Lincoln County Commissioners approved a 3-year contract for the county's Communications Department. The new contract includes changes to holidays, vacation, bereavement leave, military leave and employee benefits.

Commissioners signed the contract with Lincoln County Communications Association President Casey Stevens and Vice President Pam Reed during the meeting. According to County Administrator John O'Connell, union members had the opportunity to approve the agreement before it was presented to Commissioners.

Since emergency personnel often work during holidays, they were able to take all holiday hours starting January 1 under the previous contract. However, the county needed a mechanism to recover holiday money paid to employees who resigned before earning this pay. The change in the contract addresses this issue by limiting advanced holiday pay to one week and holding one week pay on new employees to recover any unanticipated overpayment.

The new contract also defines earned vacation time and permits employees to use personal, compensatory or floating holidays for bereavement leave. Changes regarding military leave requires the county to abide by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, a federal law created with the intention of preventing employee discrimination against those who have served in the military.

The 3-year contract also stipulates wage increases for 2013-2015: 1.75 percent in the first year, 2 percent in the second year and 2.25 percent in the third year.

Lincoln County Sheriff's Department

Commissioners have just started negotiations with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department employees. The current one-year contract was agreed upon between the county and the Fraternal Order of Police, according to Sheriff Todd Brackett.

The previous contract was an agreement between the county and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Since the union and commissioners have had just one meeting so far, the length of the contract and other details still need to be ironed out. Brackett said he was not sure how long it would take to complete, but said they could have five or more meetings before all is said and done.