Kewaunee County supervisors approve vacation carryover, hear updates on employee benefits and staffing

Kewaunee County supervisors on an unspecified date approved a request allowing a courthouse employee to carry over 48 hours of vacation and approved refilling several county vacancies, while hearing staff updates on voluntary benefits options and a new employee assistance program included in the 2025 budget.

County human-resources staff told the board the vacation-carryover request concerns "an employee in the corporate court's office" who wishes to carry over 48 hours because turnover left them unable to use the time. "This is relatively simple," the staff member said during the meeting. Supervisor Poppe moved the motion to approve the carryover; Supervisor Ramden seconded it and the motion carried.

The board also approved minutes from its Jan. 6 meeting and later approved requests to refill vacancies including the public-health educator position (vacancy due to a resignation at the end of last year) and to restore highway staffing after a recent resignation and a death in the department. Supervisor Baker moved to approve the vacancy requests; Supervisor Robbin seconded, and the motion carried. County staff said one full-time court security position has been offered to John DuBois but he has not yet started due to other departmental staffing needs.

Why it matters: staff said the changes are meant to maintain services and make recruitment more accessible. The human-resources presentation outlined steps intended to reduce barriers for applicants (replacing a PDF-only application with an online fill-and-submit form) and to standardize annual performance evaluations.

Employee-benefits update and EAP

Human-resources staff described two separate items: (1) an ongoing, informational review of voluntary supplemental-insurance vendors and (2) launching an employee assistance program (EAP) that was included in the county's 2025 budget.

On voluntary benefits, the staff member said employees currently have access to supplemental plans through Aflac but that a local broker has proposed a pricing comparison. "If we were to proceed with that in any way, people would not lose access to their current plans and coverage," the staff member said, adding that the primary change under consideration would be how premiums are paid (payroll deduction versus an invoice sent to the employee's home).

On the EAP, staff said the county contracted with a vendor known as ERC (Employee Resource Company, as described at the meeting) and that the EAP will provide quick, short-term behavioral-health support. The staff member said the service is intended to help employees access timely mental-health consultations when regular insurance-based appointments can take six to eight weeks. The county expects the EAP contract to cover up to eight sessions per person before helping transition employees to longer-term providers covered by their health insurance. Staff described the annual county cost as "under $5,000" to cover employees and their households and said the contract was on the administrator's desk for final review, with a likely start in March.

Staff emphasized confidentiality and that employees would receive contact information and instructions on how to use the EAP; there would be no direct employee charge for the initial sessions. The staff member clarified, "I wouldn't call it insurance. It's just a benefit plan offered by the county." Supervisors indicated they were being kept informed and that no board action was required to explore the voluntary-benefits option.

Personnel report: court security and highway staffing

Under the personnel report, staff said the county is advertising part-time, on-call court-security roles to provide flexibility during turnover or high-caseload periods. The full-time court security position was offered to John DuBois but his start is pending while other departmental staffing needs are resolved. The sheriff's office described the approach as a way to reduce overtime and provide nimble staffing; staff also noted recent interest from retirees for part-time court-security work.

Regarding highway staffing, staff said the board previously authorized refilling highway positions after a resignation and the death of an employee (identified at the meeting as Ronald Jamie). The county reported promoting an existing employee into a highway role internally and continuing the selection process for remaining openings to return the department to full staffing unless the committee directs otherwise.

Recruitment and internal changes

Human-resources staff said they have rebuilt the performance-evaluation form and plan training for supervisors to ensure consistent annual evaluations. Staff are redesigning the online application to remove the need to print and mail a fillable PDF, aiming to make application and submission fully digital and more accessible.

Policy manual review and next steps

The county's policy-review subcommittee has received feedback from external groups (noted at the meeting as WCA and others) and expects to meet in the next one to two weeks to reconcile suggested changes; the next committee meeting date mentioned at the meeting was March 3. No board action was required at this time beyond scheduling the subcommittee follow-up.

Ending

The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn that carried. Several supervisors asked staff to return with recommended language or proposals on items noted above at future meetings; staff indicated they would bring updated materials back to the committee when ready.