Kane Co. Looks To Hire Firm To Monitor Medical Leave

KANE COUNTY, IL -- Kane County is looking at hiring an outside company to administer the company's medical leave program -- a move that human resources director Sylvia Wetzel said could cost an extra $17,400 per year but would end up saving the county money in the long run, according to the Daily Herald. Wetzel requested the funds while presenting her 2018 budget at a county board meeting on Tuesday. Currently, Kane County has 1,300 employee at an given time, 75 of them are on some sort of leave and not at work.

The Daily Herald reports:

On average, employees on leave account for about 6 percent of the county's payroll. The most current payroll numbers on the county's open government portal show wages and benefits cost the county $96.4 million in 2015. Six percent of that total is about $5.78 million.
Wetzel said hiring an outside agency to oversee the county's leave program will bring an objective eye to determining who should be on leave and who shouldn't.

"We are going to see who is on leave, should they be on leave and when they should be coming back with this plan," Wetzel said. "It's very important that we do that."

The Kane County Board is yet to vote on Wetzel's budget.

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