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North Haven board adopts personnel-policy clarifications and approves COLA with limited merit pay
Summary
After clarifying wording about vacation payout and sick leave, the Board approved personnel policy updates and voted to give all employees a 2.8% cost-of-living increase; four employees rated 'exceeds expectations' received a 1% merit increase.
The North Haven Select Board on March 4 approved clarifying edits to the town’s personnel policy and authorized pay adjustments following the board’s first round of employee evaluations.
Board members refined language on vacation accrual and payout (clarifying that vacation becomes paid after one year of continuous service and that sick leave is generally not paid out), requested a definition of “employment in good standing,” and agreed to add clearer disciplinary steps and family medical leave language in future revisions. The board voted to adopt the personnel policy update with those clarifications.
In a separate action tied to budget preparation, members debated whether to award merit increases now or defer more targeted merit decisions until evaluation metrics are refined. The board ultimately approved a motion to provide a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to all employees and a 1% merit increase to the four employees categorized in the evaluations as “exceeds expectations.” The board approved the motion by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Members emphasized that COLA is intended to maintain buying power while the board continues to refine merit criteria, and they asked staff to document budget impact and to return with written policy language tying future merit increases to evaluation metrics and the town’s fiscal capacity. The board also asked staff to specify how the changes apply to part-time and contract positions.
