Wausau HR committee outlines overhaul of employee handbook, plans RFP for outside employment counsel

The Wausau Human Resources Committee on Monday reviewed plans to comprehensively update the city’s employee handbook and said an RFP for outside legal services will be issued to support that work.

An HR staff member (name not specified in the transcript) told the committee the handbook has received only piecemeal updates over the years and that a more robust, enterprise-wide revision is needed. “The employee handbook for the city of Wausau has gone through a few piecemeal updates over the years,” the presenter said, and described a project charter and online repository to manage the work.

The presenter said the overhaul will reorganize materials into three tiers: an enterprise-wide core handbook governed by the committee and council, administrative policies, and department-specific policies. That approach, the presenter said, is intended to speed routine decisions and give directors more autonomy over department-level items: “moving the architecture of the handbook from 1 gigantic book to, having an enterprise wide book of core, policies and procedures, and then moving some of the department specific items out of that handbook…to give some autonomy to the directors,” the presenter said.

Committee members asked why outside counsel is necessary when an in-house city attorney exists. One member asked that the explanation be shared publicly. The presenter responded that municipal employment law is specialized and rapidly changing and that while the city attorney has broad subject-matter expertise, employment law for municipalities requires a day-to-day specialized practice. “Employment law isn’t one of [the city attorney’s specialties],” the presenter said, adding that a specific employment attorney will be retained to perform the deep review and ensure compliance with evolving case law and municipal code implications.

On cost, the presenter said the city has used about $16,000 in external legal services since 2016 for handbook audits and that the upcoming RFP work might cost “maybe 20, maybe less, maybe a little bit more,” but that a significant cushion has been built into the department’s 2026 budget to ensure the project can be completed correctly and compliantly.

The committee treated the item as informational; no vote was taken on the handbook or the RFP at the meeting. By way of routine business, the committee approved the minutes from the Nov. 10, 2025 meeting (motion by Killian; second by Martins) and later adjourned (motion by Killian; second by Henke).

The HR staff member said the project charter has already been shared with department heads and the mayor as executive sponsor and that staff will proceed with developing the RFP and SharePoint repository to support the multi-tier handbook structure. The committee did not set a date for return of a draft handbook or selection of legal counsel during the meeting.