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Yakima County reviews updates to leave policies and suggests sunsetting catastrophic leave
Summary
Human resources presented consolidated updates to Yakima County leave policies and recommended sunsetting the catastrophic leave program for non‑bargaining employees; commissioners instructed staff to proceed with contract checks and next steps.
Yakima County human resources staff on Monday presented a package of updates to employee leave policies and recommended sunsetting the county’s catastrophic leave program for non‑bargaining employees.
HR Director Judy Kendall said the county consolidated its pregnancy leave into an updated leave‑of‑absence policy to avoid maintaining two separate policies, and revised the county’s FMLA guidance to reflect 2018–2025 federal rule changes (military caregiver definitions, intermittent leave rules and related definitions). Staff also updated the county’s Washington paid sick‑leave policy to reflect state law changes that prevent requiring employees to use state paid sick leave as the first bank of leave.
Kendall recommended sunsetting the long‑standing catastrophic leave program, which allowed employees to donate hours to coworkers with catastrophic illness or injury. HR reported use has fallen since Washington Paid Family Leave began: the county recorded nine catastrophic‑leave instances since 2020 and three non‑bargaining users in that period. Commissioners discussed potential union negotiations and instructed staff the program could be phased out for non‑bargaining employees now and addressed with unions in upcoming bargaining or by memorandum of agreement.
On a separate item, staff reviewed a Workday mobile‑device policy to permit employee use of the county’s Workday mobile app for self‑service tasks. Kendall said use is optional, that county phones will remain subject to public‑records rules, and that personal devices used to download county documents could become subject to public disclosure. Commissioners asked staff to check whether downloading county documents from personal devices could be blocked or show a conspicuous warning, and directed staff to proceed with rollout and required employee acknowledgment.
Commissioners asked HR to: verify union contract language that could constrain plan changes; incorporate the pregnancy leave consolidation into the leave‑of‑absence policy to sunset the separate pregnancy policy; prepare the resolution or MOA needed to sunset catastrophic leave for non‑bargaining staff; and proceed with Workday mobile policy training and mitigation steps for public‑records risk. No formal votes were taken; staff will prepare the necessary documents and next steps for future action.
