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Houston County adopts consolidated policy manual and approves UKG HR/payroll software contract
Summary
The board adopted a consolidated Houston County Policies and Procedures Manual and approved a three‑year contract for UKG HR/payroll software through the Minnesota Counties Computer Cooperative, including a one‑time launch fee and ongoing annual license; implementation work is planned to begin ahead of a June 1, 2026 go‑live.
The Houston County Board voted to adopt a consolidated Policies and Procedures Manual and to contract with UKG (through the Minnesota Counties Computer Cooperative) for an HR/payroll/workforce management system.
Brent (county staff) introduced the policy manual as a "living document" intended to supersede previous county policies and to allow individual policy updates without replacing the entire manual. He said a Minnesota mandatory paid‑leave policy will be added to the manual before the new year and described a plan to distribute the manual electronically through the county’s "know before" system so employees can acknowledge receipt.
On procurement, staff recommended contracting with UKG via the Minnesota Counties Computer Cooperative to replace aging payroll/HR systems (including NeoGov recruitment and legacy PayMate processes). Brent presented a one‑time launch/build fee of approximately $17,006.55 and an annual license cost estimated at about $43,065; the county budget includes the initial fees and a three‑year rate guarantee through the cooperative. Brent and other staff described function consolidation benefits (recruiting, onboarding, payroll, scheduling) and noted some departments will continue to export data from specialty tools into the new system.
Commissioners discussed implementation timing, cost tradeoffs, and review mechanisms. Brent said implementation should be underway so the county can be ready by a target June 1, 2026 transition date. The board moved and adopted the policy manual resolution and voted to approve the UKG contract; commissioners also discussed continuing to monitor and review the system's fit for county needs.
What happens next: staff will begin implementation work, coordinate with departmental users (including the sheriff’s office scheduling), and prepare training/onboarding and reporting preferences as part of the implementation process. The county will track the policy manual as a living document and schedule periodic review.
