HR director presents payroll outsourcing review; commission plans to fill HR director and payroll roles, and staff proposes workers' compensation and temporary‑

Sarah Denny, interim human resources director, briefed the commission on March 26 about payroll processing options, staffing in HR and proposed amendments to personnel rules for injury leave, workers' compensation reporting and temporary light‑duty assignments.

Payroll processing: Sarah said a survey of peer counties showed most process payroll in‑house; some use third‑party payroll products (ADP, UKG, Paylocity, Paycom) integrated with the county’s accounting software (CIC). She said outsourcing some payroll functions creates work duplication because funds, invoices and reconciling must still be done in CIC. Sarah and Shane told commissioners that outsourcing would not clearly reduce staff hours for core HR and payroll reconciliation and that the county’s current CIC integration yields operational efficiencies. Sarah estimated processing payroll takes 16–20 staff hours each pay period and described the administrative burden of seasonal election workers (activation/inactivation billing). Caleb (Shane) and Sarah concluded that full outsourcing likely would not save sufficient money, citing both service and cost tradeoffs.

Commissioner direction on staffing: Shane Crowell said his intention is to permanently fill the HR director position that is currently interim and to subsequently fill the payroll position when that vacancy occurs; commissioners asked staff to evaluate duties and job descriptions for three HR positions and consider consolidation or realignment after retirements. No formal vote was recorded; commissioners signaled support for maintaining a three‑person HR structure to ensure coverage and continuity.

Personnel rules amendments (workers’ compensation, injury leave, temporary light duty): Sarah walked commissioners through proposed new language to split the existing Section 7.16 into an injury‑leave policy and a new Section 7.27 (workers’ compensation reporting and process) and to add Section 7.28 (temporary light‑duty assignments). She said the county’s workers’ compensation pool (KWORK) uses a third‑party administrator (CommWell Insurance Solutions) and that both the county counselor and the insurer’s counsel reviewed and approved the proposed language. Sarah emphasized that staff must report workplace incidents within 24 hours to meet state requirements and described cost differences between emergency‑room visits and the county’s authorized clinic for nonemergency claims (an $7,239.50 ER example vs. $223 at the authorized clinic, as provided by the TPA).

Why it matters: Commissioners asked about supplementing workers’ compensation with accrued leave to reach 100% of regular pay; Sarah pointed to policy language allowing employees to combine accrued leave with workers’ compensation to reach 100% of gross pay. Commissioners also sought clarity on election worker paycheck handling; Sarah said auditors and IRS guidance typically favor paying election workers through payroll rather than AP and that many counties report workers via payroll to comply with reporting rules.

Next steps: Shane asked staff to evaluate the three HR job descriptions in detail, to proceed with permanent hiring for HR director and payroll positions as vacancies occur, and to put the proposed personnel rule amendments through the normal adoption process. Staff indicated the county counselor and claims administrator had signed off on the proposed work comp and light‑duty language and would bring final ordinance/policy revisions for formal adoption as needed.

Ending: Staff will present updated job descriptions and a hiring timeline, and will return with formal personnel policy documents for commission action.