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Sunbury staff proposes stand‑alone employee handbook, adds vacation caps and phone stipend
Summary
City staff presented a draft employee handbook that would move the text out of the codified ordinance, add new policies (including AI and employment‑eligibility language), cap vacation and comp‑time accruals, and establish a $200 annual phone stipend for eligible employees; council review is scheduled for August.
Sunbury staff presented a draft employee handbook to the finance committee on July 15 that would remove the handbook from its current codified home in chapter 139 and convert it to a stand‑alone policy the city could change more easily.
At the meeting, a staff member identified in the record as Ms. Steffen said the current handbook "has been a codified ordinance ever since we've had this handbook" and described the codified structure as creating barriers to routine updates. The draft moves the handbook out of ordinance text so future edits could be made by a simpler process, the presentation said.
The draft adds several policy topics that staff said were missing, including an artificial‑intelligence section and consolidated language about confidential city information and employment‑eligibility compliance. Steffen told the committee that the handbook team worked with Strategic HR and noted that some wording came from that consultant.
On pay and leave, staff said the draft aligns some accrual rules with existing bargaining agreements: the handbook would set a 300‑hour maximum vacation accrual and allow an annual cash‑out provision for certain employees. Steffen said the handbook "matches what it was negotiated with the FOP contract last year," and described the cash‑out as limited to employees with the required tenure; the draft also specifies a 100‑hour annual cap on compensatory time earned and used. Steffen explained comp time pensionability is governed by OPERS rules and that staff generally try to pay out comp time in the year it is earned.
The draft also establishes a $200 annual cell‑phone stipend for certain positions (department heads, police sergeants and on‑call service employees were cited as likely eligible). Steffen warned that employees using private phones to conduct city business should be aware those devices may be subject to public‑records discovery.
Committee members asked for a redline or side‑by‑side comparison showing where language has changed and noted possible rewording (for example, replacing the phrase "immigration law compliance" with "employment eligibility compliance" to avoid misleading connotations). Steffen said she has a comparison spreadsheet and will provide a redline version for committee review.
Steffen said the draft is in the packet for council consideration; staff intends to introduce it at the council meeting in early August. The draft lists a tentative effective date of July 1, 2026, which staff said the council could adjust or make retroactive.
The committee did not take formal action on the draft at the July 15 session and directed staff to provide requested comparisons and clarifications ahead of council review.
