Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board agrees to continue $1,500 legacy health‑insurance opt‑out stipend for single employee
Summary
After payroll review, HR recommended retaining an annual $1,500 opt‑out stipend for one legacy recipient until they leave or enroll in town insurance; the Select Board voted to continue the stipend for that individual and confirmed the town has not re‑established a townwide opt‑out program.
Town HR staff told the Select Board on July 28 that an annual $1,500 health‑insurance opt‑out stipend continued to be paid to a single employee despite the program being phased out years earlier. Assistant Town Administrator and HR Director Robert Jones said payroll records lacked documentation to justify the continued payment and that the stipend appears to be a legacy practice.
Jones recommended honoring the payment for that legacy recipient only — until the employee separates or enrolls in town insurance — and explicitly not reinstating a townwide opt‑out stipend. "Upon further research, it doesn't look like it was formally terminated... I do recommend, just as HR, to continue honoring that past practice for only this employee," Jones said. Board members asked whether more such legacy payments existed; staff replied this was an isolated case found while reconciling legacy payroll spreadsheets and implementing BambooHR.
A motion to approve the continuation for the current legacy recipient, while confirming the action does not reinstate a town‑wide opt‑out stipend, was seconded and approved by voice vote.
