Select Board Wants Oversight Of Human Resources Officer

HARWICH – The select board is endorsing articles for the annual town meeting that will fund a human resources position and seek a town charter change that would allow a human resources officer to report to the board.

Under the charter, the town administrator is responsible for “administering and coordinating all employees, activities and departments” that fall under both the select board and the administrator. A draft job description summary for the human resources director set the job’s duties as performing professional, confidential and administrative work related to human resources, including ensuring compliance with state and federal laws as well as town personnel policies and procedures and collective bargaining agreements. The director is responsible for benefits

administration, recruitment, employee relations, training and all other work as required, and “reports to the town administrator and works collaboratively with the select board,” according to the description.

But Select Board member Michael MacAskill questioned the collaboration between the town administrator and the select board, saying there should be circumstances when the human resources person reports directly to the board. He also said such collaboration in his reading would require a change in the charter.

“Or are we going to fly in the face of that again?” MacAskill said of charter language.

“It makes absolutely no sense to have a human resource person who is going to do exit interviews, and everything else, that doesn’t have the ability to report to the [select board]. We should have a charter change in conjunction with that to allow it,” MacAskill said.

MacAskill said he does not want the board to deal with minute details of the duties of the position, such as the handling of 401ks or health insurance, but if there is going to be a reporting problem on a higher level, the board should have the authority under the charter to review it.

Select Board member Donald Howell agreed with MacAskill, adding that the board has time to make those adjustments. Select Board Chair Julie Kavanagh said if the word “collaborative” is a thorn in MacAskill’s side, they could change it.

“I see this position as necessary now. It is a position that will strengthen going forward and that is fine, but ultimately this gives us a resource,” said Kavanagh. She added that the job could “morph” into a different position in the future.

Assistant Town Administrator Meggan Eldredge has been doing the human resources work, Kavanagh noted, which includes a multitude of duties, not just complaints. Adding the position will strengthen the staff and provide a place for them to go with issues. It will also lessen the workload of Eldredge, who has a great deal of work to deal with, Kavanagh said.

Hiring a human resources officer will not address some of the issues the public has asked the board to address, MacAskill said. He has talked to towns with human resource departments and they do not address administrative problems, he said.

“I don’t want to have anyone thinking that we’re hiring this human resource piece and it’s going to fix what people in the public are saying,” he said. “That they have nowhere to go to complain about the administration, or maybe this board. In general, I don’t see how it makes sense to have human resources on these levels fit in administration.”

MacAskill added, “It’s a twofold piece; 90 percent of the responsibility would fall on administration, but that other 10 percent, I think we really need to think about. If we’re going to do it, I don’t see why we put a position in place when you can do it all right now with a charter change at the same time and hire right now.”

Kavanagh questioned whether there was enough time to draft a charter amendment and hold public hearings before placing it in the annual town meeting warrant. The charter amendment would require town meeting approval and a second vote as a ballot question a year later. MacAskill said he would like to see that process begin immediately, and a consensus of the board agreed

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Town Administrator Joseph Powers said an article for the human resources position was planned for the annual town meeting warrant, and he would add the charter amendment proposal.

Howell recommended the board request the bylaw/charter review committee be charged with drafting the charter amendment language giving the select board such oversight. The board concurred.