Class is in session - human resource meeting at AAC

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Jonathan Greer, Saline County Attorney, plays the part of the “interviewer” while Christy Peterson, manager of the Saline County personnel department, takes on the role of the “interviewee.” Greer presented information on regulations concerning military leave and interview do’s and don’ts for county managers.

is in session

Informative human resource meeting brings county managers to AAC table

By Scott Perkins County Lines Editor

County officials and managers from across the state of Arkansas came to the table for a human resources personnel meeting sponsored by the Association of Arkansas Counties Risk Management Fund at the AAC in December.

Speakers presented information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System (APERS). Other discussions ranged from the two main laws that govern military leave to the absence of laws concerning holidays for county employees.

IRS regulations

Jan Germany, IRS representative, clarified reporting requirements and spoke on key issues such as election workers and required IRS documentation.

Election workers are individuals hired by government entities to perform services at polling places in connection with national, state and local elections, according to the IRS. Their compensation is includible in income and may be treated as wages for social security and Medicare (FICA) tax purposes.

“Election workers are county employees,” Germany said. “You should be getting a W-4 for your election workers. A lot of times election workers are retired and might not worry about withholdings, but when you get the W-4, you cover yourselves.”

Germany also reminded county officials about IRS Section 218 Agreement’s Modification 748 which states that all 75 counties in Arkansas elected to exclude election worker’s compensation by the statutory threshold amount of $1,500. Beginning in 2009, if wages paid are less than $1,500 to election workers and election officials, they are not subject to Social Security or Medicare withholding.

Election workers making $600 or more but less than $1,500 should be issued a Form W-2 with no tax withholdings (Social Security, Medicare or federal income tax withholding).

On the Web:

www.socialsecurity.gov/slge/ www.irs.gov

Jan Germany (left) with the Internal Revenue Service answers a question from Brenda Burke, Mississippi County finance director, Dec. 6 at the James H. Baker conference room at the AAC building.

APERS compliance

Michelle Williams, APERS deputy director, said her organization has been across the state conducting employer training for a couple of months. Williams and Alison Woods, APERS member records manager, presented information concerning eligibility, enrollment, new legislation and new reporting requirements for 2012.

Did you Know?

All employees of a participating public employer must become members of APERS as a condition of employment, although some employees are excluded by five exclusions.

Above: Michele Williams (left), APERS deputy director, and Alison Woods, APERS member records manager, discuss 2012 APERS changes at the AAC building.

Right: A table of county officials and employees listen to Michelle Williams answer questions about APERS. Pictured (from left) are Rhonda Cole, Clark County Clerk and president of the Association of Arkansas County Clerks; Mona Vance, Clark County payroll clerk; and Tammy Bundy, Boone County deputy clerk.

Four new identifiers have been added to the APERS Report Earnings & Service form. County managers will find additional columns and identifiers to populate on the form concerning DROP (D), retirees (R), leave (L) and military (M).

“Hopefully, this will help you,” Williams said. “We know it will help us. A lot of times when these people return from these respective statuses, you enroll them again in the system [APERS], when in actuality, they are still employees, but with no pay.”

Williams also gave an example of the new identifiers and how it would impact military leave notation.

“We’re asking that when you have an employee take military leave that you put the date out there when they leave and then again when they return from that status,” Williams said. “This should be beneficial and should eliminate some of the calls you receive from us needing to verify service credits and when a person changes status. So this should be a good thing for both sides of the house.”

Woods emphasized the fact that all employees of a public participating employer must become members of the APERS system.

“All [public] employees have to come into the system as a condition of employment. Every one you hire,” Woods said. “Then there will be some things that will exclude some employees from the system.”

Exclusions include: n persons who have retired from the system n persons who are members of any other state-authorized retirement system (except General Assembly members and LOPFI members) n persons employed with intent of working less that 90 calendar days n persons who do not work 80 hours per month during a period of 90 consecutive calendar days n persons whose rate of pay is less than the federal minimum wage

DROP protocols concerning retirees redefined in 2011 legislation was a topic of interest from several participants.

“The law that went into effect in 2011 says that if you went into the DROP March 1, 2011, or after that, you can no longer participate in a position with any public employer,” Williams explained. “The key here is the date they began to participate in the DROP. If it was on or after March 1, 2011, then they are prohibited to going back to any position with a public employer.”

Providing accurate information on APERS forms was a common theme during the presentation in efforts to increase efficiency and limit duplication.

Woods expressed how important it is that the information on the Membership Data Form (MDF) is accurate since that is how the employee’s account will be set up in the APERS system. Part 1 of the MDF is for employees to fill out and part 2 is for the employer. APERS suggests to check over the form carefully to determine prior coverage and to be sure to ask the employee if he/she has ever worked for the state, county, city or for a school in a non-teaching position.

She said all state agencies and county offices in Arkansas are covered by APERS.

Call (800) 682-7377 for more information.

On the Web: www.apers.org

Laws governing military leave

Jonathan Greer, Saline County attorney, discussed laws pertaining to military leave for county employees and conducted a mock interview to illustrate some interview do’s and don’ts.

Two major laws cover military leave for Arkansas county employees.

Federally, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) states that a service member is entitled to return to his or her job, with accrued seniority, provided he/she meets five eligibility criteria. USERRA’s criteria includes that the service member must have left a civilian job, given written notice, not exceeded the five-year

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Mike Rainwater, AAC Risk Management legal counsel, explains FMLA protocols.

I want to talk to gatekeepers and let you know that you all have a lot of power. And people who make decisions will back you up when you perform the function of keeping the gate.

— Mike Rainwater De Anna Schmalz, (right) Franklin County Clerk, and Beth Lowman, Monroe County Clerk, listen to Mike Rainwater talk about employment policy and the nuances between the law and an agreement of employment.

cumulative limit on periods of service, must not been released from service by dishonorable discharge and must report to a civilian job in a timely manner.

The Arkansas Legislature enacted A.C.A. § 21-4-102 that covers county employees in the uniformed services. A.C.A. § 21-4-102 allows all employees of the state or any of its political subdivisions who take a leave of absence for the purpose of participating in the military training programs … “shall be entitled to such leave for 15 days plus travel time for annual training performed in any one year.”

If a county employee is called to service, Greer suggested the “Employer” and the “Service Member” checklists provided in the USERRA Pocket Guide.

On the Web:

www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.

Employee / employer dynamics

Mike Rainwater, AAC Rick Management legal counsel, explained the law concerning public employment and how it relates to a contract between employer and employee. He referenced the AAC Risk Management Fund “Model County Employment Policy (for at-will employment)” throughout his presentation.

“I am here today because I want to talk to gatekeepers and let you all know that you have a lot of power,” Rainwater said. “And people who make decisions will back you up when you perform the function of keeping the gate.”

Arkansas law nor the federal government requires any holiday for county employees, “so, what is the law?”

“The law is the agreement between the parties and that comes back to your policy document. The law is an applied element of every bargain [between employee and employer] oral or written. Holiday pay is strictly determined by your policy at the county level,” Rainwater said. “Holiday pay in the public sector is not determined by state law.”

Rainwater also defined and explained public safety employees and random drug testing.

He said public safety employees are the only employees in the public sector that are subject to random drug testing.

“Why is that? Because we don’t want somebody to get hurt,” he said.

Public safety employees are defined as employees who: n maintain a commercial driver’s license n drive a vehicle as part of normal county duties n carry a firearm n routinely operate an emergency vehicle n serve as mechanics on county vehicles n are prepared to use justified physical force

“Random drug testing means what? Random. It has really got to be random,” Rainwater said.

Rainwater said the AAC Rick Management fund has included paying for random drug testing for its member counties through a third party contractor because “we can rationalize that because it is reasonable and we are trying to prevent lawsuits and we don’t want people to violate the Fourth Amendment and so we contract with a third party that is in the business of being random.”

Other types of drug testing include pre-employment testing, reasonable suspicion testing and post-accident testing.

Rainwater warned against reasonable suspicion testing in the public sector and suggested those type of concerns, if they exist, should be forwarded to the local prosecutor.

Pre-employment drug testing is legal if a county chooses to include it as a condition of the agreement or bargain between employer and employee. “It is perfectly legal, perfectly constitutional for you to drug test [pre-employment] as long it is an element of the bargain,” Rainwater said.

Rainwater went on to say that a county should be consistent and equal when pre-employment drug testing.

mimicked a motion with her left arm. “Come on, Randy. You can bring him with ya, but let’s go to the beach.”

Peggy and David said one of the simple things Randy always enjoyed was admiring beautiful views. Both also seemingly enjoyed telling a story of just one of Randy’s little pranks that was anchored on a good view.

During a motorcycle ride near the town of Shirley one day, Randy stopped at a personal residence and met the homeowner by knocking on the door and doing some of the things he did best — talking and listening. Randy’s purpose besides just being himself and not shying away from meeting someone was to gain access to the view from the back of the house. Randy made a friend that day and she said he could come any time to gaze at the view from the back of her house.

Years later, Randy was riding the same stretch of road with Scott, his friend, and Randy insisted on stopping.

Scott asked him what they were doing on someone’s property. As the tour to the back of the property continued, Scott grew more and more anxious and uncomfortable about being on a stranger’s property.

Randy just acted like it was no big deal, whether he knew the homeowner or not, as his friend squirmed in anticipation of getting caught.

Apparently co-workers weren’t off limits when it came to Randy’s willingness to prank.

“One time Randy pulled a prank on me. It had started raining and he asked that I roll up his windows,” Donetta Sterling, former Sun-Times columnist, wrote on the Sun-Times Web site. “I must have ran around outside a good 10 minutes before I realized he rode his motorcycle to work that day. He was smiling ear to ear when I walked back in the office drenched. Randy was a class act and a man who believed in giving people chances. I will miss my mentor and my friend. God Bless You Randy Kemp.”

Randy loved an exciting journey on a motorcycle and shared the pastime with many of his friends and family. Riding was a major defining factor of the person he was.

One of Randy’s co-workers asked him on his Facebook page one day if he was worried about getting wet while riding his motorcycle.

Randy’s reply: “While the common mortal is tiptoeing through life, worrying about getting minor consequences, the motorcyclist is kicking down the door while pouring a bucket of water on himself and reveling at his wetness while saying ‘AHA!’ and shaking his fist at clouds and convention ...”

Randy’s impact on his nephew, Mike Kemp, who is a professional photographer and motorcycle enthusiast, is also lasting and significant.

Mike posted the following on his blog after Randy’s death: “To me, he was my uncle. A mentor. An influence. A friend. The man who introduced me to photography and motorcycling, and used the opportunity with both to impart life lessons to me along the way.”

One of the simple things in life that Randy enjoyed was being the family “fire master.”

“He could start a fire in no time, with almost nothing,” Peggy proclaimed.

He had also recently acquired a taste for “strong French-press” coffee.

He was introduced to it in New Zealand during a visit, and before long Randy had his own machine perking in the mornings.

However, the stout coffee he recently admired wasn’t as strong or as lasting as his spirit.

When asked to do so, David summed up his father in one word — “servant.”

It certainly fit, but a man like Randy really can’t be summed up. The reach of his energy and impact on others is everlasting and exponential because those he touched will carry on to impact others.

Randy races his Honda CBR 929RR in the spring of 2006 at Hallet Motor Racing in Jennings, Okla. Peggy, Jeremy and David gave Randy a gift certificate for the outing for his 50th birthday. Randy stops and admires this beautiful view atop Mt. Magazine in Logan County during a motorcycle ride with David, his son. The mountain is the highest point in Arkansas at 2,753 feet.

Sources: Sun-Times

On the Web:

n Read David Kemp’s memorial speech at www.arcounties.org. Click on News and Noteworthy and look for “Randy Kemp, David’s funeral speech.”

n Read Mike Kemp’s post in its entirety at http://mikekempf5.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/twists-and-turns/.