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Personnel Board delays final vote on 102-page employee handbook; advances plan for employee survey and 360 review
Summary
The board identified a dozen sections of the 102-page employee handbook that need further revision (overtime/comp time, standby pay, holiday pay, benefits, military leave and workplace-violence training) and agreed to delay a full vote until July; the board also discussed plans for an anonymous employee climate survey and a 360 review of the town manager.
The Conflict Personnel Board advanced work on a comprehensive employee handbook but decided not to finalize the 102-page document at Thursday's meeting.
Staff and board members described progress on most sections but identified roughly a dozen segments that require further clarification, including: consolidation of "violations" language across policies; overtime/comp-time and public-works practices; standby-pay calculations for select non-union roles; updated holiday-pay language for the recreation/Bey center; short-term disability language (effective July 1); military-leave clarifications; workplace-violence training language; and educational-reimbursement provisions that require town-manager review.
Jess, the assistant town manager and HR director, told the board she had updated several sections but recommended holding a single comprehensive vote rather than approving the handbook piecemeal. "I wasn't intending to launch it until all the sections are final," she said, and staff proposed returning the full draft in July with a cover page calling out priority sections for board members to focus on.
Board members agreed that HR (Jess and Aaron) will be responsible for ongoing maintenance and post-vote publication, including producing a clean, searchable electronic handbook and replacing scattered personnel policy documents (APs/PPPs) with the consolidated handbook.
The board also reviewed an employee-engagement approach. Staff proposed beginning with quantitative hiring and retention metrics now and, if resourced in a future budget cycle, conducting an anonymous employee-climate survey (potentially in FY28) to capture attitudes and reasons for leaving. In the near term, the board approved work to implement a 360-degree component for the town-manager evaluation: selected senior management team members will complete an anonymous five-point 360 form focused on leadership attributes; staff will compile a composite summary for the select board.
Members asked staff to return a revised handbook and a clear publication plan at the next meeting.
