BOARDMAN Few accept policy manual

Officials will soon try to determine the reasons the manual hasn't been signed.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- The new policy manual for township employees has not been received with enthusiasm by most of the township's 165 full-time employees.
The policy manual, a first for the township, was adopted Jan. 22. All employees were to read the document and sign an acknowledgment form enclosed in the manual by March 2. Only about 16 employees have signed and returned the form.
Trustee John Cox said trustees haven't decided exactly how to handle the large number of employees who have not signed the policy manual's acknowledgment form. He said trustees never expected the signing to become "that big of a deal."
A letter that accompanied the manual said that it is mandatory for all employees to read, sign, date and return the acknowledgment to the office of the administrator.
Failure to sign and return the document, the letter said, would result in the placement of an unsigned copy in the employee's personnel file, noting a refusal to sign.
To determine reasons: Cox said trustees will sit down with township administrator Curt Seditz soon to determine the specific complaints of those who would not sign. He said trustees will decide how to address the situation from those findings.
"This was supposed to be a tool to help the employees, but like everything else in government, people are unsure of the intent and what it is to be used for," Cox said. "This may just be a fear of change and the intentions of the manual."
Bargaining agreements: Cox said he suspects that employees bound by contract were reluctant to sign the form because of language in the policy manual that they feel does not coincide with their collective bargaining agreements.
Reportedly no police officers, firefighters or road department employees signed the form.
Mike Walsh, union representative for township firefighters, said there is language in the manual that conflicts with collective bargaining agreements and that is why firefighters have not signed the form.
Walsh said there is "nothing too scary" in the manual, but some of the wording was not right from their standpoint. Because there was the option of not signing, it was determined that it would be better not to, he said.
Sgt. Albert Kakascik, union representative for supervisors in the police department, said legal counsel advised that supervisors not sign the agreement because of language that conflicted with their collective bargaining agreement.
Union contract prevails: Cox points to a section of the manual, however, that says if the policies in the manual conflict with any established collective bargaining agreements, the collective bargaining agreement shall prevail.
Cox said it is only where those bargaining agreements leave off that the manual takes over.
Seditz has said that many of the manual's guidelines have been in place but that this is the first time they have been put together in one document.