimers of Wagner, Irwin & Sheely appeared before the two boards in an effort to get the mess sorted out, and a lengthy discussion followed.

Because the county has 119 employees to worry about, the county council and commissioners would be hard-pressed to find a policy that would suit everyone’s needs, and the council sought changes to the policy to ensure fairness between departments. Reimers expressed to the boards that some important questions that needed answered regarding the policy included whether or not 12-hour shift employees would receive 12 or eight hours’ pay for holidays, whether those working on holidays would receive time and a half, and whether or not to allow employees to “bank” their holiday time.

There was some confusion over how holiday should be handled for employees working eight- and 12-hour shifts. Ultimately it was decided that the two boards would recommend that sheriff’s department employees who work on a holiday would get paid regular time and receive a holiday to be used within four weeks of the holiday on which they worked, while those who did not work on the holiday would receive a day off in the future but no pay. A motion was made and died for lack of a second to increase comp time from 20 hours to 80 hours, allowing carry-over through the year, but died for lack of a second and the boards will revisit the issue at their next meeting.

A revision was also added to the policy to allow part-time employees to work up to 28 hours.