WAUPACA COUNTY HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE

March 12, 2015

The Waupaca County HR Committee met in Room 1037 of the Waupaca County Courthouse Chair Barrington called the meeting to order and gave the open meeting statement.  Roll Call: County Board Chair Dick Koeppen, Supervisor Gerald Murphy and Supervisor DuWayne Federwitz present.   

OPEN SESSION

MOTION: Supervisor Murphy moved and Supervisor Federwitz seconded the motion to approve the agenda.  Motion carried without a negative vote.

MOTION:   County Board Chair Koeppen moved and Supervisor Murphy seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as amended.  Motion carried with Supervisor Federwitz abstaining.

No public comment.

Monthly Report Review – Updates on recruitments, resignations and labor relations issues. 

Highway Commissioner Dean Steingraber was present to discuss two proposals for consideration.  The first issue is for consideration of amending the policy to allow for the advancement of new employees thru initial steps of the wage schedule (Steps 1 - 4) at the discretion of the Department Head prior to the completion of their one year anniversary.  Additionally, if granted this flexibility he would also like to have the ability to retroactively implement this to new employees hired in the past few years.  A meeting with Department Heads will be arranged to give further discussion and strategy for possible implementation.  Mandy will report back with recommendations.

The second proposal was for the adjustment in the County Authorized Table of Organization.  The Highway Department would like to amend the organizational structure to eliminate six (6) Equipment Operator I positions and replace them with Equipment Operator II positions.  Many of the employees that are classified as EO I frequently operate equipment that is classified as EO II work.  Making this change would reduce the working out of class compensation.  Discussion will be held for further consideration until budget discussions for 2016.

Captain Wogsland and Lieutenant Russell from the Sheriff’s Department Corrections Division were present to discuss the compensation for Corrections Officers.  The comparables indicate that Waupaca County has starting and maximum pay rates that are below average.  This information along with recent turnover has caused concern and administration would like to see this addressed by reclassification of the Corrections Officers to a higher pay grade.  General consensus was in support and will need to be addressed during the development of the 2016 budget.

MOTION:   Supervisor Murphy moved and Supervisor Federwitz seconded the motion to approve a request for vacation donation.  Motion carried without a negative vote.

MOTION:   County Board Chair Koeppen moved and Supervisor Murphy seconded the motion to approve requests for vacation carryover.  Motion carried without a negative vote.

Mandy Welch presented for consideration a county-wide safety risk assessment including 5 year worker’s compensation claims review, meeting with all Department Heads and a walk through assessment of county facilities and safety practices.  This will allow the county to evaluate safety needs and priority issues for the development of a county-wide safety program.  The risk assessment is expected to cost $3,500 and would be paid from the worker’s compensation funds.

MOTION:   Supervisor Federwitz moved and County Board Chair Koeppen seconded the motion to adjourn.  Motion carried without a negative vote.  11:15 a.m.

Next meeting scheduled for April 1^st at 9:00 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amanda Welch

HR Director