Bourbon County commissioners ask department heads to review employee handbook, centralize job descriptions
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Summary
County commissioners directed department heads and elected officials to work together on a revised employee handbook and to centralize current job descriptions in the clerk's office and a shared online location for review ahead of a March work session.
Bourbon County commissioners opened a work session focused on updating the county employee handbook and consolidating job descriptions that department heads have kept in separate files.
The county clerk's office will collect current job descriptions from departments and store them in a shared location so commissioners and staff can review them before a scheduled work session. Commissioners said many job descriptions in the printed handbook are out of date — some stamped “last updated 1999” — and that the county needs a single, accessible source for the up-to-date versions used in hiring, unemployment hearings and workers' compensation cases.
County staff noted the handbook as printed reflects certain resolutions and policies that have been adopted over time but not always integrated. The county already has a template handbook available through KCAMP (a county risk-management/insurance partner) and examples from SHRM; staff recommended using those materials as a baseline and adapting them for county-specific rules (for example, elected-official authority over hiring and firing and nepotism-related provisions).
Officials agreed to a process: department heads and elected officials will review the clerk-held job descriptions and upload suggested changes to a county SharePoint or shared file system so one person can consolidate inputs. The clerk's office will retain a permanent copy of finalized job descriptions and make them available for hearings and personnel actions.
Commissioners proposed a follow-up work session in March (the commission discussed meeting dates tied to other budget work sessions) and encouraged department heads to submit job descriptions and recommendations in advance so the group can produce a consolidated draft.
Why it matters: A single, current set of job descriptions and a consolidated handbook reduce delay and confusion in unemployment hearings, workers' compensation claims and routine personnel actions. Commissioners said they want an iterative process that includes department-level review and final approval by the commission.
