Fr. BOC Approves Employee Handbook Revisions

Franklin County Commissioners have approved the county’s new, updated employee handbook, even though some constitutional officers have not had a chance to review it.

The handbook had not been updated since 2002 and changes needed to be made because of changes in federal laws with regard to health insurance, bereavement leave and other personnel issues.

At their regular meeting last week, Commission chair Thomas Bridges noted all department heads had been sent a copy of the final draft to review before passage.

Commissioner Clint Harper said however that the board had not gotten any feedback from department heads.

“Nob0dy has requested anything,” Harper said. “Do we have any Constitutional officers who would like to have input?”

County Clerk of Court Missy Holbrook told the board she had not reviewed the new handbook because she could not open the copy that was emailed to her.

“You could have picked up a hard copy from my office any time,” County Clerk Elaine Evans responded.

After hearing from Holbrook and Harper, Commissioner Jeff Jacques said he was hesitant to adopt the new handbook if some Constitutional officers had not reviewed it.

“I am very hestitant to move forward if not all department heads have reviewed the handbook,” Jacques said.

Additionally, Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas said his department is separate from the county and he does not go by the county employee handbook, which he said doesn’t apply to his employees.

But Bridges said the Sheriff’s department is part of the county and suggested that question be taken up later.

“I think this would be a great discussion to put on our work session later this month,” Bridges said. “We can have a more communication with the Sheriff’s office. The hand book is for county employees and I feel like the Sheriff ‘s office is part of the county.” Work to update the handbook has been going on for just over a year and Bridges suggested the board go ahead and pass the new version and make changes as needed later.

After more discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the new employee handbook and make any changes as needed later.