Coffee County committee reviews leave accruals, part-time PTO and retention measures

The Coffee County Policy and Procedures Committee met in Conference Room Number 1 in April and spent the bulk of its meeting reviewing employee leave accruals, including proposals to alter the current 0‑to‑5‑year accrual band, add earlier step increases, consider paid time off (PTO) and provide prorated leave for part‑time staff.

Committee members said the intent is to improve the county’s leave policy to help recruiting and retention, not to reduce benefits. "We're not cutting back. We're trying to improve what we have," a committee member said during the meeting.

The discussion grew out of an ad hoc review and input from several department heads and emailed comments. Staff presented that current accruals for new hires are the same for several years under the county's existing 0‑to‑5‑year tier, and committee members argued that shorter, earlier steps would give new hires a more visible incentive to remain. One suggestion was to split the early tier into 0‑to‑2 and 3‑to‑5 bands, or to add a step at year three. A numerical proposal offered during the meeting would hold 3.69 hours per pay period for the earliest tier and raise the next tier to about 4.15 hours—roughly the midpoint between current neighboring tiers—to smooth increases without reducing existing employees’ accruals.

Staff and department heads raised other points. John, a staff member, cautioned: "we're really not gonna be discussing, in this meeting, wage wages at all," noting compensation and insurance are separate and often larger retention factors. The library director, speaking for a library workforce with many part‑time employees, described difficulties filling and retaining part‑time positions and said part‑time staff "have a hard time filling those positions currently," urging prorated leave for employees who work 17–25 hours per week.

Committee members also discussed other reforms raised by employees during interviews: combining vacation and sick time into a single PTO bank, offering a one‑day annual mental‑health/personal day, and clarifying whether accrued sick days are paid out at separation depending on whether an employee participates in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) or a 401(k) plan. Commissioner Frank Watkins described the complexity around TCRS and payout calculations, saying, "once you hit that 30 your sick time does you no benefit whatsoever," a point raised as part of a broader conversation about retirement rules and historic plan changes.

No formal changes were adopted at the meeting. Committee members asked staff to prepare data and scenarios for the group and to run turnover and budget impact numbers before any policy change is drafted. One member suggested exit surveys be used to capture why employees leave so the committee can better target changes.

Next steps: staff were asked to run accrual scenarios, model the fiscal impact and provide turnover data so the committee can consider concrete policy language at a subsequent meeting.