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County prepares for union negotiations and potential new paid family-leave costs
Summary
Clay County HR reported the start of 2026 contract negotiations with three bargaining units and discussed tracking potential costs from the state paid family‑leave law; staff will provide updated payroll models as negotiations proceed.
Clay County human-resources staff told commissioners May 13 that contract negotiations for multiple bargaining units will begin this summer and that the county is preparing payroll models that include potential costs tied to the new state paid family‑leave provisions.
The HR director reported the county has received three notices of desire to negotiate covering deputies, law‑enforcement center administrative assistants and corrections staff. "Those are from the deputies, the LEC admin assistants and the corrections," the HR director said. Staff plans to schedule initial bargaining sessions in June and July and to collect salary‑survey and pattern‑bargaining information before formal negotiations.
The county also reviewed a newly proposed state paid family‑leave contribution. HR staff said preliminary modeling included the full state percentage, noting the current draft creates an employer share of 0.44% (point‑44) starting in 2026. “The point .44% is about $198,000 based on the payroll,” the HR director said during the update; commissioners asked that the county track paid family‑leave costs as a distinct line item in payroll reporting so the budget impact can be monitored.
Commissioners and staff discussed other bargaining factors — cost-of-living adjustments, benefit costs (including renewal of a multi‑year health plan guarantee), and a county wage study used as background — and asked HR to return with modeled scenarios after initial bargaining sessions and after AMC releases comparative data. The HR director said MCIT and county legal counsel are available for bargaining support and that the county can update payroll estimates as late as November for MCIT contribution calculations.
No collective-bargaining agreements were approved at the meeting; the board authorized staff to proceed with negotiations and asked for periodic updates and a summary of projected budget impacts once bargaining positions are known.
