Personnel Department
The Personnel Department serves all of the employees of the Town that are appointed by the Board of Selectmen, the Town Manager, the Comptroller, the Town Treasurer, the Town Clerk, and the Board of Assessors. The purpose of the department is to administer the Town’s compensation and benefits programs. Additionally, the department deals with a wide variety of issues relative to quality of life in the workplace and seeks to improve the effectiveness of town services by recruiting the best employees and reviewing and improving the departments’ organizational structure.
The department handled personnel transactions relating to seventy positions. This includes retirements, resignations, promotions, vacancy postings and advertisements, interviewing, selection, and enrollment of new employees. The Town headed into fiscal year 2004 with over 40 vacancies as a result of the hiring freeze imposed in the fall of 2002. In the summer the hiring freeze was lifted and a number of long-term vacancies were filled. The Town had nineteen new hires and 3 promotions in the year 2003.
The Personnel Department had an active year in 2003. In the late winter, the department was honored to host a diversity training session for all town department heads. The meeting was facilitated by Visions Corporation of Arlington and was very well received by the participants.
In April, the department came into compliance with the newly implemented Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This involved notifying all of our health insurance enrollees of the new standards by which we handle their protected health information. We continue to work with other town departments handling protected health insurance information to ensure compliance to the law.
Also in the spring, the department was intimately involved in the layoff of a number of employees. The department assisted in the implementation of 25 layoffs: eleven full time positions, 7 part time positions and 7 reductions in hours. This required extensive research and coordination with the Human Resources Division in Boston as well as coordination with Town unions.
In the late summer the Selectmen formed an advisory committee to assist them with the Town Manager Search. The Director of the department served as an ex-officio member of the committee. The search was very involved and came to a close in late December. Also late in the year, the department was heavily involved in the implementation of the new health insurance contribution rates for m-schedule and non-union employees. The department is charged with the maintenance of the town’s health insurance rolls and the monitoring of the health insurance trust fund.
In 2004 the Department of Personnel will continue to make every effort to be supportive to the administration and employees of the Town during these very financially difficult years. The Department will search for ways to improve the morale and health of our employees without adding a financial burden to the town. We will also continue to audit our policies and practices to ensure compliance to various collective bargaining agreements and the myriad of employments laws.
Affirmative Action
The Town of Arlington has established the following mission statement relative to Affirmative Action:
“The Town of Arlington recognizes its legal obligation and moral responsibility to provide Equal Employment Opportunity to its employees and potential employees. The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, a volunteer committee appointed by the Town Manager, is committed to the Affirmative Action program to prevent discriminatory employment practices. The Committee assists the Town in implementing its Affirmative Action Plan which creates the mechanism and sets the standards by which Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action will be assured.”
The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee (AAAC) meets monthly on the second Wednesday, throughout the year, in the Town Hall Annex. The committee meetings are open to the public and public attendance is encouraged. The committee began 2003 with two vacancies; members Patricia A. O’Donoghue and Jeannine Rice-Oppedisano were appointed to fill those vacancies. Both members have excellent skills and qualifications and the committee is grateful for their interest in serving.
Throughout 2003, the committee reviewed monthly reports from the Director of Personnel/Affirmative Action Officer regarding employment opportunities for the Town. The principal focus of the Committee is to ensure that people of all races and ethnic backgrounds are given equal opportunity to apply for and receive positions of employment here in Arlington. The committee continues to try to increase the number of minority and female applicants for positions of employment by communicating with the population at large through posting Town positions in publications that serve different minority communities in the area. The committee was pleased that the town was able to secure its first minority department head when Public Works Director John Sanchez was appointed in the spring. The Committee was also
pleased that all town department heads participated in Diversity Sensitivity Training in the spring of 2003.
This year was a difficult one for all town departments in that attrition, downsizing, and tightening its employment belt was more the order of the day than hiring. At the start of fiscal year 2004 some long-term vacancies were filled and the committee monitored the process. Still, the committee continues to brainstorm creative outreach ideas and readily welcomes input from any party who may want to contribute.
The committee closely monitors minority and female participation in all construction projects of over two hundred thousand dollars. Communicating with the general contractor at the beginning of such projects is essential. This year, the committee monitored the completion of the Peirce School project. There were discussions with, and correspondence to, the general contractor working on the Reed's Brook project. The committee's goal is to ensure that the general contractor and all sub-contractors are making a good faith effort to be in compliance with minority participation goals of the State and Town. Future projects include Water Rehabilitation and Town Hall Gardens.
In 2003 Governor Romney proposed the elimination of the State Office of Affirmative Action. The Committee will continue to closely monitor activity at the state level relative to changes to the Commonwealth’s Affirmative Action Guidelines. The Committee looks forward to working on many projects in 2004 including the review and update of the Town’s Affirmative Action Plan.
Any person interested in this issue of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employment is encouraged to contact the Affirmative Action Officer at 781-316-3121 or email cmalloy@town.arlington.ma.us.
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