Could Laid-Off County Employees Get Hired Back?

As county commissioners were working through the final adjustments to the fiscal year 2012 budget, commissioner Joe Barbetta noticed that while policy states the county should look to laid off employees first to fill open positions, numbers suggest they were not.

“They should have a first shot at it,” he said. “It really bothers me.”

The numbers, he said, suggest the county is not being proactive enough in making sure that former employees get the first crack at new positions.

Deputy county administrator Dave Bullock said the county has already started to address this by extending the “restricted” period of a job opening to lay off employees from three to five days.

During that time only former and current employees can apply for job openings at the county. After those five days the public can apply for the position.

He said three days have not given former employees enough time to apply. The new procedure gives laid off employees a better chance.

Bullock also said that in many cases laid off employees have not applied. “We don’t know where they are,” he said.

Barbetta suggested the county should send out a blast email to former employees any time there is an opening. Staff agreed, and commissioners voted unanimously to have staff send out the emails.

Mission Critical Positions

When there is a job opening in the county, the position goes through a review to make sure the position is necessary to the county’s mission before the job is posted.  The job has to bee approved by Bullock and interim county administrator Terry Lewis.

“What we look for, is there any way to do the job first with existing employees,” he said.

Commissioner Christine Robinson said that while she understands this process is necessary, she said it could lead to some unintended consequences when it came to managers terminating employees for performance issues.

Managers, she said, could be hesitant firing an employee if he or she knew the position would go away entirely.

“I have a concern that we are not letting go of people and [if] they are, they are not going to be able to get that position back,” she said. “[We are] creating a sense [that a] person there is better than nobody at all. We are actually encouraging lower performance.”

Bullock said there is no need for that worry because he approves at performance-based terminations almost immediately. “Of the terminations that have occurred, not been one has not been approved,” he said. “They are approved every time.”

The only exception, Bullock said, is if the manager or a supervisor expresses concern over the need of the position.

“Perhaps it’s a situation where we have mangers not speaking up at an issue,” Robinson said.

The board took no action on Robinson’s suggestion. “Some positions take a second to do that evaluation,” Bullock said. “Other positions do take more. I would hate to do anything to take that option away. I think it’s a matter of good management.”