LISBON Personnel policy manual to be updated

New policies can be adapted by each office.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County's personnel policy manual will be updated for the first time in 23 years.
"As you know, a lot of things have happened since 1982," Commissioner Jim Hoppel said Wednesday.
The commissioners hired Evans and Associates of Zanesville to do the work for $3,900. The update is expected to take about four months.
Commissioner Gary Williams said the price will be a bargain. The county doesn't have an administrator or human resource director who would normally oversee such policies.
The update will reflect the many federal and state laws and regulations that have gone into effect since the last manual was approved, the commissioners said.
If there is a problem between an employee and an officeholder and the manual isn't up to date, Williams said, "You [the officeholder] are responsible."
The generic manual could be used by all county offices, the commissioners said. Other offices can incorporate labor agreements or current rules for the diverse types of work done by county offices.
To address travel
The updated manuals also would include each office's travel policies. The Vindicator has questioned past spending on travel by some officeholders and workers.
County Auditor Nancy Milliken said the update was needed. "It hadn't been done for years," she said.
Some officeholders, such as Milliken, send travel requests to the commissioners for approval even though they are not required to. Some officials send the bills directly to Milliken's office.
Milliken said she had not seen any questionable spending in recent months.
The Vindicator stories, she said, "made us a bit more watchful."
The Ohio Auditor's Office is still working on an audit of spending in the county health department that was sparked by the stories. No completion date has been set.
wilkinson@vindy.com