The Chase County Commission continued discussion on suggested updates to a county employee’s handbook during a meeting earlier this week at the courthouse.
The commissioners have been discussing edits to the publication for several weeks with Deputy Clerk Tiffany Harshman, who has been in charge of the project. Department heads were invited to bring concerns to the discussion before the handbook undergoes its next round of edits.
Some of the proposed changes include dropping residency requirements for county employees, which would open the pool of prospective workers to include people from outside of Chase County. Department heads agreed with the change, saying it had the potential to attract more people to positions they haven’t been able to fill. Commissioners also discussed allowing new employees to take vacation days after their 90-day introductory period had concluded. Commissioner Bill Fillmore said he believed this would also attract quality employees to the county and reward them for their work. Committee chair Chris Burton suggested that instead of offering sick leave and vacation time, to switch to a paid time off system that would allow employees to earn time based on their length of service to the county each month.
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)