Taney County

1. Payday. Employees of Taney County will be paid every other Friday. If said Friday falls on a holiday, payday will then be on the previous Thursday. (Elected Officials are paid on a monthly basis).
   
   
2. Lost or Stolen Checks. If your paycheck is lost or stolen, you must notify your Elected Official, Department Head or the Treasurer’s Office immediately. Your pay check will be replaced as soon as possible, according to the procedures established by the Payroll Administrator. Each report of a lost or stolen paycheck will be investigated. Any fraudulent reports will be referred to the Prosecutor’s Office for possible criminal prosecution.
   
   
3. Direct Deposit. Effective March 14, 2016, Taney County requires all newly hired employees to directly deposit payroll funds to a financial institution of choice, if the institution is a participant in the Federal Reserve. If you have questions regarding this policy, please contact your department head/elected official or Human Resources Department. In certain cases, the initial pay for a new employee may be provided by paycheck to allow for sufficient time to process direct deposit information with the participating banking institution. ¹⁾

Eligible Employees will earn compensatory time off in lieu of cash payment for all time worked in excess of 40 hours per week. Compensatory time may be earned at the rate of one and one-half times the number of overtime hours worked. This is dependent upon hours worked and time off taken during that work week.

No paid leave time (vacation, personal days, bereavement, jury/witness duty, compensatory time, sick leave, or holiday time) will be counted toward hours worked.

Any person hired by the county will be told prior to hiring that agreement to the requirements of this section (i.e., compensatory time in lieu of cash payment for overtime worked) is a condition of employment. The Compensatory Time Policy will be explained to new Employees who will be expected to sign a Compensatory Time Acknowledgement as a condition of employment. The Compensatory Time Acknowledgement is in Section 31-3. Disclaimer and Acknowledgement Statement. The Acknowledgement will include a section certifying that the Employee understands and agrees to the Compensatory Time Policy. The signed agreement will become part of the Employee’s personnel file. ²⁾

Compensatory time (Comp time) is hours that you earn at the rate of one and one-half hours for each hour of overtime worked. Meaning that if you work two (2) hours overtime, you will be compensated by being allowed to take three (3) hours off with pay.

Comp time that you take during your workweek cannot be counted toward “hours worked” for overtime purposes.

Example: You are scheduled to work for eight hours, five days per week. You have 16 hours of comp time earned, so you take off two days of your workweek. On the other three days, you work 10 hours per day, for a total of 30 hours. Your time sheet shows 46 hours for your week, but you are not entitled to overtime compensation because you only worked 30 hours of that week.

The Employee’s Supervisor is responsible for ensuring that ample time is available for the Employee to use their earned accrued compensatory time.

If you need to use any or all of your compensatory time you must notify your Supervisor, and allow a reasonable time for your request to be granted. Your Supervisor may take the following circumstances into consideration when deciding whether, or how soon, your request can be granted:

1. The Office or Department’s normal schedule of work
2. The Office or Department’s anticipated peak workload (based on past experience)
3. Emergency staffing and servicing requirements
4. The availability of qualified substitute staff
5. Whether your absence will unduly disrupt the operations of the Office or Department

Overtime Work Defined: Overtime is each hour or fraction of an hour that you work in excess of forty (40) hours in any given workweek.

In the interest of conserving taxpayer money, Taney County discourages working overtime, except when absolutely necessary for the benefit of the county or the health or welfare of its citizens.

Each Office or Department is charged with developing policies and procedures to maximize productivity and reduce or avoid the need for overtime. All overtime must be approved in advance by the Elected Official or Department Head except in emergency situations, in which case the Elected Official or the Department Head must approve the overtime as soon as possible after notification of the emergency.

A determining factor in the approval of overtime work is whether the work could be accomplished through rescheduling of Employee work hours and allowance of time off in the same work period. These factors reduce the burden of overtime on Employees and avoid accrual of excessive compensatory time.

Employees who work unapproved overtime may be disciplined according to the County’s Discipline Policy, including suspension or termination from employment.

• Hours worked in excess of your daily maximum are not automatically counted as overtime.
  
  Example: You are scheduled to work for eight hours, five days per week. On three days of that week you actually work ten hours per day, for a total of 30 hours. On the other two days, you only work five hours per day for a total of 10 hours. You are not entitled to overtime just because you worked three 10 hour days, because you did not work in excess of 40 hours during your workweek.
• You are not entitled to overtime hours for working Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays, if those days are part of your workweek, and you do not work more than 40 hours during the workweek.
• You are not entitled to overtime hours if you work through your “break.” Short breaks during the day are paid time, whether or not you actually rest during the break. Break time is counted as part of your workday.
• Lunch periods are not part of your regular workday, and you must count time you spend working during lunch as “hours worked” on your time sheet. However, Employees should not work through their lunch period in order to acquire overtime hours. Overtime hours are strictly for the times when it is necessary to work overtime in order to get a job completed. Taney County requires you to obtain permission from your Supervisor before you work any overtime, therefore, you must not work through lunch periods without prior approval.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes overtime requirements for Employees who are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA requires that employers set a workweek, which will cover a fixed period of seven (7) consecutive days. The workweek used to calculate compensatory time for County Employees begins on Sunday at 12:01 a.m. and ends on the following Saturday at Midnight, unless otherwise specified in writing to Employees by the department’s Elected Official or Department Head.

The pay period is two (2) work weeks for non-law enforcement Employees and fourteen (14) days for Law Enforcement Employees.

Employees that are excluded from the overtime provisions of the FLSA generally fall into three different categories. Those categories are:

1. Executive,
2. Certain Administrative positions, and,
3. Professional.

Employees that fit into the above categories, who are paid on a salary basis as defined by FLSA and considered Exempt, and do not record hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a workweek, will not record compensatory time or overtime. These excluded Employees are authorized by the County to adjust their regular workweek schedule to compensate for their varying work hours.

After an Employee accrues a maximum of 80 hours of comp time, they will be paid for all additional overtime worked. You may be paid at anytime for accrued comp time at the County Commission’s discretion. Payment will be at your regular rate of pay at the time payment is made. ³⁾

Upon termination of your employment with the County, you will be paid for your unused accrued comp time at the higher rate of:

• Your average rate of pay received during your last three (3) years employment with the County without a break in service, or
• Your final rate of pay.

Any and all seminars or workshops attended or training required of an Employee for performance of job duties or enhancement of performance of job duties shall be paid by the County. Time spent in obtaining the instruction and performing the requirements of the course shall be considered hours worked. All seminars, workshops, or training shall be approved in advance by the Elected Official or Department Head.

All Full Time will be paid for observed Holidays. Part Time Employees, Temporary and Contract Employees are not eligible for Holiday pay. Full Time Employees working forty (40) hours per week will be paid for eight (8) hours at their normal rate of pay for a Holiday. Full Time Employees working at least thirty (30) hours per week will be paid at a pro-rated rate. Part Time Employees receiving benefits will receive pro-rated pay based on their average hours worked per week divided by five (5) workdays. The Part Time Employee is required to work the required amount of hours in conjunction with the allotted number of hours for their Holiday pay. For example, an Employee that typically works thirty (30) hours per week will receive six (6) hours of Holiday pay; thus will have to work twenty-four (24) hours the week of the Holiday in order to maintain the thirty (30) hours.

Because a Holiday is a provided benefit, in order that an Employee who works 10-hour days is to receive paid their full 40-hours for the week with a Holiday; Elected Officials and/or Department Heads (with direction from the Commissioners) may have their Employees work the following for the Holiday week:

1. Four eight (8) hour days for a Holiday week total of thirty-two (32) hours. They will then receive eight (8) hours pay for the designated Holiday for a total of forty

(40) hours including eight (8) hours for the Holiday for that Holiday week, or;

1. Two eleven (11) hour days and one ten (10) hour day for a Holiday Week only for a total of thirty-two (32) hours. Employee’s will then receive eight (8) hours pay for the designated Holiday for a total of forty (40) hours for that Holiday week.
2. Three (10) hour days for a Holiday Week; receive (8) hours Holiday pay for a total of thirty-eight (38) hours. The Employee will then be required to use two (2) hours of their vacation, comp time, or personal time. If the employee does not have time available for them to use, they would take the two (2) hours unpaid.

The Taney County Commission has approved the following national and state Holidays. All Full Time and Part Time Employees with benefits shall receive compensation for the following Holidays and the Taney County Courthouse will be closed on the following Holidays:

1. New Year’s Day
2. Martin Luther King’s Birthday (third Monday in January)
3. President’s Day (third Monday in February)
4. Harry S. Truman’s Birthday (May 8)
5. Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
6. Independence Day (July 4)
7. Labor Day (first Monday in September)
8. Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
9. Veteran’s Day (November 11)
10. Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)
11. Friday after Thanksgiving (fourth Friday in November)
12. Christmas Day (December 25)

This list is subject to change as modified by the County Commission.

All Holidays are to be taken on the dates listed in Section 3 with the following exceptions; when a Holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be observed. When a Holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed.

Sheriff’s Office Schedule, see Section 23.5 (b).

Section 20-5. Holiday Pay.

1. Non-exempt, Full Time or Part Time Employees required to work on a Holiday will receive Holiday pay plus Compensatory Time for the hours worked on the Holiday. Any hours actually worked on the Holiday will count for overtime in addition to the eight (8) hours granted for the Holiday. Paid time off for Holidays will not be counted as hours worked for purposes of determining overtime because the Employee did not physically work.
   
   Example 1: The Holiday falls during your regularly scheduled workweek. You are required to work on the Holiday; however the next day you are ill and cannot come to work. You will be paid at the rate of double-time for the Holiday, but because you were not at work the next day and did not work a total of 40 hours, you are not eligible to receive overtime compensation.
   
   Example 2: The Holiday falls during your regularly scheduled workweek. You worked three days at eight (8) hours each and one day at (10) ten hours, for a total of 34 hours worked. You are off work for the Holiday, so you receive eight (8) hours of Holiday pay at your regular rate. Your total time for the week is forty-two (42) hours. However, because you did not actually work forty (40) hours, you are not eligible to receive overtime compensation.
2. Law enforcement personnel assigned to twenty-four (24) hour service divisions, dispatch and patrol, and any personnel assigned to a service division which is regularly scheduled by the Department Head to work on all authorized Holidays, shall receive Holiday pay for authorized Holidays and shall work on Holidays as scheduled unless other available leave time has been authorized. Holiday pay shall be eight (8) hours.
3. Only the County Commission shall be authorized to declare special Holidays or days off as an unusual need or circumstance may occur.

After one (1) year of employment (upon anniversary date), regular Full Time hourly and exempt Employees working forty (40) hours per week will receive three (3) paid Personal Days at eight (8) hours per day. Full Time Employees working at least thirty (30) hours per week will receive three (3) paid Personal Days at a pro-rated rate. These Personal Days are to be used by January 1st of the following year. On January 1st of the following one (1) full year of employment, a total of three (3) more personal days will be awarded, and they should be used prior to January 1st of the next year.

Employees are encouraged to use all Personal Days in the year granted. However, a maximum of two (2) personal days may be carried over from calendar year to calendar year with a maximum of five (5) within one (1) year. Employees cannot be paid out for any unused personal days if not taken or carried over.

Should an Employee separate from employment with Taney County, any Personal Days accrued will not be paid out and unused Personal Time shall be forfeited.

Full Time Employees working forty (40) hours per week will earn eight (8) hours of sick leave per month up to a maximum of 60 calendar days (480 hours). Full Time Employees working at least thirty (30) hours per week will earn hours of sick leave at a pro-rated rate.

Sick Leave with pay will be granted for absence from duty because of illness, non- compensable bodily injury or disease, exposure to a contagious disease, or to keep a doctor or dentist appointment for yourself or your immediate family. Immediate family is defined as a spouse, child, or step-child that resides in the Employee’s household, or the Employee’s parent or parent-in-law (even if not residing with the Employee) provided the Employee is the only one available to care for the individual involved.

Sick leave shall be granted for qualifying absences, but the total hours submitted (including worked hours, comp time, vacation time, personal time and sick time) on your timesheet should not exceed 40 hours for a work week.

Example: You are scheduled to work eight hours, five days per week. You worked eight hours for four days and were granted sick leave for eight hours, one day. Since you already have 40 hours reflected for the work week (32 worked, 8 sick leave), you cannot add previously accrued comp time to the time sheet for that week.

If your work hours, comp time, vacation time and personal time recorded for the work week equals 40 hours, then you will not be granted sick leave for any work hours missed. ⁴⁾

Exceptions to this provision may be granted by the Elected Official, Department Head or Supervisor with the approval of the County Commission if the Employee does not have any accumulated Vacation Time or Comp Time.

The Employee is responsible for notifying their Elected Official, Department Head or Supervisor when they are unable to report to work due to any of the reasons for Sick Leave stated in Section 22-2. When possible, the Employee should notify those listed above at least thirty (30) minutes prior to their regularly scheduled work time when they are unable to report to work due to illness or injury.

The Employee must regularly keep their Elected Official, Department Head or Supervisor informed of the condition for the absence. The Employee may be required to submit for any absence, the treating physician’s written notice of medical reason for the absence from work. Failure to comply with these provisions shall result in denial of Sick Leave.

1. Sick Leave shall not be granted in cases where regular retirement or disability retirement exists.
2. Any authorized absence due to injury or illness covered by Workers’

Compensation insurance shall not be charged against an Employee’s accrued Sick Leave

At no time will an Employee be compensated for unused Sick Leave benefits, including separation from Employment.

Upon adoption of this Policy Manual, Taney County offered two (2) Vacation Plans; Plan A and Plan B.

Plan A was the first plan. Plan A was offered to all employees that were actively employed and eligible for Vacation (or were waiting for their Vacation time to become effective) the date of adoption of this Personnel Policy Manual. Plan A is outlined below.

Plan B is the newly adopted plan and all employees hired the day after adoption of the Personnel Policy Manual will be offered Plan B Vacation Plan only upon hire. In addition, any employee that was actively employed prior to adoption date may also choose Plan B instead of Plan A. Plan B is outlined below.

Employees that were eligible to choose Plan A or Plan B were required to fill out and sign an acknowledgement stating which Vacation Plan elected. Once the Employee elected a plan, signed and dated the acknowledgement form, the Employee cannot change plans. New Hires also are required to fill out an acknowledgement form showing eligibility for Plan B only.

Plan A:

During the Employee’s first year of employment, he/she will acquire one (1) week, (forty (40) hours) of vacation. An Employee working at least thirty (30) hours per week will acquire Vacation time at a pro-rated rate. Employees will be eligible to use that week on their first anniversary date. Employees are required to take their eligible vacation after the first anniversary date and prior to their second anniversary date. Vacation time does not roll over into the next anniversary year if not used. There could be circumstances where a roll- over may be granted by the County Commission for a certain period of time. However, there are not to be any pay outs of Vacation time.

After the second anniversary date, the Employee will acquire additional vacation time. The amount will be prorated according to the date of hire. This time will be taken between the second anniversary date and the end of the calendar year.

After the end of the calendar year following the second anniversary date, the Employee will be entitled to two (2) weeks, (eighty (80) hours) of vacation. This amount will be repeated after the end of each subsequent calendar year until their fifth year.

Each Employee will acquire time towards their vacation at the rate of one half day per year at the beginning of the next January 1st following their fifth full year of employment. Example:

• Employee is hired on October 1, 2012
• Employee is eligible for one (1) week (40 hours) of vacation on October 1, 2013
• Employee is eligible for additional prorated vacation according to their day of hire, after October 1, 2014 through end of calendar year, 2014
• Employee is eligible for two (2) weeks (80 hours) of vacation on January 1, 2015
• Employee’s 5th year would be October of 2017
• Employee would receive an additional half-day (1/2 day, 4 hours) of vacation on January 1, 2018 (total of two weeks and 1/2 day.) (84 hours)
• Employee would receive another half-day (1/2 day, 4 hours) of vacation on January, 2019 (total of 2 weeks and 1 day). (88 hours)

Employees would continue to acquire one-half (1/2 day, 4 hours) per year up to a maximum of four (4) weeks, (one hundred sixty (160) hours) of vacation. Part Time Employees eligible for benefits will accumulate vacation benefits based on the number of hours worked per week divided by five (5).

New Employees hired on or after the adoption date of this Personnel Policy Manual, are not eligible to choose Vacation Plan A.

Plan B:

During the Employee’s first year of employment, he/she will acquire one (1) week forty (40) hours of vacation. An Employee working at least thirty (30) hours per week will acquire Vacation time at a pro-rated rate. Employees will be eligible to use that week on their first anniversary date. Employees are required to take their eligible vacation after the first anniversary date and prior to their second anniversary date. Vacation time does not roll over into the next anniversary year if not used. There could be circumstances where a roll- over may be granted by the County Commission for a certain period of time. However, there are not to be any pay outs of Vacation Leave.

After the second anniversary date, the Employee will acquire additional vacation time. The amount will be prorated according to the date of hire. This time will be taken between the second anniversary date and the end of the calendar year.

After the end of the calendar year following the second anniversary date, the Employee will be entitled to two (2) weeks (eighty (80) hours) of vacation.

After the end of the calendar year following the fifth year, the Employee will be entitled to twelve and one-half (12 ½) days, (one-hundred (100) hours).

Effective January first of the Employee’s tenth year, the Employee will be entitled to three (3) weeks, (one-hundred and twenty (120) hours). This is the maximum number of hours that an employee can receive on Plan B. ⁵⁾

Any Employee with vacation benefits leaving the County service due to resignation, death or termination shall be compensated for unused vacation to the date of termination.

Any official holiday as set forth in these rules which may occur during an Employee’s scheduled vacation period shall not be counted as a day of vacation. If any official holiday occurs during a period of scheduled vacation, Employees will receive the appropriate holiday pay.

Personnel in the Law Enforcement Department shall be eligible to use acquired vacation leave after the completion of their one (1) year introductory periods.

Vacation Time may be used while on Medical Leave for FMLA and other Medical Leaves.

Elected Officials or Department Heads will schedule Vacation Leave for Employees. Such leave schedule shall take into consideration the Employee’s desires. However, if the time desired would leave that Office or Department in a production bind, the Elected Official or Department Head will ask that the Employee choose other dates. Vacation shall, under normal circumstances, be taken in as little as fifteen (15) minute increments. Out of respect for the Employee’s department, each Employee is asked to schedule their Vacation Leave as far in advance as possible.

Vacation Plan Election Form