County hiring rules subject of JPs’ vote
Jefferson County justices of the peace will vote on an ordinance requiring all elected officials to complete an offer approval form and job requisition/pre-offer form before hiring potential employees during today’s Quorum Court meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
This procedure-request, from County Judge Gerald Robinson, comes after an employee was supposedly hired with the Jefferson County sheriff’s office during a hiring freeze and without the approval of the justices. Consequently, the county did not pay the person for a month of work that he performed.
According to Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr., the employee was presented with a “bona fide offer of county employment” in Woods’ office for the year 2021, and the offer was accepted Dec. 4. Woods made the offer, he said, because he knew that the county’s hiring freeze, based on Ordinance No. 2020-7, would sunset at the end of 2020. The person was scheduled to start work after that.
A clause in the ordinance states that the Quorum Court may, by motion, make an exemption if it is necessary for the performance of critical health or safety function, the satisfaction of a legal mandate, or necessary for the efficient and cost-efficient operation of the county, but Robinson said that for the employment slot in question, the employee was already working before being approved by the
Quorum Court.
“Right now, he’s not an employee because there is a hiring freeze in effect, and he doesn’t meet those criteria,” Robinson said during Tuesday’s Quorum Court Committee meeting, when Woods defended the hiring and asked that the employee be paid. “This was done prior to bringing it to the Quorum Court.”
The proposed procedure request will allow the county clerk the opportunity to verify the job title and slot placement of an employee prior to fulfilling the hiring paperwork.
“The clerk’s office is the human resource of the county,” said Robinson. “She has the right, if she knows an ordinance is violated, to make sure the ordinance is followed.”
On Feb. 25, Robinson sent a procedure request letter to the Quorum Court to approve a Human Resource form in an effort to streamline the processes and prevent any human resource and payroll issues.
“These forms are necessary to assist in ensuring federal and state labor compliance, as well as simplify, the onboarding process,” said Robinson.
If approved, all department heads, elected officials, and hiring managers would have to complete the Job Requisition/Pre-Offer form and have approval prior to any county job offer being made.
Additionally, the offer approval form must be completed before the new hire can commence employment.
In the three-page pre-approval form, the reason for recruitment must be explained along with job descriptions for each position.
Other pre-approval information includes budget, justification if it’s a new position, proposed wages, and the reason for hire with a signature approval line designated for the county clerk.
The last page is the official offer approval form, which will require signatures from the department head, county clerk and county judge.
“If it’s not in black and white, it’s not an offer,” said Robinson. “If you don’t have nothing in black and white, a letter— it’s just a word of mouth.”