Commissioners approve HR consulting agreement; full handbook rewrite deferred pending council funding

Jennings County officials approved a consulting agreement with Warner Owen Shively and Associates to provide human-resources consulting and support for county personnel issues, while deferring a full personnel-handbook rewrite until the county council confirms funding.

Alex, a staff member who presented the proposal, said the firm offered two options: a full handbook rewrite and as-needed HR consulting. "The estimated fees for updating our personnel policy will be in the range of $16,840 to $19,600 plus expenses," Alex said, and added the handbook-redo would take about "6 to 8 months." Alex recommended approving the hourly consulting retainer now and waiting for council funding before signing the full-rewrite contract.

Commissioners said the current policies need updating to reflect a new payroll bank and to allow employees to use vacation, sick and personal accruals in minute-by-minute increments, items the proposed rewrite would address. One commissioner noted the expense but supported moving forward on the consulting agreement to address urgent questions while the handbook project is scheduled with council consideration.

The board moved and seconded to approve the consulting engagement; the meeting record indicates the motion was carried and staff may sign the consulting engagement. The handbook rewrite was explicitly described as contingent on council approval and budget allocation.

The consulting contract will provide on-call assistance for recruitment, discipline, wage-and-hour compliance and leave administration, and the county will revisit the full handbook project when council funding is available.