Highland County employees to receive year-end bonus

Highland County employees will be getting a bonus at the end of 2011, in a move the board of commissioners said is to keep compensation equal among the employees. 

According to an email from the Highland County Board of Commissioners office to department heads, the county will be "giving the employees a year-end bonus, as they have gone without any wage increase for going on four years."

Commission President Shane Wilkin told The Highland County Press on Monday that they were trying to be fair to the employees. 

"It's something that we had been looking at, to be as equitable as we could be, based on the results of the sheriff's office negotiations," Wilkin said.

In September, a conciliator in binding arbitration ruled in favor of 33-cent per hour raises for the employees at the Highland County Sheriff's Office, retroactive to January 2011. That meant that approximately $38,000 to $44,000 would be needed to make payroll. Because the raises would most likely have resulted in multiple layoffs in order to maintain the existing budget, the employees agreed to forego the raises to preserve staffing levels. As part of that agreement, instead of the raises, the employees received one payment of $400, and insurance was to stay the same. 

Wilkin said that he believes more than 40 county employees will receive the bonus. 

According to the email, the bonuses are being calculated by taking "$10 per hour of regularly scheduled employees (in a) regularly scheduled work week. Examples: 40 hours per week, employees (receive) $400. (In a) 30-hour week (the employee receives) $300. This is to include permanent part-time employees who work a regularly scheduled week."

"We're trying to be as fair as we can," Wilkin said. "Starting in 2009, in many cases, employee hours were reduced, furlough days were implemented. In many cases, costs were increased to the employees through insurance. We do not believe (a few hundred dollars) a year (per employee) is out of line at this point."

Commissioners said in the email to department heads, "We ask that you cover the cost, if funds are available, in your current budget line items. Please do a budget modification. If you have an employee paid from split funds, we ask that you divide the bonus accordingly. Should you not have funds available to cover this or have other questions, please contact the auditor as soon as possible. This amount is not to be included in 2012 budget."

Wilkin said that the carryover from 2011 into the 2012 budget was not yet finalized, but they should have a good idea by Wednesday's regularly scheduled commissioners meeting.