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Afton council debates leave-policy rewrite after software cap deleted accrued hours
Summary
Council reviewed an updated personnel handbook and directed staff to fix a timekeeping cap that has been causing employee hours to be lost while work continues on a formal leave policy; members debated PTO conversion, cash‑out rules and a temporary accrual approach.
The Afton Town Council debated changes to the town's personnel policy and an apparent inconsistency between the written handbook and the timekeeping software that has been limiting employees' accrued vacation hours.
The council's chair opened the item by presenting an updated policy-and-procedure handbook that expands and clarifies leave rules, including vacation, sick leave and paid family leave. "I want our employees to have the stability of knowing what it is and what happens when you hit the max," the chair said, urging the council to let staff and department directors review the draft and provide comments ahead of formal legal review.
Council members said the written policy does not currently specify a vacation cap, but the town's payroll/timekeeping software has been applying a cap that some employees have interpreted as lost time. Council discussion cited several figures used in conversation about sick leave (variously referenced as about 460 or 480 hours in the packet and oral comments), but members agreed those numbers are unclear in the current policy. The chair said the software-imposed cap needs to be addressed so employees do not continue to lose accrued time while the council finalizes a policy.
Committee member S5 described a common cash‑out practice used by some employers: "The first 40 hours is paid regular and the rest is always 80%," the member said, noting employees sometimes rely on a cash-out for holiday or retirement payouts. Several members said they do not want to take away benefits that employees have already earned.
As an interim measure, council members directed staff to remove the software cap so accruals continue while the council and department directors finalize a written policy. Members also discussed options for a formal cap and whether employees who already lost hours should be allowed to cash out or be restored those hours; the council did not adopt a final payout rule at the meeting but set a timeline for returning a proposed written policy for further consideration.
The council asked department directors to gather input from employees and to return suggested language to the council; the new parks and streets director, starting July 22, will be asked to take part in those Monday morning meetings. The council scheduled further review of the handbook at a future meeting.
Ending: Council members agreed on next steps—fix the timekeeping software to stop unintended losses, solicit employee feedback on the draft handbook, and return with proposed, written policy language for a subsequent meeting.
