The Pulaski County Council this week discussed the possibility of changing the position of education coordinator and treasurer for the Pulaski County Soil and Water Conservation District to a salaried position rather than hourly due to the large amount of work involved in the position. Kathy Wyatt explained to the council that her position requires a lot of work in schools where she provides a number of programs and classes related to the conservancy district and the new maximum number of hours the county has set is preventing her from providing some programs.
Pulaski County recently set a maximum of 28 hours for part-time employees to prevent the county from being forced to provide them with insurance benefits as part of the Affordable Care Act. Now, however, Wyatt said she has been forced to turn away schools that are interested in the programs provided by the conservancy district. As a remedy, Wyatt recommended the council consider the idea of changing her position from hourly to salary.
She explained she was doing fine with her 32-hour-a-week schedule, but 28 hours is too few for her to get the work done. With the programs they provide to schools, Wyatt said she works a lot more during the school year than she does when school is out.
The council, however, recommended that she stay as she is, but shuffle her hours as appropriate to get her work done without exceeding 1560 hours annually. That annual limit would allow her to get her work done without becoming full-time, forcing the county to provide her with insurance benefits.
