In a rather brief Tuesday business meeting, Bonner County commissioners approved only three agenda items, outside of the consent agenda, most notably altering paid time off benefits and approving critical infrastructure for the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office.  

The main topic of the limited agenda was how to manage paid time off and catastrophic accounts after a county employee accrued the maximum number of hours.  

Commissioners Asia Williams and Brian Domke unanimously agreed to instruct the Human Resources and payroll departments to amend the county’s personnel policy manual to indicate that the straight time value of accrued PTO/CAT hours, past the capped amount, be added to the employee’s bi-weekly paycheck. 

According to the county’s personnel policy manual, a full-time county employee may accrue up to 480 hours in their CAT account and 162 hours in their PTO account.  

48 county employees have reached or nearly reached that limit, according to Williams.  

After a county employee maxes out on their PTO or CAT, Williams said any potential time that could be added is lost. 

She proposed that instead of the earned PTO or CAT hours being lost after reaching the capped amount, the earned hours be applied as straight time to the individual's bi-weekly paycheck. 

“This is an earned benefit that staff should have the opportunity to receive the value. What’s happening is, the longer you’re here, we’re actually taking the benefit away from you,” Williams said. "You see an increase in what Bonner County is actually paying out, once they’ve hit that cap and someone doesn’t want to lose their time, we’re often times paying somebody time-and-a-half to cover a shift because we’re taking someone’s time instead of just paying them for it.” 

Williams further noted that the effect of “losing” gained time off has caused an increase in overtime pay, where individuals at their capped PTO/CAT take time off to not lose their benefit, resulting in a co-worker working overtime to cover the applicable shift needed if it occurs in an understaffed department. This issue, said Williams, is most notable at the county jail, but is applicable to all county employees who have reached their PTO or CAT limit.  

“This, to me, is inequity,” Williams said. 

A handful of employees from the Sheriff’s Office showed up in support of the recommendation, as jail staff are mostly affected by the PTO/CAT limit and lost hours.  

Sheriff Darryl Wheeler spoke in favor of the change, noting that a handful of his staff have lost months of overtime due to the drop-off of time after the limit is reached.  

Sergeant Levi Shiell also spoke in support of the amendment and shared how the benefit limit affected his coworkers, ultimately doing damage to the most dependable workers in the department.  

“The last several years have been difficult for law enforcement in general to maintain adequate staffing levels, and our department has been no exception. The detention and patrol division of the sheriff’s office each comprise of four teams. Frequently, one or more of those teams operate at minimum staffing levels. When we’re at minimum staffing levels, employees cannot take time off without having another deputy cover their shift,” Shiell said. “Employees that have reached their maximum PTO accruals lose their PTO benefit if they are unable to get their shift covered. ... Only the most dependable and team-oriented employees find themselves in the inevitable position of losing PTO.”  

With the approval of the new process, the county’s HR department is responsible for revising the county’s policy manual to reflect the change.