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Board ratifies three‑year POAM contract with overtime, pay scale changes and lump‑sum payout
Summary
Calhoun County approved the 2026–2028 POAM collective bargaining agreement Dec. 4, 2025, adopting a three‑year contract that redefines overtime to align with FLSA, restructures pay steps and includes a $4,500 per-employee lump‑sum ratification payout; vote was 6–0.
The Calhoun County Board of Commissioners ratified a three‑year collective bargaining agreement with the POAM (Protective Officers Association of Michigan) covering roughly 160 nonsupervisory sheriff’s office employees, voting 6–0 on Dec. 4.
County Administrator Kelly Scott described the agreement as the product of bargaining that sought to limit excessive overtime and improve recruitment and retention. Key provisions Scott highlighted include redefining overtime to match Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) definitions (limiting premium pay to hours actually worked beyond the 80/84‑hour pay period), restructuring the pay scale by eliminating low hiring steps and adding a top step, and offering a 3% cost‑of‑living increase for each of the three years.
To ease the phase‑out of prior recruitment/retention bonuses funded with one‑time COVID relief funds, the agreement provides a lump‑sum ratification payout totaling $4,500 per employee distributed in two installments this year and next, Scott said. Scott also told the board the union ratified the agreement earlier this week.
Scott said overtime costs had been a significant budgetary pressure — roughly $2,000,000 annually for the sheriff’s office — and that management and the sheriff’s command team worked to build operational fixes and part‑time usage to reduce overtime demands. The board approved the ratification motion without further amendment; the vote was recorded as six‑zero.
The agreement will be posted to the county’s personnel/HR records and implemented by the sheriff’s office and human resources according to the negotiated timelines and payroll adjustments.
