 I'm Dan Lamyhu, County Board Chairman, and I'm the host of this program, along with Adam Payne, our administrative coordinator. And we are bringing to our viewers the different departments and services that Shiboyne County offers. And today, we have with us our personal director, Luwala Conway. Shiboyne County is the second largest employer in the county with over 1,300 employees, 23 departments. And we thought it would be appropriate now that we've had a few of our shows and some of the services that we get just a general overview of the personnel issues and how people can become involved in employment in Shiboyne County. So Luwala, why don't you just start today by telling us a little bit about yourself and your background and your involvement with the personnel department. I've been working with county government for over 22 years. I started way back when the personnel department was first established with Shiboyne County. At that time, we set up the department, got it going, and I've been working in that department for most of that full time since then. One year I left and went to Door County and became the human resource director there, but then I came back as personnel director with Shiboyne County and I've been in that position for 10 years. I also have a bachelor of science degree in management from Cardinal Stritch College. And I enjoy working with people, so we have a lot of fun working in the personnel department. How many people do you have working just in your department? We have 1,300 employees, obviously they don't all work in your department. What is the size of your department and what are some of the functions of your department? We just have four people in our department. At the front desk is Anne and she takes care of all of the applications, the orientation, phone calls, questions about vacant positions and so on. Ruth is our benefits person and she takes care of the health and dental insurance, the unemployment issues and also the section 125 which is a pre-tax deduction program and the COBRA program which allows people to continue life and health insurance after they leave employment with the county. And then we have Penny who is my analyst who takes care of all of the surveys. She helps with the workers compensation. She sits in with labor negotiations and really does almost anything that needs to be done. So she's a very valuable employee. And then I take care of all the labor negotiations with the eight labor contracts. I do the grievance handling, the arbitrations and the negotiations for all of those contracts. So I kind of oversee all of the benefit programs for the county and for the 1,300 employees. What are you doing Tuesday? Go to the county board meeting. I'm sure that that laundry list of duties keeps you pretty busy. You mentioned the eight bargaining units. Could you describe for our viewers what those eight bargaining units are and who they represent them? We have four that are represented by the AFSCME which is the American Federation of State County of Municipal Employees and that is the social workers, the courthouse employees, the highway department employees and the healthcare centers employees. So that's the bulk of the group. There are two units represented by WPPA which is the Wisconsin Professional Police Association and they represent the deputies and then the law enforcement supervisors. And then the third group is the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals and that represents the healthcare centers, registered nurses and then also the public health nurses and the division of community program employees. So all in all with those eight units that keeps us pretty busy. When I first got on the county board 13 years ago I spent eight or 10 years on the personnel committee. So I'm a little familiar with your negotiations and your grievances and those type of efforts that you put out but you talk about negotiating the contract. You have eight different contracts that you negotiate. Tell us a little bit about the process, how long these contracts are, how often you do this. The average length is either two or three years for a labor agreement. We have all but two contracts settled for 2001. The social workers are open and the highway department is open. They are not settled for 2001. And we have a mediation session scheduled in April to work with the W, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission Mediator to see if we can reach an agreement at that time. The other ones, two will be opening for 2002 and that's the healthcare center employees and then also the deputies. So it's usually a two or three year contract. And when you negotiate a contract, right away people think of you negotiate and how much you're paying them. What are the types of things and from past experience and all that you don't just go there one night and say, okay, how much we're gonna pay you and let's settle on a number. What are some of the things that you actually negotiate? What are some of the issues that you talk about when you go into negotiations with the union? There are numerous issues that we talk about. We talk about the benefit levels, health insurance. We talk about vacation time. We talk about actual procedures and things that go on in the department that the units or the members of the units are concerned with. Naturally, a lot of it boils down to wages because it all costs something. Most of the time the unions are looking for additional vacation time or sick leave or whatever it might be and that costs money for the county. So it all comes down to a package offer that we put together. The two that are open right now, the social workers, their issue other than wages is really with the mileage issue. They're concerned that the state mileage rate is less than the federal amount. And then with the highway department, they are looking for a greater vacation package. Their vacation schedule is a little bit less than what some of the other bargaining units are and they would like to have additional vacation. Sometimes we read in the paper where a company goes on strike. And I know this isn't something that we had planned on talking about, but I think the viewers might be interested in this. You don't see county employees going on strike. Why, could you just tell us a little bit about why we don't see that? Right. Most of the contracts have language in it so that there's no strike, no lockout clause. Also under state statute, federal or government employees are not able to strike. This goes back to legislation back in the late 60s that said government employees cannot go on strike. Also under the state statute, we follow the provisions of 111.70. And that outlines the negotiation process of how the negotiations are set up when the meeting should be held, when you reach impasse, and then what happens after that. And once you reach impasse, which means that neither party can agree on an issue and both have a standoff, you might say, then we go into a mediation session which is a mediator from the Wisconsin Employment Relation Commission comes in and tries to work with each party to establish an agreement. And then if that doesn't work, then it goes to arbitration. And there is an outside arbitrator that is selected by the parties. There's a list that you check off and the final individual is selected. And that person hears testimony regarding what the issues are, why the parties feel that their position is most important. And then makes a decision which is final in binding. The arbitrator has to look at, I believe it's 12 or 13 criteria that say one party or the other has more weight in the proceeding. And then the final decision is based on those weighted issues. So we have the process that we follow instead of the company locking the union order, the union saying we're not coming to work, we have the process that we follow and that includes the mediation and arbitration. And then we have our answer from the arbitration if it goes that far. That's correct. If we don't reach a voluntary agreement. Correct, the decision of the arbitrator is final in binding. Now, when you go into the process of negotiations, just one last thing on negotiations, who for the county, I'm assuming that you are the representative of Sheboyin County doing the negotiating for the county. Does anybody else from the county side get involved as far as negotiating the contracts? We have a bargaining committee included in that are all the members of the personnel committee. And then myself as the chief negotiator with the chief spokesperson. And then we also include members from the various departments. Department had say from the highway department would be involved. Or if we're talking about certain issues that affect an individual department that's part of a larger unit, we would ask that department had to come in so that there could be input from that person regarding the situations that's being discussed. Let me just ask one more. I said I was gonna do the last question. Let me ask one more question. When again comparing it to the private sector, when the private sector goes into negotiations with the union, the company's CEO says, this is where we're gonna go. And that's it. And if you don't reach agreement, he calls all the shots. In county government, who makes the final decision and who determines what issues you're negotiating? Well, I work with the personnel committee to establish the issues that we want to look at for making changes. The department had would have input in that based on things that are going on on a day to day basis. And if they see that areas should be addressed, that is then discussed with the personnel committee. Once we reach an agreement for a contract settlement, we'd have a tentative agreement with the bargaining unit. And then the union takes that back to their membership for a vote. And then after that vote is finished, it goes to the county board. And the county board makes the final decision for a consent agreement or a voluntary settlement between the parties. So you do get the input from the department if we're negotiating with the sheriff's department, one of their units. The sheriff and the management of the sheriff's department get involved with the issues that need to be discussed. And then so that it's just not the personnel committee saying this is what we want to talk about. It's the actual department that is involved. Right, the department then has to live with the decision that's being made. So if there's a discussion on hours of employment or shifts or whatever it is, say with the sheriff's department, they need to be involved to know is this going to work when we actually put the staff out on the floor doing these jobs? And if it doesn't work, then we have to try to look at it a different way and reach some other resolution. Thus far, most of our discussion has been focused on the represented employees. And we also have a number of non-bargaining employees. In fact, recently there was an article in the Sheboygan Press that focused some attention on some of the challenges we're having filling some key positions. How many non-bargaining employees do we have and what are some of those issues that we're presently challenged with? We have about 160 non-bargaining employees and those positions range from clerical staff in confidential positions all the way to the administrative coordinator or the director of healthcare centers. So there's a big variety of positions and some are supervisory and some are not. Recently we've had several vacancies due to retirement and some of the challenges that we look at are being competitive in the marketplace as far as filling those positions and also to maintain a level of benefits and a pay scale that will attract qualified and competent individuals. I know the personnel committee, the department, under your leadership are gonna be reviewing our present pay structure. What is gonna be the focus of that study? What's in the works? The present plan has a grade and a spread as far as what the salary range is and we are finding that due to market conditions some of those ranges may not be appropriate any longer. So we're looking at various positions to see that if they are competitive in the marketplace also competitive with other county positions, our comparable counties that we utilize that have state healthcare facilities or similar positions and what their salary ranges are. And then once we establish if that is correct or is not correct then we'll make recommendations to the personnel committee as to how we can address those concerns. One of the concern that we presently deal with is the ability to grow in the position that has been a concern over the last few years and right now the opportunity to grow is based totally on the performance evaluation. And that would allow a person to have an increase based on performance but it does not allow them to grow as fast as some of the bargaining unit positions who have steps and then if they reach the top they could, it could result in a compression problem with the person that they supervise. Now I know this is a concern that not only the three of us share but the organization as a whole we clearly wanna be able to attract some of the best and the brightest as well as retain those employees. I think the study's gonna be very important to make sure we are more competitive not only in the public sector but with some positions such as filling the healthcare centers, Sonny Ridge Administrator position, the private sector. When do you see the development of the recommendations occurring, what's your time frame? The personnel committee met most recently and talked about that concern. We're hoping to have some discussion regarding that in mid-April and hopefully accomplish the others so that we can bring a total package to the county board making recommendations that would address our concerns with the pay plan over the next five to 10 years. So once we have that complete we want to have county board approval so that it can be implemented and included in the budget process for 2001. So if there's a viewer out there who is interested in learning more about available positions or how they gather more information, what's the process? All of our positions are posted at the job center. We normally advertise them in the Sheboygan Press a lot of times in the Milwaukee Journal. We do have access to monster.com so our positions are available on that for anyone who has computer access and also on the computer with the job net. So they are all available and on those listings are all the vacancies that we would have and presently we have 21 positions that are listed on the job net and within those positions there could be more than one vacancy. For example, a nursing assistant may have a vacancy of 10 or 20 people. So we are looking for staff and qualified staff to be interviewed and considered for almost immediate employment. So we do have a lot of positions available right now. Also once you would find a position that you're interested in all you'd need to do is submit a resume to the job center or stop in at the job center and pick up an application or you can complete it right there. And they have the TV screens which is a touch kind of system that helps you to look up various positions that the individual may be interested in and if they just wanna look under Sheboygan County they can find those listings right under Sheboygan County. The chairman mentioned earlier 1,300 employees throughout the organization. Clearly there's going to be vacancies and we mentioned some of those already with the in the healthcare centers, nursing assistants or nurses aides, registered nurses. I know it's been an issue. The administrator position at Sonny Ridge was recently mentioned in the press the planning director position we're currently recruiting for. What are some of the key non bargaining positions that are presently available? We just completed the recruitment for the planning director. So that has been closed and we're looking at those applications and considering who would wanna call for interviews. The other ones that are open right now would be the director of health and human services. We have the manager of division community programs available. We have an administrator at Sonny Ridge available. Several nursing shift supervisors and also the assistant director of nursing at Sonny Ridge. So those would be the non bargaining that we would have as far as bargaining positions. We're looking for correctional officers. We're looking for a social worker nursing assistants. As I said, we have a deep need for that and there is a shortage throughout the country in those positions. So there's numerous vacancies and we are a good employer. You mentioned go to the job center. That's often where you can get the application materials. Do you also take applications at the personnel department or do you provide information at your department? We would provide information and also information is available through the department where the position is open. We do not accept applications in our department and we only accept them through the job centers to be sure that we are in compliance with the Equal Employment Opportunity Act so that everyone has equal access to available positions. And the final question I have before turning it back to the chairman. As people are pursuing available positions or wanting to gather more information, is it appropriate for them to contact the department head of a particular area or an employee in the county to gather some additional information? As far as employees, I would caution an individual on doing that. It certainly would be appropriate to have them come either to our office or contact our office or the department head or the supervisor that is hiring for the position. Sometimes the information isn't always as accurate as it could be if it's not obtained from the proper sources. Thank you. We've talked about our contracts. We've talked about our pay scale for our non bargaining individuals. And we've talked a lot about the pay end of it. But county government also has a very generous benefit package. Could you maybe describe that for our viewers a little bit what type of benefit package do we have as county employer? We have a very generous benefit package. We offer health and dental insurance coverage and it's what they call the old comprehensive plan. So we have a lot of coverage that's first dollar coverage and the contribution is very minimal. Unionized employees only pay $5 for single coverage and $10 per month for family coverage and the non represented pay 5%, which is about $20 per month for family coverage. So the contribution by the employee is very minimal and the coverage is excellent. We also have a very good vacation package. We offer from six days after six months up to 27 days of vacation depending upon years of service. One of the major contributions made by the county for employees is for the Wisconsin retirement system and the contribution for most employees is 10.2% of their wages and that's put into the retirement system for later on when they retire. So most employers don't have that large of a contribution and that could go up to 17.6 I believe for the protected class employees. So in addition to that, we have a long and short term disability program. We have excellent holiday pay. It's a very good place to work. Where did you say I could sign up for a job? I don't get all these benefits as a supervisor. When a person is hired by Sputnik County because of the number of work locations and everything, what type of an orientation program do you have for new employees? The basic orientation as far as learning about the contracts, the benefits of signing up for your W-4 form and deductions and things like that are all handled at the personnel department. We have the individuals come into our department. We go through all of that information and they're given a lot of information that first day and they can ask questions anytime as things come along. And then in addition, they would go back to their own department where they're gonna be working and have an orientation based on the job duties that they'll be working with, the employees they work with, the layout of the building, all the various things that have to be done. So we do an extensive orientation program. Now that we've picked the interest of our viewers and we have all these people just waiting for tomorrow morning to come and apply, we've talked about the job center, we've talked about your office. Where are these offices actually physically located so they know where to go and how to sign up? Our office is in the administration building, which is at 508 New York Avenue. Our phone number is 459-3105 and we're available eight to five Monday through Friday. The job center is at 3620 Wilgus Avenue, which is off of Superior Avenue to the northwest side of the city. And that can be phoned at 208-5810 and they're there to send an application if you request it or you can stop in and complete an application on the spot. So when I wanna know where some place is located, I say, what is it next to? The job center is on the way to Randall's Restaurant and your office is down the hill behind the courthouse. Everybody knows where the courthouse is, they know the facility, the beautiful marble building we have there, but your office is behind and down the hill behind the courthouse. Right, across from the back parking lot of the courthouse. Yes, we've only been there about a year and it's a very nice facility. Only a year, it seems like longer. Just a year. Mm-hmm. Anything else? We just have a minute or two yet, but anything else that our viewers can know about employment in Shepparton County? Well, we encourage anyone interested to come in and make an application. The consideration is, tries to be done in a very short time and we get back to individuals and if they are interested in a position, they can talk to us or they can talk to someone at the healthcare centers or wherever the interest is and we hope that we'll get some applications. I excuse me for not knowing the details, but earlier in the program, you mentioned the 23 positions or 20 some positions and you said that some of these positions have multiple openings. Did you mention some of the examples? Yeah, we talked about the nursing assistants. They would have various openings. We have shift supervisors. We would have correctional officers. We have a need of several of those. We are recruiting for an eligibility list for the highway department as well. We know we're gonna have several retirements over the next few months, so those would be available. So it's not always, is there an opening tomorrow for a correctional officer or for a deputy or for a highway employee or for a secretary, but there might be, if your name, if you've applied and we have your information, there might be an opening a week from now or a month from now and so don't necessarily wait till there's an opening but get your name in. Definitely, because several departments will maintain an eligibility list and so they would take the applicants, if there's a testing process or whatever the process would have to be, they would make sure that that's complete and then have a list of individuals who are qualified to fill the positions. So when there's a vacancy, they can call from that eligibility list and fill it as soon as possible after the vacancy becomes available. Dan, I wanted to mention as well since we have been providing a lot of information about the value of working in Sheboygan County. Sheboygan County is a special place and having worked here now for the last two and a half years, Luella Conway as I'm sure our viewers are appreciating, has a wealth of knowledge, is wonderful to talk to if you have any questions. We have a new chairman who is really moving us forward with our consolidation at the healthcare centers. We're looking to make our healthcare centers one of the best in the country and a lot of good things, a lot of exciting things are happening here. So I think this is valuable information today and I hope we continue to get people applying to work for Sheboygan County. So do I. One last thing, this is a test for you, Luella. I own my own business and I know the name of every one of my employees, both of them. I'm gonna give you a test. Can you name all 1,300 employees in the next 30 seconds? I know the names on a list but if I see the people I probably wouldn't but I'm familiar with a lot of the names and the various department heads and the smaller departments, I'm rather familiar with those but when it gets to be the nursing assistants and the larger departments, it's pretty hard to keep track of them. I can appreciate that. Well, thank you. This was very interesting. I think our viewers got a good insight as to what employment of Sheboygan County would be like. Next month, Adam, it's my understanding that we're gonna have Pat Miles with us and Pat is the director of the, these county people have all these long titles. So I gotta read this one. Director of the Land and Water Conservation Department. And I've known Pat for some years now and he works over in Sheboygan Falls and I don't know a lot about his department other than being on finance committee. I dealt with his budget but it's gonna be interesting to see what functions they do out of that department and the services that they can provide Sheboygan County again. So next month, Pat Miles and we thank our viewers for watching and doing our program. And again, any comments, any suggestions for future programs, we welcome your calls. The number is 459-3103. 3103 and we will take your calls and suggestions and we'll try to get them in our program in the future. Thank you.