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Liberty County keeps COVID pay for employees but requires doctor's note, effective Oct. 1
Summary
After debate, the Liberty County Commissioners Court voted to continue COVID pay for county employees with a requirement that staff provide a doctor's excuse or verification of diagnosis; the treasurer will withhold pay until documentation is filed. Effective date: Oct. 1 to allow notice.
The Liberty County Commissioners Court voted July 23 to continue COVID pay for county employees, but added a new verification requirement and an Oct. 1 effective date.
The motion approved by the court requires employees who claim COVID pay to "produce a doctor's excuse or verification of diagnosis for their personnel file with the treasurer's office" before the county will process the payment, according to the motion read into the record by a commissioner. The court also directed that the treasurer should not disburse COVID pay until the required documentation is received and that any pay already issued could be adjusted if supporting documentation is later provided.
The item followed a lengthy debate over whether the county should discontinue the COVID pay program. One initial motion to eliminate COVID pay failed after the court recorded a 2-2 split and the presiding officer cast a deciding vote to reject elimination. Commissioners who opposed elimination cited concerns that employees might come to work sick if required to use regular sick time and that the county should retain a policy for public-safety-facing positions.
Supporters of removing the benefit argued existing sick-leave pools and extended leave policies already address employee absences. After discussion, the court approved a substitute motion to continue COVID pay under the new documentation requirement and set Oct. 1 as the implementation date to allow time to notify employees and update payroll procedures.
The court did not specify an annual budget line for ongoing COVID pay beyond existing personnel allocations; the presiding officer noted administrators should ensure the policy is applied fairly and not abused.
The decision was procedural: the court preserved the pay benefit while adding a mechanism intended to verify medical need and control payroll disbursements. The treasurer and department heads were directed to implement the verification process and communicate the change to staff prior to Oct. 1.
