Banner County adopts updated employee handbook, appoints grievance and safety committee members

The Banner County Board of Commissioners on June 17 adopted a revised employee handbook and approved Resolution 25-12, which sets the handbook's effective date as July 31, 2025. The resolution states the revised handbook supersedes prior personnel policies and aligns county practice with applicable state and federal employment laws.

Commissioners read the resolution into the record and voted to adopt it. The resolution says the handbook consolidates policies common to all offices and departments and requires employees to sign an acknowledgment that they have received and reviewed the new handbook by the effective date.

The board also appointed members to multiple committees established under the handbook. Commissioners appointed Caleb Scott as the employee-chosen member of the grievance committee and county attorney Mark Kovarik as the grievance committee chair. The board further reconstituted the safety committee to include Tim Grubbs and Taylor Martinez, removing Jay (J Dub) and Carl Gilbert at their request, and approved Don (Commissioner) and Chelsea Mossberg and Holly Gilbert as the buildings-and-grounds committee, removing Jim Milner from that body.

Why it matters: the handbook update standardizes personnel policies across elected-official offices, clarifies leave and recordkeeping procedures discussed with a human-resources consultant, and creates an administrative process (grievance committee, safety committee) for resolving workplace matters and documenting safety actions for NERMA reporting.

What the county will do next: county staff will distribute the revised handbook to employees and officials and collect signed acknowledgments by July 31, 2025. The grievance and safety committees will begin meeting as needed; the safety committee will record quarterly minutes for NERMA as required.