Rising Sun commissioners approve personnel manual updates including flex time and clarified holiday pay

Rising Sun Mayor and the Board of Commissioners on Jan. 14 voted to adopt a revised town personnel manual that formalizes flexible work arrangements, adds a virtual-work policy and clarifies holiday and call‑in pay for nonexempt employees.

The manual updates, presented by Town Administrator Bonneberger, consolidate inconsistent language in the existing document and add new sections that the administration said will simplify time-tracking and support continuity of operations during building closures. "All nonexempt employees shall be compensated at a rate of 2 times the regular rate of pay for each hour worked during the holidays," Bonneberger told the board while reviewing the draft language.

Why it matters: the changes affect pay calculations, on-call compensation and remote-work expectations for town staff. Commissioners said the revisions aim to reduce ambiguity that previously led to inconsistent payroll treatment for holiday and call‑in hours and to provide clearer administrative processes for flex time and fuel-card use.

Key provisions and discussion

- Holiday pay: The manual sets holiday pay for nonexempt employees at double time (two times the regular rate) for each hour worked during a designated holiday period. Bonneberger explained the section was intended to resolve conflicting provisions that previously referenced both time-and-a-half and double time.

- Call-in pay for public works: The manual preserves the town's practice of guaranteeing four hours of pay for public‑works employees who are called in outside scheduled shifts. The draft clarifies how that call‑in pay interacts with holiday pay: if holiday double‑time yields a higher payout than the four‑hour guarantee, employees would receive the larger amount.

- Flex time: The manual introduces a flex-time process requiring employees to request approval from their supervisor; for urgent, day‑of situations staff said they expect supervisors to be notified by phone and for the paperwork to be completed later for auditing.

- Virtual work: A new policy allows the administration to require or authorize staff to work remotely when town hall is inaccessible because of weather, building damage (for example, a fuel‑oil spill), power outages or similar events. Bonneberger cited recent experience with virtual operations while building repairs were underway.

Board action and edits

A motion to approve the resolution adopting the manual passed; the board recorded general assent at the vote. The motion included a clerical correction to a wording issue on page 17 (the change of the word "to" to "too" was reversed). Commissioners also noted minor spelling and punctuation errors that staff will correct administratively without changing the substance of the policies.

What the manual does not do

The board did not adopt any substantial changes to harassment or discrimination complaint procedures at this meeting; Bonneberger said those sections may receive a deeper review later. The manual also does not change statutory overtime rules such as those that apply to law enforcement under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Next steps

The approved manual will be finalized with the agreed text correction and routine grammatical edits. Staff indicated the revised policies will be applied for payroll and scheduling once the final document is posted and incorporated into town personnel records.