Human resources and financial management staff asked commissioners on Sept. 25 to approve a contract amendment with Lincoln Financial Group to add Family and Medical Leave Act administration services at an estimated $110,000 annually, which would raise the vendor’s total annual contract authority to $394,365 under RFP2024-009.

Kayla Holloway, HR director, said the FMLA is a federally mandated benefit that provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave. Holloway described the law’s administration as “highly complex, individually nuanced, and labor intensive” and said county staff currently process roughly 4,500 FMLA requests annually, “which is nearly five times the national benchmark for organizations our size.” She said staff estimates each claim requires about three staff-hours even when ultimately denied, and that the county’s decentralized process — involving HR, Financial Management & Administration and other departments — increases the risk of inconsistent application and privacy exposure.

Brent Christiansen, Financial Management Administration, said the county is in the first year of a five-year agreement with Lincoln Financial, which currently administers sick disability. The county’s procurement rules allow existing vendors to be expanded for additional services without a new solicitation; staff said they plan to include both programs in a combined RFP when the contract ends in 2029. Christiansen said the amendment will provide a single point of intake, improved tracking and reporting, and better employee support via vendor dashboards. The proposed per-employee rate referenced in staff materials was $2.47 per covered employee per month against about 3,600 eligible employees, which produces an annual estimate of roughly $106,704 and aligns with the requested $110,000 amendment figure.

Commissioners generally supported the proposal and asked for additional benchmarking and performance measures. Commissioner Hanslick, a former FMLA administrator, said objective third-party adjudication can be helpful. Commissioner Ashcraft asked whether the issue had been included in the county’s risk and vulnerability assessment and asked staff to provide further information on benchmarking and staffing impacts; staff said they are tracking KPIs and will include follow-up in budget books. Holloway and Christiansen said the amendment would use salary savings from a reorganized HR management position and would not require new budget authority at this time. No formal board vote on the amendment is recorded in the agenda-review audio excerpt.