The state’s stay-at-home order is prompting the Pulaski County government to enact its Temporary Workforce Reduction Policy. It will be in effect from March 24 at 11:59 p.m. to April 6 at 11:59 p.m., according to an email to county officials from County Attorney Kevin Tankersley.
During that time, only essential employees will have to work from county facilities. Those include sheriff’s deputies, 911 dispatchers, jailers, jail kitchen staff, emergency medical services workers, the emergency management agency director, and health department officials. All of those employees will get additional “hazard pay.”
County officials are being asked to monitor all essential employees for symptoms of illness. Those who are afraid that they may have been exposed to the coronavirus are encouraged to use their paid time off to self-quarantine.
All “non-essential” county employees will be asked to stay home and will be paid their regular hourly rate. Part-time employees will be paid based on the average number of hours they worked over the previous four pay periods. Tankersley stresses that non-essential employees are not on vacation, but are technically on-call to perform essential functions to keep the government agencies running.
The Temporary Workforce Reduction Policy was approved by the Pulaski County Council and Commissioners during an emergency joint session last week, but the authority to actually put it into effect was given to the president of the board of commissioners.
