2014-05-21 Merit Appeals Board Minutes

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Merit Board of Appeals May 21, 2014 need to take care of their injured workers. They need to determine that the injury did, in fact, occur and whether or not it would rise to the level of an industrial injury—from its inception to its resolution. At this time, Chair Kuewa and Board Members thanked everyone. Ms. Toriano stated that it's important that the Board is aware that the division heads are actively involved in defining how their performance is measured. As problems or issues arise, they're readily available to nip it in the butt by monitoring it on an ongoing basis. Chair Kuewa inquired whether Nick is in charge of labor relations. Ms. Toriano replied that she asked Nick to be patient. They had a very serious concern with the security and safety of our employees which required immediate assistance from the Department of Information Technology. In order to do so, they had to take the money from somewhere and, consequently, the lag in the hiring for the position. Ironically, the Department of Information Technology was able to provide a worker to assist us. They have since advertised and announced the vacancy for the labor position. It hasn't closed yet, and hopes to have a person sometime in July. Chair Kuewa thanked Mr. Hermes for wearing two hats. Mr. Nahuina inquired about the cover letter concerning the Director of Human Resources evaluation as well as the status of its distribution. Ms. Toriano replied that Chair Kuewa signed the letter and it's been distributed. The deadline for the departments to respond is May 28. Ms. Noda mentioned that some questions concerning the annual evaluation sent to department heads and deputies have been brought to her attention by Ms. Yamada. There were several questions whether the department head could or should be distributing the evaluation within their department in order for other people to provide the Board with feedback. This is something to consider for next year that, perhaps, the instructions or cover letter may want to address that. Chair Kuewa commented that it's always useful to receive input from the people within the organization, but it's a matter of whether the response or input comes to the Board from just the director or everyone from within the organization. For discussion purposes, he preferred that they do an informal survey within their own department and that the director provide a summary of it. Page 11