State HR chief outlines paid family leave rollout, says vacancy rate improving but gaps remain

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Beth Baskigy, commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on Jan. 22 that the state’s paid family medical leave program for state employees is in place and that broader rollouts for employers and individuals are pending.

Baskigy said the program for state employees provides “6 weeks at 60% of their pay,” and that the state launched a voluntary plan for businesses last summer. She told the committee the individual market enrollment will open next summer, with public enrollment materials and a marketing campaign beginning in July 2025.

The program is administered by The Hartford, Baskigy said, and businesses and individuals can choose different coverage options; for example, the state’s baseline is 60% pay for six weeks but employers may purchase higher coverage or longer leave. “The pricing depends on ... salary,” she said, explaining that a higher‑paid workforce generally raises per‑person costs.

Why it matters: paid family leave affects workforce retention and recruitment across state government and in the private sector, and the administration tied rollout timing to outreach and marketing plans.

On workforce figures, Harold Schwartz, director of operations, told the committee the state’s overall vacancy rate is “10.4%” based on the department’s dashboard. Committee members and DHR staff also discussed turnover: Baskigy reported a fiscal‑year turnover rate of about 11.5% and said vacancy rates have improved from pandemic highs but remain above pre‑pandemic levels. She and Schwartz flagged especially high vacancy pressure in the Department of Mental Health, which Schwartz noted as “36%.” The department of corrections, Schwartz said, was about 12.3% in the latest dashboard data.

Baskigy described the state’s workforce size as roughly 8,000 classified employees (rising toward 10,000 when counting temporary employees and other branches) and said DHR administers payroll and benefits systems and provides HR business partner services, classification, training and labor‑relations support. She described a statewide training center (the Center for Achievement in Public Service) and outlined DHR’s work on classification and compensation modernization.

Committee members pressed for more data on vacancy and recruitment trends. Baskigy said DHR maintains a public dashboard with vacancy and turnover details and offered to send committee members the link. She described the position pool process for reallocating funded positions: positions are generally moved to the pool after six months of vacancy unless active recruitment is underway, and a position‑pool committee — including DHR, the secretary of administration’s office and finance — considers reassignments.

On compensation and retention, committee members discussed step increases and across‑the‑board raises. Baskigy and staff described the existing classified pay schedule (a multistep system in which newer employees typically receive annual step increases in early years and longer intervals between steps later). She said recent bargaining cycles produced larger increases in some units — for example, troopers’ steps yield a higher estimated step value and the most recent across‑the‑board increases were historically large.

Baskigy told the committee DHR’s large, multiyear projects include the paid leave rollout and updates to the classification and compensation system; she also noted that collective bargaining (“pay act”) funding is set on a biennial cycle and that bargaining for the next cycle starts this fall.

The committee asked about investigations and employees on administrative leave; Baskigy said DHR conducts employee misconduct investigations in coordination with the employing departments and emphasized that due process and statutory and contractual requirements influence timing. She offered to return for a deeper briefing on the investigation process.

Ending: DHR staff agreed to provide the committee with dashboard links and additional data requested on vacancies, pay‑step values and uptake numbers for benefits such as dental and the paid‑leave product for employers. No formal committee actions or votes were taken during the briefing.