Supervisors approve amended policy to Employee Handbook

     During the Aug. 31 Jones County Supervisor meeting, the board approved an addition to the Jones County Employee Handbook, an amended Temporary Light Duty (Return to Work) Policy.

     The changes to the policy were presented by Jones County Safety Committee members John Klein and County Attorney Kristofer Lyons.

     The policy applies to county employees who sustain some type of injury and cannot perform their normal, regular work duties.

     “If they having lifting requirements or can’t sit for long periods of time,” County Auditor Whitney Hein explained as some examples.

     In this case, those employees might be able to provide service to other county departments, suitable to their injury.

     Klein said other than Lyons’ approval of the policy, the committee also ran it past HR (Mike Galloway).

     “We’re ready to move forward unless you have issues or concerns,” offered Klein.

     The previous policy, Klein said, was too vague. In 2017, due to some changes in state laws, they were forced to update it.

     “Now, it gives very definitive guidance to department heads concerning employee documentation and following procedures,” he said, “so the county as the employer and the employee are protected. At the end of the day, all employees work for the county and need to be treated as such.”

     Lyons added, “It’s uniform amongst all departments and it’s very clear. We wanted to make sure it worked for everybody and that everybody was on board.”

     “You can tell a lot of time and effort went into this,” commented Supervisor Ned Rohwedder.

     “We just wanted to make sure we did it right and that concerns were addressed,” Klein said.

     With the County Auditor’s Office serving as the enforcer of the Employee Handbook and included policies, Klein said it was also important that Auditor Whitney Hein’s office was on board.

     “There could potentially be a little pushback, but hopefully not,” added Rohwedder.

     “Then we’ll address it when the time comes,” offered Klein.

     Lyons told the board that the Safety Committee made to collaborate with all county department heads.

     “That’s why it took so long because we had a lot of meetings,” he said.

In other county business:

     • The board approved use of the courthouse front lawn for a remembrance ceremony honoring the 20^th anniversary of 9/11.

     Hein reminded the public that with Sept. 11 being on a Saturday, the courthouse will be closed.

     • Hein provided the board with an update on courthouse electronic key card access.

     She expected the installation to be completed by the end of the week. IT Coordinator Lisa Mootz was working on printing the cards through the software program.

     They’re also contacting other counties for examples of policies pertaining to key card access of county facilities.

     “We need something in writing to follow,” said Hein.

     Those county employees from other buildings who don’t work in the courthouse will be issued plain cards to serve as a form of county identification with the public.

     “It’s a public service to people in the courthouse,” Hein said, “more of a recognition.”

     The board will review and approve a policy once it’s drafted.

     • The board approved a fencing sub-contract for a landowner on Lead Mine Road at a cost of $20,000.

     County Engineer Derek Snead said they will hold off on seeding the Lead Mine project until the Wapsipinicon River levels go down.

     • The county received three bids for a 2022 tandem cab and chassis for Secondary Roads. The board approved the lowest bid from GATR Truck Center in Cedar Rapids, with a bid of $120,539.22.

     Snead said delivery is expected in August 2022, with the hope of being on the road by next winter.

     • Supervisor John Schlarmann said the Board of Health planned to meet on Aug. 31 to discuss what the county can do in the next six months with the absence of a Public Health coordinator.