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Select Board discusses personnel policy updates, benefits and leave changes
Summary
The board reviewed ongoing personnel policy updates, asked for clearer applicability language, discussed part-time hour thresholds and funeral leave, and agreed to insurance eligibility beginning the first of the month after hire; Shane Beattie will provide sample language and Leon Rideout will share county payment-in-lieu-of-insurance wording.
The Lancaster Select Board continued a months-long review of proposed personnel policy updates at its July 7 work session. Town Manager Jessica Cyr walked the board through tabbed updates that have been under review since November 2024.
Board members said the policy’s "purpose and applicability" clause was too broad; Select Board member Shane Beattie volunteered to provide alternative language he has used previously. The board discussed the definition of part-time employment: members favored a 35-hours-or-less threshold for town part-time status, while Leon Rideout noted federal rules can make employees eligible for healthcare benefits at 32 hours per week and said he would provide the county’s payment-in-lieu-of-insurance language as a reference.
Members debated bereavement or funeral leave, with Rideout saying a one-day allowance for a grandchild was insufficient and recommending three days for certain immediate-family categories. The draft was updated to add maternity as an FMLA-qualifying reason. The group insurance section was revised to state employees become eligible for insurance effective the first of the month following their start date, and included a carve-out allowing the Town Manager to change plan providers or plan design. The board also reviewed an updated seat belt policy (applying to eligible passengers and volunteers) and received a draft cell phone policy; Cyr will report back with the current list of town cell phone users.
No formal adoption occurred at the session; board members requested the sample language from Shane Beattie and county wording from Leon Rideout and asked staff to return with revised text for further consideration.
