2006-09-21 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Mr. Sakaguchi asked what a beginning engineer is paid, and Mr. Ben said he did not know offhand—he would need a salary schedule. Ms. Stremski asked whether the additional pay was an incentive to draw engineers to Hawaii, since the cost of living here is higher than on the mainland. Mr. Ben said the additional amount is strictly based on the outside market. Also, the State and the counties try to match their pay so that they are not competing with each other at the public sector level. i. How to fill positions in West Hawaii to avoid having East Hawaii employees drive to Kona and incur mileage and per diem costs. Mr. Joseph asked Mr. Ben whether there are East Hawaii employees who have to commute to work, and Mr. Ben said he does not know where the employees live. However, he said the County has the same problem as employers in West Hawaii: there are no good applicants out there. Ms. Stremski asked whether this is because of the pay scale, or whether applicants were unqualified. Mr. Ben said there are just not many applicants. Ms. Provalenko said West Hawaii has a shortage in the labor force. Mr. Ben said that applicants from Kona also do not want to work full -time or do not show up for work, especially water safety officers. But he reiterated that the County's problem is the same problem the private employers in Kona have. People are just not applying for jobs there. Mr. Joseph asked whether the Civil Service Department has a West Hawaii division, and Mr. Ben said no. However, people can pick up announcements and applications at the Kona Mayor's Office, as well as from the County website. The Hilo office will also mail them to people if requested. His employees also travel to Kona to give the Civil Service examinations on that side. j. Orientation for new employees. Mr. Ben said they started doing this again about three months ago. However, the employee assigned to this is taking a long -term leave of absence, so the Department needs to figure out how to keep it going. Mr. Joseph asked what the major issues are, or major focus is, for new employees. Mr. Ben said the orientation deals with what employment with the County means, including the benefits, policies, and procedures. The orientation is general, because they are dealing with all employees from all departments. He expects each department to give its own department - specific orientation. The orientation by Civil Service is more general in scope, dealing with the County's organization, general benefits, policies, and health fund and retirement benefits. Ms. Stremski asked whether the County has a booklet for new hires, delineating the code of conduct. Mr. Ben said no. Mr. Sakaguchi asked Ms. Stremski whether she thought there should be such a booklet for new hires, and Ms. Stremski said that when she worked at the hospital, each department head went through the booklet with employees and had them sign an 7