Coffee County committee weighs splitting employee leave accruals to aid retention

Coffee County's Policy and Procedures Committee discussed proposals to change the county's employee vacation and sick-leave accrual schedule, with members saying smaller steps in the first five years could help recruit and retain employees.

The committee met in Conference Room Number 1; a member who identified themself as Andy said the ad hoc committee had passed out the personnel manual and recommended revising the current accrual brackets, which now lump 0 to 5 years into a single tier. "I just I passed out what we currently have in our Manual," Andy said, adding that several other counties split accruals into multiple steps between years 0 and 5.

Committee members cited examples from neighboring jurisdictions. A member noted the City of Tullahoma uses 0 to 1, 1 to 5 and 5 to 10-year steps and that Tullahoma gives 40 hours (one week) in the first year and two weeks after year one. Members said EMS already uses a narrower early schedule (0 to 3 years) and suggested the county might adopt separate accrual schedules for first responders and administrative staff.

Committee member Jenny Anthony and other members said a stepped schedule (for example, 0 to 1, 2 to 3, and 4 to 5) could give new hires a tangible early benefit without waiting five years. "It kind of gives them a little bit of extra incentive in between the 0 to 5," one member said.

Members discussed trade-offs: some said earlier accruals help recruitment, especially for larger offices such as the sheriff's department and EMS, while others warned that increased early leave can strain small offices if several new hires take leave at once. The committee repeatedly said it wanted department-level input before recommending changes.

The committee directed staff to invite department heads to the next meeting and provide accrual-rate examples (hours per pay period) and any departmental concerns. Members also asked for comparisons with other counties, including Franklin, Warren and Bedford counties, which were cited during discussion as using different step schedules and shorter maximums than Coffee County.

The discussion also included sick-leave policy language. Committee members said existing county sick-leave language is "very generic" and shared draft language from another municipality that includes provisions aimed at preventing abuse and that had been reviewed for ADA compliance.

The committee did not adopt a policy change at the meeting; members agreed to collect input from department heads and return the topic to a future agenda.