Gun Barrel City council adopts updated personnel policy to improve retention and clarify pay and inclement-weather rules

The Gun Barrel City Council approved a revised employee personnel policy intended to modernize workplace rules and improve retention among municipal staff.

City Manager Dr. Smith, who led the review, told council the last comprehensive update dated to about 2018 and the new document addresses pandemic-era changes, corrects scrivener’s errors and adds several substantive updates. "One of the things that the team and I talked a lot about was vacation leave and how do we entice people to stay around," Dr. Smith said, describing an accrual schedule that gives 80 hours in the first two years, three weeks after year two, and four weeks after five years.

Other changes include expanded "out-of-class" pay so employees who temporarily take on additional duties are compensated; a clarified bereavement policy with differentiated leave for immediate versus extended family; a per-diem travel reimbursement that reduces receipt paperwork by following the State of Texas per-diem rates; and an inclement-weather provision that pays city-hall staff when the city closes while providing time-and-a-half to essential personnel required to work.

Dr. Smith said department heads and staff worked through contentious issues and that the policy is modeled on a format that has withstood litigation. Council members praised the work and acknowledged the policy may be amended again as officials learn from its implementation.

The council approved the policy by motion and unanimous vote. Dr. Smith said the city will return to council with any necessary future amendments.