Gardiner HR rolls out electronic onboarding, tracks hires and flags ethics-training reporting gaps

The human-resources director told the Finance Committee on Aug. 27 that the city has launched an electronic onboarding process using the EASE portal, which handles I-9 verification, background checks, tax forms, voluntary-benefit registration and policy acknowledgments. The director said roughly five to six new hires have completed the new electronic onboarding workflow and the feedback has been positive. Since the beginning of the year the HR director said the city has processed 79 hires (including seasonal staff such as lifeguards) and an additional 17 hires were processed through the volunteer-incentive program. "We've put maybe 5 to 6 people through the system, and every single person has given great feedback," the director said. HR also reported a heavy caseload of leave and claims work, including FMLA, injured-on-duty and workers'comp cases. The director said retirement paperwork and annual performance-review processes are not yet fully handled in the portal but staff are working to integrate those functions. The director said a performance-review form exists and HR is now determining timing, whether to use anniversary dates for reviews and what tracking the department will maintain. On ethics training, HR and councilors agreed that the city lacks a reliable tracking system for the statewide two-year ethics requirement for boards, commissions and appointees. The director said the current process is inconsistent and primarily honor-based; staff are working on a centralized system to record completions and provide reminders. The director said the retirement paperwork is not yet in the portal but is an item HR hopes to add. The HR director said the city will continue to roll out annual policy acknowledgments, training and any onboarding improvements via the portal; staff will rotate meeting coverage among clerks to balance workloads across different meeting times.