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Milford Water Utilities shifts finance and HR in‑house, adopts new handbook practices to retain staff
Summary
Milford Water Utilities reported it will perform its own finance and HR functions, hire an external HR firm, and adopt a revised personnel handbook that converts sick/vacation to PTO, changes floating holidays to fixed holidays, and eliminates a make‑whole workers'‑comp provision—moves the utility says are designed to improve recruitment and retention.
Representatives of Milford Water Utilities told the board they have taken finance and HR responsibilities in‑house and hired an external HR firm to administer a new personnel handbook. The presenters said the handbook aligns many items with town practice but also contains several department‑specific changes intended to improve staffing and reduce turnover.
Water Utilities representatives described three principal changes: removal of a workers’‑comp “make‑whole” policy (employees would not be made fully whole by the employer beyond workers’‑comp payments), replacing floating holidays with fixed town holidays to simplify scheduling, and consolidating separate sick and vacation banks into a single PTO bank with limited carryover and a capped cash‑out window. A Water Utilities director said these changes reduce scheduling complications and are designed to make positions more attractive to prospective employees.
Town Administrator Laurie Radke asked how the transition would affect town HR workloads and access to insurance administration. Water Utilities representatives said the outside HR firm will handle onboarding and routine HR services but town staff will still manage insurance enrollment and certain administrative functions. The utility estimated the fee it pays the town was previously about $48,000 and that outside HR services will cost roughly $8,000 annually for their operation; the water utilities said it considered that a reasonable tradeoff for improved retention.
Board members expressed concern about two parallel handbooks existing (town and utility), the potential for perceived inequality among town employees, and the accounting of any payouts tied to conversion of current sick/vacation banks. Utility leaders said they would work with town HR and the finance director to address conversion mechanics and to reduce burdens on town HR staff.
Next steps: Water Utilities and town HR to coordinate on the conversion timetable and any payout/calculation for existing accruals; board asked Karen and the finance director to consult with Water Utilities ahead of the utility’s planned Jan. 1 rollout.
