MOUNT VERNON — The major item on the agenda for the Knox County Board of Health meeting Wednesday night was an overview of the department’s personnel policy and procedure manual.
Although the changes and revisions are not final, going over some of the alterations took up the majority of the meeting time. The document was changed and edited by John Crock, a legal consultant at the firm of Clemans, Nelson & Associates Inc. in Dublin.
Health Commissioner Dennis Murray went over the proposed changes to the document, occasionally noting to the board that it should read and consider longer additions to the document on their own time before the next meeting.
Some changes that Murray noted concerned the discrimination and harassment policy, evaluation of new applicants for employment, and hours employees were expected to be at work during the week. Another of the proposed changes was the increase of the probationary period after the new hiring or promotion of an employee.
One proposed change that sparked a discussion among the board members involved holiday pay. The proposed changes stated that any employee of the health department working on a holiday would be entitled to two hours of comp time for every hour worked, in addition to his or her regular pay. Board member Laura Haberman did not agree with the proposed change, saying it was triple-time pay. Board member Dr. L. Keith Plocki agreed the proposed increase was too much. Murray said he would note the board’s concern with the section and would communicate with Crock to try to resolve the issue.
“We’ll get it cleaned up,” said Murray.
In other business, the board:
•Unanimously approved an increase for employee mileage. Beginning April 1, the health department will pay its employees 45 cents per mile driven for work.
•Unanimously approved a health worker from Richland County to conduct HIV testing and counseling at the health department once a month. The exact details of the arrangement are not yet finalized.
The health department will present the Partners in Public Health Awards on Friday, April 11, at the health department; the time was tentatively set for 8 a.m.
