Shawano County could be close to finishing its revised employee handbook, but there are concerns that some departments are not adhering to the existing one.
Gov. Scott Walker signed Act 10 into law in 2011, limiting public employee union collective bargaining rights to the point that many unions opted to disband. This included all of the Shawano County unions except for the deputies’ union; law enforcement unions were exempt from Act 10.
In the wake of Act 10, the county began revising its employee handbook, which had, until two years ago, applied only to employees who were not part of a union. Once the unions were disbanded, the handbook applied to all employees.
The Administrative Committee continued its work updating the book this week by sorting through pages of concerns from department heads about revisions and changes.
Committee members were particularly concerned about issues raised by Finance Director Diane Rusch, who indicated some departments were not following the handbook when dealing with employee pay and other issues.
“She’s saying that there are some departments that are not following the existing handbook in terms of overtime and how they deal with extra hours,” said Dan Borowski, a consultant who has worked with the county on the handbook revisions.
Supervisor Deb Noffke said all departments needed to adhere to the handbook.
“There are no union contracts, so any of those provisions that provide for call-in pay or add-ons, any of the weird things that are not covered here, this should be the control — the current, in-force handbook,” Noffke said.
Supervisor Gene Hoppe agreed, adding that once the new handbook is approved, there can be no more deviations.
“When this manual is approved, we start from this manual. We don’t go back to any (prior) resolutions. This supersedes everything,” Hoppe said.
The committee is expecting to wrap up its handbook revisions Monday. Hoppe seeks to have it brought before the County Board when it meets Aug. 28.
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