STURGIS, S.D. – Meade County is considering updating its leave policy, although some are concerned with the changes, and the Meade County Commission heard from several concerned county employees at their meeting Tuesday.
Debra Brandsrud, Human Resources Director, says the county wants move to a single-leave accrual system, or P-T-O – Paid Time Off.
The policy will cover extended time off, such as vacations, as well as incidental time off for sickness or personal matters. Commissioners say employees will be responsible for managing their own PTO hours to ensure they have adequate reserves for illness, disability, appointments, emergencies or other situations requiring time off from work.
Second, the County has secured a short-term disability policy for employees. The County will be paying 100-percent of these premiums and will provide employees income when they are out on covered leave as defined in the policy.
However, some employees don’t like the change, citing lack of information from the County on the change, scheduled to take effect in December. Deputy Paul Witcraft is with the Meade County Sheriff’s Office but also a spokesman for its union.
But, Commissioner Talbot Wieczorak says the current system needs changes.
Key changes to the leave policy include converting vacation to Paid Time Off as well as retiring sick leave, which will not be converted into PTO hours. Employees with less than six years of services will have their current six leave balance forfeited as of December 22nd. Those with six years or more of service will be given options for the retiring of their current balance, up to 240 hours. The planned retiring of sick leave was also a sticking point with employees who testified before the Commission Tuesday.
The commission discussed the issue in executive session and decided to continue discussion on the matter at their December meeting.
