Human Resources Committee Minutes –August 4, 2016
For your consideration, please review the minutes for the Human Resources Committee Meeting from August 4, 2016:
bgjwsc_human_resources_committee_minutes_august_4_2016
To read the minutes, please open or download the pdf from the link above or you may see more below:
PRESENT:
Johnny Cason, Chairman
Allen Booker, Commissioner
Thomas Boland, Acting Director
Donald Elliott, Commissioner
Baylie Lane, TSI
ALSO PRESENT:
John Donaghy, Chief Financial Officer
Pam Crosby, Director of Procurement
Mark Ryals, WWTD Superintendent
Billy Simmons, WPD Superintendent
Chairman Cason called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
There being no citizens that wished to address the Committee, Chairman Cason closed the Public Comment Period.
Commissioner Cason introduced Baylie Lane from Teamworks Services, Inc. She is filling in on the meeting as Cindy Barnhart is out.
Commissioner Elliott made a motion seconded by Commissioner Booker to add Teamworks Services, Inc., contract to Discussion. Motion approved 4-0-0.
ADOPT:
Minutes of July 7, 2016 Human Resources Committee Meeting
Commissioner Boland made a motion seconded by Commissioner Booker to approve the minutes from the Human Resources Committee Meeting July 7, 2016 meeting. Motion carried 4-0-0.
DISCUSSION:
Policy on Further Education – Comm. Boland
Commission Boland discussed the need to update the policy when employees further their education. If reimbursement is considered it is necessary that the curriculum and degree applies to their job. It may not necessarily be related to their immediate position but should be in their line of work. Another issue discussed was on military leave and hiring temporary employees and the time and money involved in the filling in positions. The programs used like Gems Hydrology and GIS require trained employees and adding additional staff that could turn into a full-time permanent position. There was further discussion on hiring and training a temp employee and end up hiring fulltime the consideration of reimbursement to JWSC will be discussed. The wording for the Human Resource Policy will be worked on and can present at a future meeting. Obtaining future employees from the Technical College, Coastal College and will be researched by Commissioners’ Boland and Booker. The policy discusses the 2 year retain-ability. John Donaghy stated the policy provision states ‘The employee may be reimbursed for costs of tuition and books on completion of any job related course or other course which is required for an advanced degree from an accredited institution which is related to the employees current position or which will prepare the employee for another career assignments with the JWSC.’ It was agreed that the current policy addresses these concerns and no change is necessary to the policy. One areas that is not addressed in the policy is how far does it go (masters, graduate degree, etc). Baylie also added to possibly require the student /employee to apply for financial aid and that JWSC would pay for undergraduate/graduate classes if the employee is already in a position where it would apply. The current policy for reimbursement requires a sign off from the Employee, Immediate Supervisor, Division Superintendent, Human Resources, and the Executive Director. Commissioner Cason stated that Coastal College has an agreement with the city and the county by extending and providing additional benefits and discounts to employees. It would be good for JWSC to get with the college President and inquire for us to be a part of an agreement with Coastal College.
Update on GMA Meeting on 457b – J. Donaghy
John Donaghy discussed the meeting with Randy Briskin from GMA held yesterday to talk with the employees. This meeting was primarily to discuss the fees on the Newport Group statements. There were approx. 25 employees that attended and some signed up for further information. One item of discussion was the differences in fees and balances during the conversion from MetLife to Newport Group. Mark Ryals stated he feels Newport is more transparent. It was noted that the more transparent you become the more people question the charges. It was discussed that the differences in how each, MetLife and Newport, display their costs and fees were what caused the employees to be concerned. Randy Briskin provided an “Investment 101” update for the employees to better understand what GMA offers. Billy Simmons stated the presentation was very beneficial and he heard the best explanation of investing. John recommended scheduling over the next couple months a GMA meeting to educate staff of the benefits of investing your finances. The topic of deposits from Teamworks to the Newport Group Funds was discussed. Mark stated there is a delay in the wire transfer by about a week and the interest is not being recorded properly. The 457b employee funds are provided to TSI on the Wednesday the week of payroll. Teamworks wire transfer goes directly to Newport but there may be a delay in when Newport posts it. Commissioner Elliott requested a letter be addressed to Newport. Pam stated the agreement of TSI will need to be amended to address the wire transfer of funds. The policy needs to address the retirement benefit wire transfers/posting and John is to research and provide answers at the future meeting.
Pay Evaluation Policy – Comm. Boland
Commissioner Boland updated the committee on the evaluation policy and stated Mark Ryals and his committee are working to streamline and provide a quicker process. One issue is the pay raise associated with the employees’ evaluation. The history of the previous process is the employees would be evaluated on their anniversary date and a pay raise would occur from a certain score. This would happen all year and require a lot of time and there was never a bottom line as to what the budget was. This new process will allow evaluations to still be at the anniversary date but the pay raise will be at the end of the year. The evaluation committee is in further discussion. All of the supervisors need to be on the same schedule and provide merited pay increases in the same manner with the same criteria for employees in each division. The evaluation should be a part of the process but not the raise process. It is recommended that employees have documentation of their benefits during evaluation to confirm the total packages of their employment. The benefits should be a part of the evaluation packet and the overall cost for benefits per employee is between 35-40% of salary. It was noted that the evaluations were very behind before and are now up-to-date thanks to Commissioner Boland. Billy Simmons requested the commission provide an official notice/letter to employees stating the changes in the evaluations and pay increase schedule. Mark stated the employee evaluation form is in need of updating and he and his committee are searching the options. Survey Monkey is an option and what the County is currently using. Commissioner Booker stated the program allows you to edit the questions and choose the criteria. It was recommended that Mark set up a meeting with the superintendents to go over the different criteria needed per division. It was stated that Survey Monkey is a secure process. Commissioner Cason asked Commissioner Boland to get the staff support that Mark will need to get this done.
Teamworks Services Contract – P. Crosby
Pam Crosby addressed the committee regarding the Teamworks Services, Inc. contract. Teamworks Services, Inc. handles the Human Resources functions for the JWSC which would include: Payroll Processing; New Hires, Recordkeeping; Human Resources Services; Workers’ Compensation/Risk Management; Health, Dental and Section 125; Administration of 457 Plan; Federal and State Law Compliance; and Unemployment. She reminded the committee that this was presented back in June and that if the commission wishes to place it out for bid we will need to act soon. Teamworks has been accommodating to meet our needs and we want it to be a fair agreement for them as well. It was noted that the original agreement was in 2008 and there may be some items that need addressing. Commissioner Elliott recommended the contract be sent out to the Superintendents for their review as well as the new Executive Director and let him address the changes that might be needed. It was stated it can be presented at the September 1st Human Resources meeting. The contract is for $122,736.00. Baylie stated that Greg, of TSI, is aware of the discussions that JWSC is having and has no plans to change the costs at this time.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
Future topics for the Human Resources Committee: Section 4:17 No Smoking and it was recommended to add Tobacco Use to the policy. Job Advertisements should be added to the future topics. The new position for Planning and Construction needs to be advertised in the paper.
Commissioner Elliott made a motion seconded by Commissioner Boland to close the meeting. Motion approved 4-0-0.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:33 am.