Chickasaw County supervisors debate handbook changes for sick/vacation increments and bereavement leave

The Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors spent an extended portion of its June 22 meeting discussing possible revisions to the county employee handbook but took no immediate action.

Staff and supervisors reviewed three principal topics raised at a recent department-head meeting: changing the time-increment policy for vacation and sick leave (the handbook currently references 30-minute increments, and some department heads use or have asked about 15-minute increments), clarifying travel and meal reimbursement language to match a January motion (four-hour threshold), and adjusting bereavement leave to include additional relatives such as grandparents-in-law and potentially nieces and nephews.

Donna (county staff) explained accrual mechanics and said sick and vacation time are accrued monthly, giving an example that monthly accrual can amount to 1.5 hours for an eight-hour workday increment. Supervisors debated whether to adopt 15-minute, 30-minute or hourly increments and whether both sick and vacation rules should move together. Several supervisors expressed empathy for employees needing bereavement leave and said expanding covered relatives would not likely create significant county cost.

Board members asked staff to survey other county auditors and department heads to determine common practice, and to clarify actual department hours of work (for example, the VA and secondary roads schedules) so handbook language matches on-the-ground schedules. No changes were adopted; supervisors said a final draft will be brought back after staff collects comparative data and confirms department schedules.

The discussion also touched on holidays and whether to keep Presidents’ Day or shift time off to July 3, but supervisors treated that as an informational point rather than a decision. The board reserved final action for a later meeting after additional staff follow-up and a county-wide survey of relevant offices.