Burke County commissioners approved a comprehensive update to the county personnel policy that revises how employees carry over and cash out vacation time, clarifies comp-time rules, and modernizes language on topics including the Americans with Disabilities Act and infectious-disease policies.

A staff presenter told commissioners that the handbook reorders content to put items that most affect employees up front and adds clearer language on Narcan policy, smoking and vaping around facilities, and inclement-weather and infectious-disease guidance. The most substantive change discussed at length was the new approach to vacation carryover: employees may carry over unused vacation time within caps and will be able to cash in up to half of those carried hours once per year, the presenter said.

“As an example,” the presenter said, staff caps are set by work schedule — a 40-hour employee may carry over up to 120 hours and a 60-hour employee (for certain emergency services roles) up to 180 hours; those are the banks used to calculate carryover. The presenter said fewer than 10 percent of county employees typically cash in amounts larger than the new limits.

On comp time the policy includes a clear 30-day use rule: employees who accrue comp time because of irregular schedules must use that time within 30 days or lose the accrued hours; comp time will not be paid out under the new policy, the presenter said. The county manager and county attorney discussed that salaried exempt employees would generally not earn comp time.

Commissioner Nicks moved to adopt the updated personnel policy; Commissioner Lively seconded and the motion carried by a unanimous voice vote.

County staff said the policy is intended to encourage employees to take leave while giving department heads clearer tools to manage staffing and discipline. Department heads raised concerns about budget planning for annual cash-outs and the potential for large end-of-year payouts; staff said the policy limits and single annual payout are designed to make costs more predictable.