Wilson County commissioners voted to alter the county employee handbook to classify the judicial commissioner's office as a 24-hour operation and to provide a process for staff who work holidays to take that holiday at a later date.

Corey, who led the discussion, said the current county handbook is written for an eight-hour, five-day workweek and does apply to us. It's based on 8 hours, 5 day work. We're 24 7. He asked the commission for guidance to create an addendum like those used by the sheriff's office and WEMA to address continuous staffing needs.

Commissioners discussed multiple compensation options for holiday coverage: double time for full-time staff, time-and-a-half for part-time staff, or a floating-holiday policy that requires use within a limited window (options discussed included 7, 30 and 90 days). The sheriff's office practice and WEMA policies were cited for comparison; WEMA reportedly provides additional paid time equivalent to 30 minutes of every hour for staff working holidays.

After discussion, the commission approved a motion to alter the handbook to classify the judicial commissioner's office as 24-hour and to allow staff who work a holiday to use that holiday at a later date at supervisory discretion. The transcript records a voice vote with ayes called; commissioners instructed staff to coordinate the addendum language with county HR (Kiana) and bring the proposed handbook language through the county commission for formal adoption. The commission did not approve an across-the-board double-time pay change; the adopted approach establishes classification and scheduling language and allows a discretionary floating-holiday approach for staff who work on holidays.

The judicial commissioner's office will work with HR to draft the addendum and align wording with the sheriff's office policy where appropriate before submitting it to the county commission for inclusion in the revised employee handbook.