Money only one of the reasons we lose county workers

I agree that we need a salary committee for Kootenai County employees. Losing experienced workers always has been a problem, and we could save tax dollars now spent training replacements for workers we lose to better-paying jobs.

But we lose good employees for many other reasons that seem to be overlooked by county commissioners.

When we lose several female employees who transfer or quit their jobs because of sexual harassment from the same supervisor, it seems that the wrong person still has a job.

When a female county employee has enough courage to stand up to this behavior it is written off because of "no evidence or witnesses," and the only offer she receives is a demotion back to her old position. Not the correct demotion.

When female employees are forced into dangerous positions transporting criminals from the jail in an unprotected van, their supervisor should not tell them: "it is a new part of your job description" and threaten them with the loss of their job. The director's response should not be handing out pamphlets describing Idaho's right-to-work laws.

When employees who are hurt on the job are required to show up for work as light duty to avoid losing safety award money and the person never has a chance to heal properly, it leaves physical difficulties that last forever. If they don't play this game, they should not be threatened by their supervisors that they will be replaced.

When a county employee is asked to come into their supervisor's office, they should not have to withstand the yelling, cursing and pounding of a finger into the chest that one supervisor thinks is acceptable behavior. After several women leave the office in tears, the supervisor should be removed from his position. But this practice still is acceptable today.

When a county employee has been hurt on the job and a supervisor fills out an injury report, that employee's workers compensation claim should be approved, not denied, leaving it up to attorneys to settle. The manager who denies the claim should not receive a promotion, as he has possibly committed a misdemeanor.

When a county employee has more than four years of service, several promotions and excellent evaluations, she should not be laid off before Christmas without notice while under a doctor's care for an on-the-job injury.

When everyone knows that county employees are underpaid, the county should not buy brand new trucks that have no use and are hidden under cover from county residents. That money could be used to keep good employees.

As you can see, there are many ways to keep good employees without any cost to the residents. But first they should be protected from the county itself and whoever is making these very poor decisions as to how our employees are handled. Morale is very poor from this abusive behavior and county employees are looking for other work because of this.

Copyright 2001 Cowles Publishing Company
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