Personnel Policy Board
Telephone Conference
Members Present: Hon. M. Richard Geiger, Chair; Jerrold Arneson; Hon. Gail Hagerty; Hon.
Carol Ronning Kapsner; Chris Myers; Hon. John T. Paulson; Gladys Schmitt;
and Ted Smith
Others Present: Sally Holewa, ex officio
Amy Klein, staff
Renee Barnaby, minutes
Chair Geiger called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Minutes
The first item on the agenda was the approval of the minutes. It was moved by Judge Paulson,
seconded by Chris Myers, to approve the minutes of the June 5, 2009 meeting. The motion
carried.
Leave Policy 102 - Adoption
It was moved by Gladys Schmitt, seconded by Judge Paulson, to approve the adoption
language added to the leave policy. After brief discussion, the motion carried.
It was moved by Judge Hagerty, seconded by Jerrold Arneson, to send the changes to Policy
102 out for comment, and the Board can review the policy as part of the new policy manual
at a later date. The motion carried.
Tentative Schedule
It was the consensus of the Board to meeting on the following dates and times:
August 28, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., in Bismarck
September 22, 2009, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., phone conference
November 10, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., in Bismarck
December 4, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., in Bismarck
Ms. Klein stated during the August meeting, the Board will review changes to the first half of the
handbook and then proceed to review the policies in the second half of the handbook. A packet of
policies will be distributed to the Board members in advance of the meeting.
Policy Manual
Alcohol and Drugs
It was moved by Judge Hagerty, seconded by Judge Paulson, to adopt Justice Kapsner's
proposal as amended by Judge Paulson.
[Judge Hagerty left the conference]
It was the consensus of the Board to change the word "systems" to "system" in the first sentence of
paragraph three.
It was also the consensus of the Board to capitalize the titles of a position when it refers to a person,
otherwise the title will be in lowercase.
Ms. Holewa recalled at the last Board meeting, Chris Myers suggested an employee should have a
duty to notify his or her supervisor when an incident occurs or at least when the employee is charged,
rather than waiting until the conviction.
Chair Geiger stated the language in the draft policy refers to a notification if the violation occurs in
the workplace and but does not address anything outside of the workplace.
Ms. Holewa suggested the notification of an offense outside of the workplace or any violation of law
be included in another policy, rather than alcohol and drugs.
Ms. Klein suggested the Board review how it is covered in our ethics policy.
It was the consensus of the Board to table the discussion of an offense outside the workplace or any
violation of law for review at the next meeting.
The motion carried to approve the Alcohol and Drugs policy.
Inclement Weather
Amy Klein said the Inclement Weather policy is new to the policy manual.
It was moved by Judge Paulson, seconded by Gladys Schmitt, to adopt the Inclement Weather
policy.
Gladys Schmitt questioned the statement that there will be no compensation for a day missed. She
said that is inconsistent because if an employee takes annual leave, they are still compensated.
It was moved by Gladys Schmitt, seconded by Justice Kapsner, to strike the first sentence in
paragraph one. The motion carried.
It was moved by Justice Kapsner, seconded by Judge Paulson, to rephrase the fifth line to read
as follows: "where local courts are located are official closed, employees in those locations shall
be paid for the hours they were originally scheduled to work."
Jerrold Arneson stated even if the state offices are officially closed by the governor, the chief justice
has to make the final decision for the judiciary.
With regard to the county buildings, Ms. Holewa stated if the presiding judge declares that court has
not been cancelled or closed, the court employees have to stay.
Chair Geiger said if the state offices are officially closed by the governor or county buildings where
local courts are located are officially closed, employees in those locations shall be paid for the hours
they were originally scheduled to work.
It was moved by Ted Smith, seconded by Gladys Schmitt, to rephrase the last sentence to read:
If the employee's office is officially closed, the employee shall be paid for the hours the
employee was originally scheduled to work." The motion carried.
It was moved by Gladys Schmitt, second by Justice Kapsner, to add the last paragraph of
Sally's Holewa February 6, 2006 memo to the Inclement Weather policy.
It was moved by Gladys Schmitt, seconded by Justice Kapsner, to remove the parentheses
from the last paragraph in Ms. Holewa's memo and state "judge, referee or justice" in the two
locations where that phrasing would exist.
Ms. Holewa said referees are under the supervision of the presiding judge and don't supervise any
other staff.
Ms. Schmitt suggested the language be rephrased to state: "In the event the courts are closed but
court is not cancelled, any non-exempt staff remaining to assist is entitled to comp time."
It was the consensus of the Board to table discussion until the next meeting.
The next Board meeting will be held on August 28, in Bismarck, beginning at 9:00 a.m.