York County reviews proposed employee handbook changes; board debates vacation, comp time and holiday rules

York County commissioners examined a proposed revision to the county employee handbook that would change multiple personnel policies, including vacation accrual, compensatory time limits, holiday pay calculations and other operational items.

Maddie Hughes of Zelle HR summarized the committee-led rewrite: a new formal no-harassment policy and complaint process; nursing-mother accommodations; clarifications on recording work hours (with department-specific procedures for staff who lack direct time-clock access); a compensatory-time cap raised to 80 hours; and a new 6-month look-back measure to determine benefit eligibility when employees change status.

A significant change would let employees begin accruing vacation from hire and allow use of accrued vacation after a 90-day introductory period. The draft sets accrual tiers (first-year: 40 hours; second-year: 48 hours) and clarifies carryover rules: employees may carry up to the tier cap plus 80 hours to the next anniversary; any hours above that cap would be paid out at the anniversary date. The board discussed administrative impacts and short-term budgeting when large vacation banks are paid out.

Commissioners debated holiday pay mechanics for employees with nonstandard schedules (for example, a four-day 10-hour schedule). The draft would pay a fixed holiday credit (for example, 8 hours for certain employees) and allow departments to coordinate substitute time or grant the floating holiday during the calendar or anniversary week. Commissioners requested clearer language to replace phrasing that referred only to the courthouse with wording that covers all county offices.

Other changes discussed included: a state-of-emergency leave provision to align with recent Nebraska regulations; maintenance of a large sick-leave accrual (noted in the draft as a maximum of 960 hours) with county practice to pay out 50% of sick leave at retirement eligibility; random drug testing for safety-sensitive positions; and guidance on confidentiality and acceptable conduct.

Board members asked staff to reinsert examples clarifying how nonstandard schedules (4x10 shifts) are handled for holiday pay and to clarify whether make-up hours language from the old handbook should remain. The board paused final action and sent the draft back for minor edits, including replacing "courthouse" with "county offices" where appropriate and restoring a clear "make-up hours" example for operations such as the road department.

Hughes and county staff said they would return with revised wording and draft language for final adoption at a future meeting.