This personnel manual supercedes in all respects any prior manual, policy manual, benefits or practices of the County and has been prepared for our employees to provide you with general information about some of your benefits and the highlights of the rules and policies under which we operate. Obviously, we could not begin to explain every County policy or rule or benefit in this Manual, and its provisions can be considered as no more than general summaries of the benefits, work rules and policies they address. While the County hopes that its personnel actions will continue to be positive, from time to time, the County may unilaterally, in accordance with §0106 in its discretion, amend, supplement, modify or eliminate one or more of the benefits, work rules or policies described in this Manual, or any other employment benefits, work rules or policies, without prior notice.
This Manual does not constitute a guarantee that your employment will continue for any specified period of time or end only under certain conditions. Nothing in this Manual constitutes an express or implied contract of employment or warranty of any benefits.
Employment by the County is a voluntary employment at-will relationship for no definite period of time. While we hope to have a long and mutually beneficial working relationship together, regardless of anything which may appear in this Manual or any other County publication, policy, statement or practice, you have the right to terminate your employment relationship for any reason with or without cause or notice at any time, and the County reserves the right to do the same. No one has the authority to bind the County to any agreement to the contrary except our County Council, in writing. The County will of course comply with any obligations it may have under federal, state, or local law prior to terminating an employee.
The County notes that, although employees are at-will, a variety of policies and procedures may be available to employees prior to discharge. These policies and procedures include the grievance procedures described in Chapter 23 as well as the disciplining and corrective action procedures described in Chapter 22.
The masculine pronoun is used throughout these policies and procedures in the generic sense and refers to both feminine and masculine antecedents. (Res 569)
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Now we all know why they do not want collective bargining with binding arbitration. All county workers should support the efforts of the Deputies. If they get you can to.
ReplyDeleteWe are all at will. The dumbasses we elected are safe. At least till November
This is offensive to me.
ReplyDelete(from the Daily Times article)
"County Executive Rick Pollitt will be meeting with department heads this week and any lingering confusion on the memo will be addressed, said his spokesman, Jim Fineran.
Speak for yourself, Ricky boy!
I don't get what the upset is all about. Do the employees have life insurance or not? Joe, you said they still have life insurance, but everyone on here is moaning and groaning about Rick taking away their life insurance. I believe that is because of the way your first post was presented. PLEASE tell these morons that they still have their insurance, if that is the case. As far as $15 per month, I would be thrilled if that is all my life insurance cost me. That's one trip to McDonalds, folks. Get a grip!
ReplyDeleteanonymous 10:05, I have been told the Department Head Meeting is this morning. I was also told Rick Pollitt wouldn't be there. In light of what's going on, do you think he'll now cancel his other spointments and show up for this meeting?????
ReplyDeleteanonymous 10:07, Because of the way Mr. Thompson drafted his letter, department heads believed their insurance would be taken away. They felt the County was offering an option for the employee to continue paying for a policy out of their own pocket, if they so choose.
ReplyDeleteAfter much research we did learn this was not really the case. While it has been difficult to get these department heads to understand what Mr. Thompson was actually saying, we continue to pound this to death in order to make sure every one understand.
Now, that being said, I hope YOU realize anonymous 10:07, as a taxpayer this is a HUGE risk on your behalf. More importantly than the taxpayers having to foot the bill for any employee that unfortuately dies, this decision was NOT made with council's consent.
County Executive Rick Pollitt, (or shall I say King Rick) has taken this matter into his own hands and quite frankly, he can't.
Be careful what you wish for anonymous 10:07, this one could come back and bite you right in the a$$! If and when enough people die, your taxes may go up quite a bit to pay off these beneficiaries.
1/2 the council is scrambling to save themselves,the other is laughing,and the executive is just shaking his head
ReplyDeleteAre the wheels coming off this country or what.
ReplyDeleteWicomico County and the City of Salisbury demonstrate weekly if not almost daily why the elected exec. form of government is not appropriate in rural and semi-urban areas.
ReplyDeleteDespite its imperfection, the appointed manager form is preferable and much more widely used in circumstances such as ours.
Thanks to VOICE the county changed to the elected exec, and Barrie Tilghman and her cohorts blocked the switch to the City Manager system in Salisbury after it was passed by the Council about 10 years ago.
In a depression like this maybe all involved should just be happy they still have a job. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you guys I would be worried about the " At Will Emloyment" statement. If you know how that definition , then you should be scared.
ReplyDeletePensions, insurance, job security, retirement, its all gone. That was the old America it doesnt exsist anymore for more and more people every minute. What will next year or the year after that have in store? It aint looking to good, this is most likely only the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a wise move. The county will save money, is there a chance that a mass tragedy could happen and cost the county money. ?Yes, but the percentage is low, running the numbers it is a better way for the county to opperate.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that Mike Thompson's memo was horrible. For a department head to create such confussion is amazing. The thought does exist that he didnt want to use the county "sinking" fund but after the anger that was created it then "explained" his plan to use it. So it looks like Thompson once agian covered his a$$.
He is not easy to work with and hides a lot of information. Thompson has created a lot of issues and problems for the employees of the county. So it is hard to know what the truth really is here.
So Joe, a thank you could be in order for the pressure and maybe his back tracking and coming up with the "sinking" fund idea to cover his a$$ once again.
anonymous 11:48, don't speak too quickly, we're NOT done yet.
ReplyDeleteThe language, (look in your hand book) states they MAY pay. It does NOT say it SHALL.
Until that language is changed as well, you may not get a thing. Follow the language!
I should also add, it would be ILLEGAL for an insurance company, (the indipendant company you were dealing with) for them to use language like, MAY. Thank God they're regulated. The County is not.
ReplyDeleteWhat about a bigger way to save money. Have the county contact all the other governments on the Eastern Shore and come together under one group and go for insurances, health, life etc. Talk about money saving, but that would take some creative thinking and working together, we can't do that. Focus on some of the bigger issues. All the governments on the shore could offer more for less. Someone step up who has the power to do this.
ReplyDeleteIf you did this and approached all the big insurance companies with 20 times the employees WE all would save money and get better benfits to the government employees. Remember you get what you pay for. Obviously Salisbury City residences are ok with the amount of crime, pay more to the police and get better police to apply. Has worked in the business world for 100's of years.
Sounds loosy goosy to me.
ReplyDeleteAnnon 10:48 Maryland is a "At Will Employment" state regardless
ReplyDeleteof your employment.
anonymous 1:37, And How's That Working For You!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCome to Delmar, DE. where life is that much better!
1:39 Joe , give us some kind of idea on the tax differential between Wicomico and Sussex County. If you owned properties in both counties (residential) and each was appraised at $200,000 - how much difference would there be in taxes? (rough estimate)
ReplyDeleteJoe, Virtually all States are an "Employment at Will" to some degree, don't know to what degree Delaware is. Unless you are in a union or have some type of employment contract its fact, supposely a doctrine to protect both the employer and the employee.
ReplyDeleteInitally this was used more during a probationary period. I have seen it work both ways.
10:31 Fruitland is just as bad. The City Manager wasn't doing what he was paid to do. The Council President can't make a decision without calling the attorney which sends a bill for each call/meeting. King Rick, President Sissy Greg, and the attorney had private meetings before King Rick left Fruitland. King Rick tried putting someone in his seat so he could go to be the King for one term. After he screwed the county and it's taxpayers bad enough he was going to return to the village people only to mess Fruitland up some more. The three didn't know the plan would be discovered and ruined. King Rick can't return to Fruitland the village people may smile to his face when he makes appearances yet behind his back make fun of him. Plan to be unemployed once November comes around King Rick.
ReplyDelete3:37 --
ReplyDeleteAnd just who is going to dethrone his majesty -- certainly not Joey Ollinger.