County discusses adding new position as it examines employee pay issues

After the recent loss of County Engineer Jason Heile due to an offer from Daviess County that included a higher salary, the Dubois County Council is seeking information regarding salary standards for all the county positions.

The issue was addressed twice Monday evening.

The first time was when Kent Irwin, of the firm Waggoner, Irwin & Scheele, presented a proposal to conduct a salary analysis of the county employees and to update the county’s job descriptions.

Job descriptions are maintained by individual county department heads and according to Auditor Kathy Hopf, the county doesn’t have one source for those descriptions except for a book prepared during a study conducted by Indiana University. It hasn’t been updated since that study was conducted in 1993 and Hopf couldn’t attest to the accuracy of the job descriptions in the book due to its age.

Irwin proposed to conduct the study for no more than $50,000 — his estimate was for $40,000 to $43,000 with about $4,000 in expenses. His firm would also provide updates to the job descriptions every two years but the cost for this additional service was not discussed.

The council took the proposal under consideration.

Later in the meeting, Councilman Nick Hostetter presented the council with his research and recommendation to create a human resources director position for the county.

He stated the position could complete the study proposed by Irwin as well as complete several key responsibilities currently handled in the auditor’s office. The position’s responsibilities included a variety of employee-related issues, the salary review process, employee recruitment and employee training.

Hostetter explained that he had spoken with Commissioner Kevin Nigh of Shelby County about the county’s experience with the human resource director. Shelby County is one of nine Indiana counties that employs a human resources director and its size is similar to Dubois County’s, according to Hostetter. “He [Nigh] stated he felt the position had saved the county money and they were getting a big bang for their buck,” Hostetter told the other council members.

Council president Greg Kendall and councilwoman Martha Wehr pointed out that these responsibilities are fulfilled by the auditor’s office.

Hostetter stated that human resources wasn’t included as the auditor’s responsibility according to Indiana Statute, but Wehr stated, “That is what they do.”

Hostetter went on to explain the position would relieve a lot of the human resources responsibilities from all of the county department heads. He also pointed out the lack of succession when the current auditor Kathy Hopf leaves office at the end of her term. Auditors can only serve eight years in a twelve year period and Hopf, who is running unopposed in the 2013 election, will be serving her second term.

“The next person will have to be retrained,” Hostetter said.

But Wehr disagreed and stated that the new auditor or commissioners could decide to fire the human resources director and appoint a new one.

Hostetter stated the position could protect the county from being sued for human resource issues. He pointed out issues with employee taxes not being completed properly in regards to take-home vehicles and an employee’s family not being insured properly because of some confusion that occurred when the benefits package was being explained to the new employee.

Councilman Shane Lindauer pointed out that a human resources director could ensure the employee performance evaluations were conducted properly.

Kendall stated he felt the study completed by Waggoner, Irwin & Scheele would create a good foundation for the human resource director to work from but Hostetter disagreed, saying the $50,000 could be better spent on hiring a human resources director. “This [study] could be completed by the human resources director,” he said.

He pointed out that the county was running into issues with Highway Superintendent Steve Berg’s duties even though the highway department has contracted engineering services with a local engineering firm since Heile departed. He also explained the study completed by the firm would only be valid for a few years before it would need to be updated; a human resources director would be more in tune to maintain those records.

“One of the easiest ways for us to be sued is based around those job descriptions and the hiring process,” Hostetter said. “If five people apply for a job, you open yourself up for a lawsuit for discriminatory hiring because you can’t show someone just isn’t capable of doing the job.”

Although pay for the position was not heavily discussed, the council heard from an attending human resource director that the position would probably require over $50,000 a year for pay.

In the end the council decided to table the idea for further discussion when the entire council was present; councilman Mark Brescher was not in attendance.