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Stevens County approves AFSCME contract, adds recruitment pay for child protection social workers and tests flexible schedules
Summary
The Stevens County Board approved a tentative AFSCME general unit contract that includes a 3% 2025 cost-of-living adjustment, a split paid family/medical leave premium, a recruitment-and-retention pay plan for child protection social workers and a one-year pilot of expanded flexible scheduling for human services staff.
The Stevens County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a tentative contract with the AFSCME general unit on a package of wage and benefit changes, and adopted several related personnel actions including a temporary flexible-scheduling pilot for human services staff.
The contract covers a 3% COLA for 2025 and additional wage adjustments built into the multi‑year agreement. "We did backdate, and we'll back pay the contract to January 1," Becky said during the presentation. The agreement also includes health-insurance premium adjustments and an employer/employee split for paid family and medical leave (PFML) premiums.
Why it matters: the contract affects county wage and benefit expenditures and includes measures the county said aim to improve recruitment and retention for difficult-to-fill positions in human services.
Board staff described key provisions. Becky summarized changes to insurance-cost sharing and the PFML item: "The way that works is they have to offer the same benefits that the state has dictated..., but it can be a privately funded plan." The board also approved a memorandum of agreement to provide targeted recruitment-and-retention pay for child protection social workers (CPSW). Under the MOA, employees who volunteer for reassignment to CPSW duties or who are reassigned at 50% or more receive additional hourly pay; the premium is prorated for partial assignments.
Becky said the county has seen high turnover in CPSW positions and still had open vacancies. "We've had about a 75% turnover rate in that group," she said, and described ongoing recruitment efforts and an advertisement that closes March 11. Jan and Becky told the board they will provide training resources for volunteers who lack prior CPS experience.
The contract also adds or memorializes several personnel provisions: bereavement leave adjustments, domestic-partner language, and other housekeeping items from recent labor negotiations. The board approved language adopting prior MOA items permanently into the contract.
Separately, the board approved a temporary, one‑year pilot of an expanded flexible-scheduling policy limited to human services. Under the pilot, staff may request nonstandard schedules (for example, different daytime hours) with negotiated coverage arrangements; participating employees may waive certain premium-pay eligibility tied to standard business-hour schedules. "We already do have flex scheduling available for other departments countywide," Becky said. "This is temporary for a year based on a trial basis for human services staff only."
Board chair action and next steps: Commissioners voted to approve the contract and associated MOAs; Becky and Jan will return with implementation details, recruitment updates, and a one‑year report on the flexible-scheduling pilot. The board recorded the motion and carried it by voice vote.
Ending: The board thanked staff for compiling comparative county data used in negotiations and asked that updates on recruitment for CPSW positions be provided as hiring progresses.
