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Commission discusses revisions to several personnel and administration policies
Summary
Commissioners reviewed proposed edits to policy manual sections on probation, discipline, grievance, vehicle use and ethics, directed staff to draft clarified language and recommended a longer-term full policy review.
The Daggett County Commission reviewed proposed edits to multiple sections of the county policy manual — including Section 5 (probation/orientation), Section 16 (discipline), Section 17 (grievance), and other administrative sections. Commissioners discussed clarifying that newly hired and promoted employees serve a probation or orientation period and whether policy language should explicitly state that those employees are at-will.
Staff relayed suggested wording from a consultant (Kristen Van Orman) recommending explicit reference to where at-will and probation rules are spelled out. Commissioners debated the implications of changing the status of long-serving department directors and managers, noting that converting incumbents to an at-will status midstream could have workforce and morale consequences. One commissioner suggested phased approaches — for example, offering an incentive and allowing new hires to be at-will while preserving incumbent protections, or achieving change over time through attrition rather than immediate reclassification.
Participants also raised gaps in the county’s vehicle policy (personal use vs county-assigned take-home vehicles) and noted IRS rules that can affect tax treatment for personal use of county vehicles. Commissioners directed staff to draft specific language to: clarify probation and at-will status in Section 5, reconcile discipline and grievance procedures so Sections 16 and 17 are consistent, add or cross-reference an ethics/code-of-conduct section, and prepare recommended edits to the vehicle-use policy. Commissioners also asked staff to evaluate whether an outside contractor should conduct a comprehensive policy review to update the entire manual; staff said such a review could be pursued and that short-term fixes could be adopted while planning a longer review.
No final policy vote was taken; the commission asked staff to produce revised language and to return the proposed edits for further review and action.
