[Adopted 4-8-1985, effective 7-1-1985 (P-10A); amended 7-21-1987]
A.
Progressive service awards will be given each December to qualified
employees who have accrued full-time active service with the government
of Kent County, Delaware. The County Administrator or designee shall
request eligible employees to make a choice from a variety of pre-selected
gifts appropriate for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, or 40 years of service.
If an employee should fail to make a selection within the allotted
time frame, the County Administrator shall make a selection on the
employee's behalf.
B.
Eligibility.
(1)
Eligible time: all accumulated time accrued as a permanent full-time
active employee of Kent County through the end of January of any year.
Time during the probation period following hire is eligible. If a
qualified employee terminates employment with Kent County for good
cause and returns to employment with Kent County within two years,
his or her previous eligible time will be counted as qualified service
for the purposes of this program.
(2)
Ineligible time: part-time, temporary time, time during unpaid leaves
of absence and time during suspensions.
(3)
Eligible employees: employees in the classified and unclassified
service, elected County officials and County Attorneys.
(4)
An employee who is otherwise eligible must be actively employed by
the County at the time that the award is given.
C.
Selection. If a selection is offered in an award category, the recipient
will be required to indicate his or her choice in writing on the form
provided for this purpose.
D.
Presentation. Awards will be formally presented to eligible recipients
by the President of the Levy Court or his designee each year at the
annual Kent County Employees' Christmas Dinner/Dance for service completed
through the end of the following January. Recipients are urged to
attend the presentation.
[Adopted 4-9-1985, effective 7-1-1985 (P-11A)]
Upon retirement, a suitable gift will be presented to any long-term
employee who qualifies in accordance with the conditions listed below:
A.
To receive a retirement gift, the employee must have accrued at least
25 years of eligible time and be eligible to receive a pension immediately
following the last day of employment.
B.
Eligible time: all accumulated time accrued as a permanent full-time
active employee of Kent County through the last day of employment
immediately preceding retirement.
C.
Eligible employees: employees in the classified and unclassified
service, elected County officials, appointed County Attorneys.
[Adopted 3-9-1993 (P-52)]
A.
Program purpose.
(1)
The Kent County Gainsharing Program recognizes and rewards County
employees who have made valuable, cost-saving, suggestions for improvements
to County operations. The reward for making such a suggestion is a
cash award, the amount of which is based on the actual cost savings
to the County. The procedure for calculating the amount is described
below.
(2)
The Gainsharing Program contributes significantly to improving government
productivity and services. All eligible suggestions submitted are
evaluated. Under this program, awards are based on the merits of the
contribution and the benefits that accrue without regard to race,
color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, physical handicap,
age, political affiliation, or union membership affiliation or participation.
B.
Calculation of award. As governed by the following guidelines, an
amount equal to 10% of the first year's cost savings, cost avoidance
and/or revenue enhancement will be awarded to the employee submitting
the idea. The maximum amount of any award shall be limited to $2,500.
Any financial advantage gained by the County after the 12 months of
implementation shall not enter into the award calculation. (The Levy
Court has the option of increasing this limit if the savings to the
County are of an exceptional nature.)
C.
Timetables.
(1)
Timetable for award. Fifty percent of the gainsharing award will
be paid to the employee at the end of the first six months after the
start of suggestion implementation. The remaining 50% will be paid
at the end of the first 12 months after the start of suggestion implementation.
(2)
Timetable for implementation. Suggestions adopted under these guidelines
will be implemented as soon as is reasonably possible.
D.
Documentation of proposal success. The Director of Finance shall
document actual results of all suggestions which are implemented under
this program. Documentation must show that the expected monetary savings
or gain to the County are real and in excess of the $2,500 annual
minimum allowed by this program. Any award, if justified, shall be
based upon these actual results rather than the projected results
submitted on the Gainsharing Program application.
E.
Eligibility.
(1)
Eligible employees. All full-time, permanent part-time, contract,
and/or temporary employee are eligible for a gainsharing award. The
following are not eligible for a gainsharing award: elected officials,
appointed officials, row office deputies, and department heads or
division managers.
(2)
Eligible suggestions. In order to receive consideration for this
award, a suggestion must identify an estimated savings, cost avoidance
and/or revenue enhancement of $2,500 minimum to be accrued during
the first year of implementation.
F.
Procedure for entering suggestions.
(1)
A form on file in the County offices will be used for submission
of suggestions. This form shall include the following information:
(a)
Estimated cost savings over the program length.
(b)
A detailed analysis on how the cost savings will be achieved.
(c)
All positive and negative aspects of the proposal.
(d)
The name(s) of the person(s) responsible for the suggestion
and who will receive the award shall be the same name(s) as appear
on the application. No other person(s) can lay claim to the award.
In the event more than one name is recorded as originator on the application
form, any monetary reward shall be divided equally amongst those named.
The sum total of money awarded shall be equal to 10% of the documented
value as determined by the Director of Finance.
(2)
To protect the rights of the originator(s) of a suggestion, the application
may be filled out in part with the name(s) of the originator(s) and
brief description of intended suggestion with savings estimates. This
incomplete suggestion must be stamped with the date received by the
Finance Department. A copy of the stamped application shall be kept
on file in the Finance Department. In the event that two or more identical
or substantially similar suggestions are received by the Finance Department,
the date stamp will determine which suggestion was submitted first,
and its originator(s) shall be given the award.
(3)
Once an idea is date-stamped, the originator(s) have 30 workdays
to complete the application and submit it to the Director of Finance.
Applications not completed in the allowed time shall be invalidated,
and the originator(s) shall lose their rights of protection as described
in this section. Should this occur, the suggestion proposed on the
invalidated application may be implemented by the County with no further
obligation to the originator. The thirty-day deadline may be extended
for good cause at the request of the originator(s). A decision to
extend shall be made by the Suggestion Review Committee.
G.
Proposal review. All suggestions shall be reviewed using a multi-step
process which shall proceed in the following order:
(1)
The department manager. It is the duty of the department manager
with supervisory duties over any person(s) submitting a suggestion
to settle any disputes, should they arise, on any proposal prior to
referring the proposal to the Suggestion Review Committee. This duty
includes any disputes arising from having multiple claimants for a
single suggestion.
(2)
A committee composed of the Director of Finance and two other department
managers. This committee shall be known as the "Suggestion Review
Committee."
(3)
The County Administrator.
(4)
Upon completion of the review conducted by the County Administrator,
the proposal shall be submitted to the Levy Court for final approval.
[Adopted 10-8-2002 (P-70A);
amended 2-8-2005; 7-8-2008]
This Policy establishes an Employee-of-the-Month and Employee-of-the-Year
recognition award program for Kent County.
A.
Employee of the month.
(1)
Permanent, full-time classified employees and slotted deputies who
positively promote Kent County to the public, demonstrate sustained
performance, contribute to the achievement of County objectives, distinguish
themselves in other pursuits of County goals, and/or actively participate
in community organizations, civic projects, etc. are eligible for
nomination as "Employee of the Month."
(2)
On a regular basis the five appointed department directors, the County
Administrator, and one representative from the six elected Row Officers
shall meet as a quorum of no less than four to nominate and select
an Employee of the Month. Employees may suggest the names of eligible
co-workers by making such recommendation to their department head
or Row Officer.
(3)
The individual selected as Employee of the Month shall be informed
by his or her department head and recognized by the Levy Court at
its last meeting each month for the following month.
(4)
During the month of recognition, the Employee of the Month shall
be entitled to a reserved parking space at the County Administration
Building; the employee's photograph shall be prominently displayed
inside the major County buildings; and the employee shall receive
one day off with pay during the month of award, which may be used
back-to-back with weekends, holidays, and vacation days, but not sick
days. The time may not be divided into increments. The scheduling
of this time off must be approved by the employee's supervisor.
(5)
The Employee of the Month shall also receive a $100 stipend in recognition
of his or her award.
B.
Employee of the year.
(1)
The Employee of the Year shall be selected from among the 12 Employees
of the Month by the Employee Council in late November or early December
of each year in coordination with the Personnel Director.
(2)
The name of the Employee of the Year shall be announced at the annual
Employee Holiday Dinner/Dance or similar event, and the Employee of
the Year shall receive a $500 stipend and a Kent County lapel pin
or similar appreciation gift. In addition, the employee's name shall
be placed on a plaque displayed in the Kent County Administration
Building and his or her photograph shall be displayed for the following
year.
C.
Previous recipients of Employee-of-the-Month or Employee-of-the-Year
recognition awards may be renominated, but may not be selected again
until one calendar year elapses.
D.
The Personnel Office shall be responsible for facilitating the administration
of this Policy.
