Revisions to Iola’s employee handbook, typically a routine affair, took on a few added layers of discussion Monday as City Council members weighed a series of major changes in how the city does business.
At the forefront were proposals to shift responsibility of personnel matters from the Council to the city administrator; and a new policy that would allow the city to rehire employees who previously had been fired.
Human Resources Officer Carla Brown presented the Council with a laundry list of the proposed changes she had developed with City Administrator Sid Fleming and Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock.
Up to now, the Council has the final say on who is hired or fired. With the new policy, that responsibility would go to Fleming.
Such a change removes time constraints when making personnel decisions, Fleming said. Under the current practice, personnel matters must wait until the Council meets twice a month.
It also “creates a buffer” for the Council, to prevent instances of employees lobbying the Council on pending personnel decisions.
Upon questioning from Councilwoman Nancy Ford, Fleming assured the Council he would keep them abreast of all personnel matters and that such decisions would not “happen in a vacuum.” Fleming said he would continue to visit with department heads, as well as with Brown and Schinstock before any decisions are made.
The Council also would remain involved through an appeals process for employees who have been fired or otherwise disciplined, Brown added
“I agree with it in some ways,” Ford said. “You guys are the ones working directly with the employee. I would hope, however, the Council is kept informed.”
Councilman Aaron Franklin brought up two concerns:
First, the Council could lose its ability to adjust workforce to budgetary constraints through attrition. Secondly, the language must be made more clear regarding provisions allowing the city to rehire previously terminated employees.
“We’d be voting for a policy that hasn’t been defined yet,” Franklin said, noting the policy has no such guidelines for how long a terminated employee must be off the workforce before the city would consider bringing the worker back on staff.
Councilman Ron Ballard spoke of another concern.
“I’ve spoken to employees and department heads, and they’re a little uneasy to giving all this power to one person,” Ballard said.
The Council, he said, would have no recourse if an employee was fired “because of a grudge.”
Fleming explained how the process would work.
