Bonner County HR says administrative‑leave and volunteer policies missing; commissioners push for clearer rules and training

Bonner County’s human resources director told commissioners the county lacks a formal administrative-leave policy and has no consistent written guidance governing volunteers and interns — gaps that, commissioners warned, increase litigation and insurance exposure.

"There is nothing in Bonner County's personnel policy manual that addresses administrative leave," Director Holmgren said, adding that departments have long placed employees on paid administrative leave without HR protocols. Holmgren said the Office of Personnel Management, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Idaho Division of Human Resources and Idaho administrative codes provided starting points she plans to use to draft a county-specific policy.

Commissioners said the policy must be narrowly drafted, tied to performance-improvement plans (PIPs) where appropriate, and include clear due-process steps if an employee is removed from duty. Several commissioners urged including a Loudermill-style notice-and‑response step and setting criteria for when cases are referred for outside investigation.

"Every administrative leave case in terms of best practices has to be seen as a potential employment claim," Commissioner (Speaker 1) said, urging that the process include notice, written explanation and an opportunity for the employee to respond. Commissioners also discussed how elected officials sometimes place staff on leave without board-level notification and asked for a clearer mechanism to avoid budgetary surprises.

Holmgren also flagged the absence of a volunteer and intern policy. She said many county boards, sheriff’s office and emergency-management functions use volunteers, but there is no consistent code of conduct, activation system, or insurance registration. Commissioners supported onboarding, activation logs or sign‑in sheets, explicit written volunteer agreements and annual updates so the county and insurers can verify coverage.

Commissioner (Speaker 5) suggested using sample materials from nearby Kootenai County and existing drafts developed by county staff as starting points and recommended clear language to distinguish volunteers from employees so volunteers are not inadvertently treated as staff for insurance purposes.

On training and rollout, Holmgren asked whether HR and Risk should trade monthly training slots at elected-official/department-head meetings and whether HR should place key courses on the county’s Safety Plus system. Commissioners asked HR to present a policy framework that explains how the personnel manual will be revised and to bring more complete proposals and draft policies to a future meeting.

What happens next: HR will draft an administrative-leave policy using federal and state guidance as a framework, prepare volunteer and intern onboarding and code-of-conduct materials (leveraging existing drafts and Kootenai County examples), and present a prioritized framework for revising Policies 500, 600 and 700 and a training plan to the board.