Committee seeks clearer reclassification rules so departments can reorganize without undue delay

Kane County Human Services Committee members asked staff to rewrite policy language governing reclassifications and reorganizations so department heads can adjust job descriptions and grades more quickly when changes do not increase aggregate salary costs.

At the meeting, Jamie, Department of Human Resource Management staff, explained the policy's intent: board approval should be required only when an aggregate increase in graded salary occurs. "It would require them to write job descriptions that are current with their current structure and have human resources grade those positions as long as the aggregate wasn't higher," Jamie said. Committee members and several department heads at a prior special meeting told the committee they could not make timely internal reorganizations because the process, paperwork and timing were unclear.

Why it matters: Department heads said the inability to quickly regrade or reassign duties slows hiring and can prevent the county from offering market-competitive salaries to fill critical roles. Several committee members said the goal of a countywide classification system is to ensure consistent pay practices across departments while still giving managers flexibility to run their operations.

Committee direction and next steps: Members expressed broad support for clarifying the policy rather than changing its intent. The committee asked Jamie to rewrite the relevant section (policy 2-48 or the reclassification section) to make the threshold and process clearer and to outline an operational workflow, including time estimates and required paperwork. Jamie agreed to return with draft language and options for the committee to review.

Discussion highlights: Members described the equity study that established salary ranges and said that while the classification framework is necessary to achieve fairness across the enterprise, it has had the unintended effect of limiting hiring flexibility in some departments. Several members asked that the rewrite include practical guidance on when a host committee must be notified and when HR can process reclassification without full board review.

Ending: The Human Services Committee did not take a formal vote on policy language at the meeting but gave staff clear direction to draft more precise and operational policy text and to return to committee for review.