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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-26 Merit Appeals Board Minutes Merit Appeals Board Department of Human Resources 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 102 Hilo, Hawai`i February 26, 2020 (Wednesday) Call to Order(Item 1) The regular meeting of the Merit Appeals Board, County of Hawai`i, was called to order at 10:01 a.m. by Chair Luahiwa Namahoe, at the Department of Human Resources (HR) Conference Room, 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 2, Hilo, Hawaii, on Wednesday, February 26, 2020. Roll Call—Present Ms. Luahiwa Namahoe, Chair Mr. William Chillingworth, Vice-Chair Ms. Bella Hughes, Member Mr. Mitch Tam, Member Absent and Excused Mr. Mel Ventura, Member Also Present Mr. J Yoshimoto, Deputy Corporation Counsel, Ofc. of the Corp. Counsel Mr. William V. Brilhante, Jr., Director, HR Department Ms. Glynis Yamada, Secretary-Reporter, HR Department Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: Merit Appeals Board is in session at 10:01. Thank you so much. If we can have a call to order. MR. YOSHIMOTO: You do that. CHR. NAMAHOE: I do that? MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah. You usually call the meeting to order—you're starting, yeah. CHR. NAMAHOE: Yeah, ok. Bella Hughes? MS. HUGHES: Here. Present. CHR. NAMAHOE: Mitch Tam? MR. TAM: Here. CHR. NAMAHOE: William Chillingworth. MR. CHILLINGWORTH: Here. CHR. NAMAHOE: Do I call you, J? MR. YOSHIMOTO: You can just, yeah, note for the record, our presence. I can say, "J Yoshimoto, Deputy Corp. Counsel, present—as well as Glynis Yamada," MS. YAMADA: Secretary. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Secretary. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. Luahiwa Namahoe, Chair, and the meeting is called to order. Good morning. Addendum to the Agenda (Item 2) CHR. NAMAHOE: We are now moving to addendum to agenda, which requires four votes and must comply with Hawai`i Revised Statutes 92-7(d)—addendum to the agenda. MR. YOSHIMOTO: So, we don't have any of addendums, as far as I'm aware, Madam Chair, you can proceed. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you so much. Page 2 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 Statements from the Public (Item 3) CHR. NAMAHOE: Moving on to number 3, statements from the public. MR. SADEGH: Good morning. CHR. NAMAHOE: Good morning. Thank you so much, and if you would state your name for the record. MR. SADEGH: Abolghassem Abraham Sadegh, and last time you asked me what relevant, what I said had to the Board meeting. And she had, actually, put me on the schedule. But this time I really have something to say that should be concern to all of you and all of us and everybody in this State actually. That our County is an allegory and I have sidious examples about that, that people that you actually know. On the public side, the renowned Peter Matsuura, surgeon, I went to him for the first time,just underneath (inaudible) was assaulted and I think made unconscious and dragged on the floor on the ground, so that my knees were damaged. And before anything else, he just said, "Abraham, I have heard that you say you have an allegory. I am an allegor—that is on the public side. On the government side, the first director of their housing—this is the deputy director, actually, but Lance Niimi was in charge of the housing including, unfortunately, the federal housing that is also under the control of the County—and our County is a police state. I'm basing all everything I say on personal experience. And I come home and I'm—this is the twelfth place I'm living and I'm being literally crucified for my faith. I went back to Iran where I'm from and found out that the religion I have believed in for all of my life is a cult. Cult of personalities—and so, I started something and that's complicated. I started something new that I called the Universal Realm of the World Almighty. This is, by the way, why I'm being crucified. Believing in God is optional. Believing in humanity is not—God judges us by what goes under (inaudible) what I believe in. But judges are (inaudible) what goes on in our hearts and not how we perceive ourselves. And then, this is the one that is bothering everybody—each one of us should be the same here. Each one of us at any level of society. Fighting injustice, helping yourself and others, and doing no harm. And everything I say is, I'm really summarized in these two. So, I'm—I am now relieved and I'm—police does not allow me. I have an Associate of Art degree from (inaudible) college in 1964, BA from University of Texas Political Science in 1967, Master's degree when I got back to Iran from Iran Center for Management Studies up at Harvard University. I have fought for 26 years and many responsibilities. And back and limited to my social security which is less than$1,000. So, I'm also live in poverty. Page 3 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 And the police—I have two examples of what I'm talking about (SEE ATT. A). CHR. NAMAHOE: Mr. Sadegh, before we go further, we are already about the five-minute mark. I do want to ask you to, not just summarize, I want to make sure that we all keep the focus of what we can do—what action items we can take away from your testimony? MR. SADEGH: Well, the action—this is the merit board. You cannot possibly do your job properly if you live in a police state. I'm (inaudible)—I also wanted to say that—by the way, Iran comes from Iranian race, which means pure white, but that means nothing. Skin color of a skin has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to say that because white Anglo-Saxon Protestants have been the source of the greatest disaster in human history and they are now in our State at that top one percent. And lesson of them because they have found the soulmate in those from—who are from Japan because of the Japanese culture of obedience and— CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you, Mr. Sadegh. MR. SADEGH: —the (inaudible) society— CHR. NAMAHOE: I'm going to— MR. SADEGH: Can I just mention this,too, these are fictitious police reports about me. One of them says I'm a danger to the president/vice-president from the (inaudible) person. The other one says that I'm declared (inaudible)—these are actually police reports and these are my explanation. CHR. NAMAHOE: Are you submitting them for our records? MR. SADEGH: I am. CHR. NAMAHOE: I thank you so much for doing that. What I'm trying to do is strike a balance between showing you all the respect and deference—do you, as a citizen of the County and State and this country, to balance it with what our primary focus and objectives are—when we're the Merit Appeals Board this has to do with employees within the County and the merit of their employment. So, we're going to accept that and what I did hear you say now, twice, was you talked about things that, I think, are outside the realm of this. But I do know that the law protects you, if you have a case that can go forward to protect you from physical violence from County employees, in this case, the Police Department, there's a path and an avenue for you to resolve that. We wish you well and we wish you good luck. MR. SADEGH: I have done that and the reason (inaudible). It's ten years, if the police is controlling everything, then everybody's affected. And if you're worried about the minutes of your time, I think what I'm saying is relevant. And, as I said, the Japanese are in a Page 4 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 disproportionate way, are—have re—administrative responsibilities that let's every other minority down. But—I appreciate your time. Thank you. CHR. NAMAHOE: And thank you so much. Have a good day. Thank you, Glynis. We'll file that. MS. YAMADA: Okay. Approval of Minutes (Item 4) Approval Of Minutes: December 18,2019 CHR. NAMAHOE: Next, without any further statements from the public, we need to move on to the approval of minutes from December 18, 2019. If we can take a moment to go through the minutes. MS. HUGHES: (Inaudible) when a person is not at the meeting, the last one on the 18th I wasn't able to attend. Do I also vote to approve even though I wasn't there or— MR. YOSHIMOTO: Well, it's up to you, if you— MS. HUGHES: Oh, okay. MR. YOSHIMOTO: If you feel comfortable in reviewing it and voting on it that's fine. If you want to abstain or recuse yourself because you wasn't there, that's fine, too. MS. HUGHES: Yes. MR. YOSHIMOTO: So, either way. MS. HUGHES: Okay. CHR. NAMAHOE: And, at this time, if you have a question about it— MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah. CHR. NAMAHOE: —then it's—to raise it. This is the appropriate moment. MS. HUGHES: Perfect. (Inaudible.) MR. TAM: So, I'll make a motion to approve the minutes on December 18, 2019. MR. CHILLINGWORTH: So, I need a second here—I'm looking at the section of the minutes regarding Mr. Sadegh here—our planet is spaceship earth. Page 5 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: I appreciate the thorough—the thoroughness—thorough aspect of these minutes. MR. CHILLINGWORTH: Okay. Second the motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of December 18, 2000-2019—sorry. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. All in favor of approving these minutes from December 2019? All opposed? AYES: Board Members Chillingworth, Tam, and Chair Namahoe–3. NOES: None. ABSTAIN: Board Member Hughes– 1. ABSENT: Board Member Ventura– 1. EXCUSED: None. CHR. NAMAHOE: Carried. MS. YAMADA: Did you abstain? MS. HUGHES: I'll abstain, `cause I was (inaudible). They were very thorough. CHR. NAMAHOE: Okay. Next section 5—before we go forward into communication, new business, and so forth—it was brought up to me, off-record, that because we had a schedule conflict for Mr. Brilhante, since he needs to attend a—he has a schedule of conflict. MS. YAMADA: He has a coronavirus update at 11. CHR. NAMAHOE: Yeah, take something out of order. So— MS. YAMADA: He's still meeting with the mayor right now. He was supposed to here at ten, so he is running behind schedule at the mayor's office. CHR. NAMAHOE: So, we are merrily moving along. We will skip all that part and raise the (inaudible). Communication(s) (Item 5) CHR. NAMAHOE: Going on—so, no communications. Page 6 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 New Business (for discussion and appropriate action) (Item 6) Election Of Merit Appeals Board Chair And Vice-Chair For Calendar Year 2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: New business—election of Merit Appeals Board chair and vice-chair for calendar Year 2020. Today is, perhaps, the last or second to the last meeting that we will have Mitch Tam with us. MR. TAM: Second to the last? CHR. NAMAHOE: Second to the last. MR. TAM: So, that's how you ask? I like that. In sales it's called "assume the sale." CHR. NAMAHOE: I was assuming the calendar—but, okay. We have—I know that Bella is new to the Board and we don't have Mel here, yet. We have myself, I'm going into my last year on the Board. Judge Chillingworth, we have two years out for you. Correct? MR. CHILLINGWORTH: True. CHR. NAMAHOE: So, well—I don't know what we do. MR. YOSHIMOTO: You can just open it up for any nominations. Someone can make a motion—whoever wants to. CHR. NAMAHOE: Yeah. I mean, we have it on our agenda. Do we want to wait till next month for Mel to be here? MR. CHILLINGWORTH: It might be a good idea. CHR. NAMAHOE: Okay. MS. HUGHES: That would be great. CHR. NAMAHOE: Okay. So, let's table the election for next month. MR. CHILLINGWORTH: Or next meeting. CHR. NAMAHOE: Next— MR. TAM: Meeting. Page 7 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: —months meeting. All in favor? AYES: Board Members Chillingworth, Hughes, Tam, and Chair Namahoe–4. NOES: None. ABSENT: Board Member Ventura– 1. EXCUSED: None. MS. HUGHES: On that note, do we have the next month's meeting (inaudible), yet? MR. TAM: No, not yet. CHR. NAMAHOE: No, but we'll do that and 7 and 9—we're in"7" now of unfinished business, and that's a whole chunk of what today's meeting's going to be about, and we're going to have to do it both in public and then in the executive format. So, I think I'm concerned about what do we do about Bill because—Bill Brilhante—so—because when he comes. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Do you have any idea—yeah. CHR. NAMAHOE: Yeah. MS. YAMADA: I think he should be here anytime, but he can always knock on the door and see if he can interrupt the executive session to brief you folks on his directors report, if it's okay with the Board? CHR. NAMAHOE: Yeah, we need to be. I mean, that's part of what we're talking about. So, we can at least—I mean, the annual performance evaluation. We do have quorum now, so we can move forward on this. We have, in our—what do we call these—manila envelopes. There's a variety of information here. So, I'd like to ask Glynis if you could walk us through the different color coding's,just to re- acquaint us with some of the tasks at-hand today. MS. YAMADA: Okay. This buff sheet, the first sheet, is just the MAB rule that explains what MAB's responsibility is and the evaluation of the human resources director. The page behind that lists all the departments that this evaluation is sent to—I think there's 20 departments including ours, which this evaluation is sent out through this survey. The blue is a timeline—again, it's subject to some changes, if needed, by the Board. And its gives a timeline of how to progress through this evaluation process. And then, listed on the agenda for today is this purple one, which is the performance evaluation of the director. At the last meeting the director went through his goals, which are listed as Goal number 1, 2, and 3. The performance sections, which you'll be discussing today, is the planning, problem-solving, and leadership—if you folks want to make any changes to that. Page 8 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 And, also, listed on the agenda is this pink one, where it lists all the questions. You folks were going to, I guess, review the questions and see if you'd like to make any changes to the questions or even they way the, I guess, the selection of choices you have as far as evaluating it from extremely well to not at all well—if you'd like to change that format. And then, this yellow sheet,it's the letter that Chair Namahoe signs. We had a problem with this at our last meeting where it's highlighted at the last paragraph—`cause at our last meeting there was some concerns about giving Director Bill Brilhante the comments section. MR. YOSHIMOTO: So, we should be going into executive session prior to discussing all of this, right? MS. YAMADA: Okay. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah. MS. YAMADA: Sorry. MR. YOSHIMOTO: So, if we can have a motion to go into executive session? CHR. NAMAHOE: I'll entertain a motion to go into executive session? MR. CHILLINGWORTH: So moved. MR. TAM: Second. CHR. NAMAHOE: All in favor? AYES: Board Members Chillingworth, Hughes, Tam, and Chair Namahoe—4. NOES: None. ABSENT: Board Member Ventura— 1. EXCUSED: None. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Sorry, Glynis. MS. YAMADA: Thank you. Sorry. CHR. NAMAHOE: Mahalo, counsel. RECESS: The Chair called for a recess at 10:17 a.m. to convene executive session. Page 9 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened at 10:25 a.m. in open session. MR. TAM: Good morning, sir. CHR. NAMAHOE: Good morning. MR. CHILLINGWORTH: Good morning. MS. HUGHES: Good morning. MR. BRILHANTE: Good morning. CHR. NAMAHOE: Hello, Mr. Brilhante. MR. BRILHANTE: Aloha, how are you? Director's Report: A) HR Quarterly Reports: July—September 2019 (EO only) October—December 2019; B) General Update Re Bargaining Units; C) General Update Re HR Staffing CHR. NAMAHOE: We're taking number 8 out of order—the Director's Report. Present is Mr. Bill Brilhante, HR Director. MR. BRILHANTE: Good morning, Chair, and MAB—Merit Appeals Board members. William Brilhante, Director, Department of Human Resources. I'm sorry, today I'm a little frazzled because—you know what they say when you lay out your best plans and then work gets in the way of stuff. With this coronavirus, I've been—the mayor has been hyper vigilant with the status, and HR plays a key role in that we manage our County employees and County services and functions. And one of the things the mayor's really desirous of is not allowing the County services and functions and activities to become impacted as much as possible. And that's the rationale for HR being so involved with the discussions going forward. So, unfortunately, today at 11 o'clock I'm up—I have to give a report up at Civil Defense disregarding—regarding next step. A brief quarterly report. The information was submitted from our department. One of the areas that—at the last meeting, I had mentioned that we would get updated was the report regarding the EOO and ADA—and that position was vacant. Our director or our manager retired and I did offer the position to a candidate and she accepted. And she's going to be starting on March 16`h with us. And she has a long experience—vast experience in EOO and ADA matters. She was, for nearly 11 years, she worked with State of Washington, their Department of Human Services Child Welfare Division. They have about 5,000 employees statewide and she was the Page 10 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 EOO/ADA coordinator for them. And so, she had a lot of experience from a governmental standpoint regarding ADA and EOO matters—and I think that we were fortunate to find somebody like that to come on board. And she'll be relocating from the mainland and, again, starting on March 16tH So, in the interim period of time, I've been the ADA/EOO go to point of contact person. And we've had several situations with some of the departments and we've pretty much resolved most of—we discussed and we resolved most of them going forward. Right now, nothing really of significance (inaudible) except for some lingering issues with the police department. Labor Relations—I think last time we spoke, I was involved in collective bargaining for—at the time, BU4 was still up in the air as well as Bargaining Unit 14, which is our County lifeguards. And at that—we were in active and open arbitration. So, with BU4, we were—we've completed the arbitration and we were awaiting the arbitrator's decision, and HGEA accepted the Employer group offer. So that matter has been resolved and—or it's going out for ratification this week, right, Glynis? MS. YAMADA: The (inaudible)through(inaudible). MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. So, the HGEA members for BU4 are going to decide whether to ratify or not. Our understanding is it looks good. It's getting a strong recommendation from the union. BU14, the arbitrator is still under advisement. She's—we've been going—having discussions back and forth. I was on the panel for that arbitration, it's a three-party panel. There's a employer representative, which I was employee representative—which was Stacy Moniz and then the arbitrator is supposed to be a neutral arbitrator. So, we've been having discussions back and forth regarding some of her evidence and stuff that— CHR. NAMAHOE: Just to refresh? MR. BRILHANTE: Yes? CHR. NAMAHOE: BU4 and BU14 which pools of employees are those? MR. BRILHANTE: BU4 is a supervisory pool for Unit 3 HGEA workers. CHR. NAMAHOE: Okay. MR. BRILHANTE: And then, BU14, the only employees we have in that group—there's only two—there's state public safety officers, which we don't have any—that's all the State. But then, the lifeguards— CHR. NAMAHOE: Got it. Page 1 1 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 MR. BRILHANTE: —County water safety officers are in 14. So, we have about 50, give or take, water safety officers here on the Big Island, which we employ. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you. MR. BRILHANTE: So, we're waiting for that group. There was a proposal that was submitted for settlement and we're still waiting feedback from the union as to whether or not they're going to accept it preliminarily with their committee and then sending it out to ratification. So, we're still optimistic hoping that that gets resolved. Once BU 14 is finished, then starting June we start the whole process again, because everybody—all the collective bargaining units 1 through 14 inclusive of police, fire, HGEA, UPW-everybody expires July—well, they expire—their contracts expire June 30th of 2021. So, we start the whole process we have from the end of June till the end of July—that one-month period is where we exchange proposals for all the units. We're going to have to deal with all 14 units going forward at that time. For our Recruitment and Examination we instituted and we started the new vetting process for recruitments and applicants where in the past we used to do skillset reviews, which were conducted by the various departments independently of HR. And so, say, if Public Works was looking for a laborer—looking to hire a laborer—we would open—we would do the initial recruitment, we would open the application timeline, and then as the applicants came in and as the ap—as the recruitment closed, then we would send the entire list of applicants—whether it be 50 or sometimes 400—to the department, and the department would then vet the list and rank the list according to who they would want to interview. So, what we did was we've changed that process, we revised that process. So, what happens now is as we do the recruitment, the recruitment time period closes, all the applicants submit their names to us in their packets and all their information. We vet that here internally and we apply experience and education. And we rank the applicants now—the applicant pool, the recruitment pool. And what we do is we then forward a list of qualified candidates and we're going in batches of ten to the department. So, instead of the department getting 400 names and having to vet them—now they get ten names per position and they can request additional applicants, if they conduct a recruitment and they can't find a qualified candidate. So, we started that process at the end of November and we have gone since Jan—well, we introduced it. And on November—and January and February we've been implementing it. And, so far, I'm getting good feedback especially from the administration. I think it just—it allows for more transparency. It allows for more equal application and more uniformity with the process. And, I think, from the public standpoint as well as from when we do our own internal recruitments—I think it's appreciated that there's—it's not smoking mirrors Page 12 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 anymore. It's pretty clear and straightforward what the expectations are and what the process is. And I think that's appreciated by the public. MS. HUGHES: Can I just ask one question there? MR. BRILHANTE: Sure. MS. HUGHES: Just—I'd like to (inaudible) of 400, you do it in batches of ten? But if they were not satisfied with the ten, do you still rank all 400 so you get the next ten ready to go? MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. MS. HUGHES: Okay. MR. BRILHANTE: We'll rank it from 1 to 400 and then we'll send the names. Because what happens is, say, the example I gave a laborer. MS. HUGHES: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: Parks and Rec. may—they have laborer positions, they may have a recruitment for a laborer; Public Works has laborer; DEM—so because of there are various departments, then we batch it accordingly. When we do the recruitment for a position like that, we don't just say we're looking for a laborer for Parks. We just say here is our laborer position, apply, submit your information, and we go can accordingly. So, we have multiple uses. So, we rank them all. MS. HUGHES: Thank you for clarifying. MR. BRILHANTE: And we also, oftentimes, people just don't meet the minimum requirements and so they get removed. So, 400 applicants maybe whittled down to 150 and that's the active list. That list is good for six months unless one of the departments, for whatever reason, request that we extend the list by an additional six months. And then, I'll give consideration to that depending on the circumstances that were identified in their request. MS. HUGHES: Thank you. MR. BRILHANTE: Workers Comp—we've had—what we've been doing recently—most recently in workers comp is we've been trying to close cases, settle cases, like I mentioned on numerous reports. We've had some cases that are old as five, six, seven years—and as long as we're holding those cases and carrying those cases, we're paying—the County's covering that expense. So, it's been a real concerted effort from our part where we're trying to keep a better handle— keep better eyes, have better oversight over these work comp cases. So, we're not letting them Page 13 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 just linger, we're going through the files on a monthly basis. And as much as possible when we see that a case has stalled and there's a period of time where the claimant hasn't really—we haven't seen improvement, we haven't seen them getting worse—it's just been stagnant or has been even keel—we've been sending those cases for independent medical examinations, which is the first step in trying to close these cases. We got an independent medical examiner to make a determination as to what the extent of the disability is, going forward. And we've been getting those reports. And then, based on those reports, we're able to settle cases. And by settling them, we close them, and then we get the County off the hook for those considerable cost to just carry these cases along. Unfortunately, as we close cases, as you know, any settlement you're closing a case you're taking money out of your pocket to say, "Okay, this case is done. We're paying it off." The payoff part, we're—because of that lag with so many cases being old, now, this year, we're paying off these cases. We're settling these cases, we're paying off whatever the injuries are. We really haven't budgeted. We haven't identified in our budget a real—how should I say—not average, but just a general figure that we know on an annual basis this is pretty much how much we pay out because it's a unique situation. So, we've gone over budget about $600,000 with—at this point in time for the settlement. We have a $2 million settlement budget and we're about $600,000 over. We've also gone over our estimate for—regarding our legal representation. And so, we've gone to council and we requested additional funds for both of those items and council has granted it. So—with the understanding that it's a work-in-progress. At the end of the day, although we're going a little bit over budget now to settle these cases and get these cases resolved, the—if you extrapolate that out, we'll have less—expenses would—incur less expenses down the road going forward. CHR. NAMAHOE: Are we seeing any of that here on this particular page I'm looking at—I think it's the last page in our red binder, which is the County of Hawai`i Workers' Comp Division Quarterly Report, October 1st, 2019 through December 31'Final Quarter—or is that Q2—for the County budget. Do you guys look at it, Q2 fiscal year— MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah, so— CHR. NAMAHOE: What is that? MR. BRILHANTE: this is—you see one of the documents says number of new claims— CHR. NAMAHOE: Mm-hmm. MR. BRILHANTE: —and then total number of new claims, year-to-date—and then that's fiscal year. So— Page 14 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: July? MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. So, our fiscal year runs July 1St to June 30th and we use the fiscal year because that's how our funds run. When we get funds from—appropriated in our budget from the county council or the—it's all based on a 12-month period of time, but it's always July 1st to June 30tH CHR. NAMAHOE: So, to be clear, not to interrupt you—but to be clear—how I'm reading this is that by the time it says 2020, this is as of December 31st—from July 1St to December 31St we have 75 claims? MR. BRILHANTE: No. It should be— CHR. NAMAHOE: `Cause 2020, right? MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. July 1st to currently— CHR. NAMAHOE: July 1st through— MR. BRILHANTE: Current. CHR. NAMAHOE: `Cause this period up here says through December 31st-- MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. CHR. NAMAHOE: —2019. So, this is the end of Q2? MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. CHR. NAMAHOE: —2020— MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. CHR. NAMAHOE: So, as of—by the end of Q2 halfway through the year, we already at 75. MR. BRILHANTE: Correct. CHR. NAMAHOE: And then, down here, total number of claims— MR. BRILHANTE: Is 381. CHR. NAMAHOE: Three eighty-one. Page 15 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. So, what—so, again,just to clarify, the total number of claims is how many claims we're carrying at any given time. CHR. NAMAHOE: And that's the— MR. BRILHANTE: Open claims. CHR. NAMAHOE: —$600,000 we're closing off or they're not— MR. BRILHANTE: No. CHR. NAMAHOE: -counted on this either? MR. BRILHANTE: No, no, no. So, what happens is, the County—`cause somebody gets injured, they'll be injured—they'll be on work comp for a year—two years. CHR. NAMAHOE: They got hit by the lava. MR. BRILHANTE: In some cases— CHR. NAMAHOE: Okay. MR. BRILHANTE: We have some cases they were here for seven years. I think the longest we have is, like, 14 years. So that gets counted on the total number of claims by fiscal year. And then, the chart above is the total number of new claims in the year. CHR. NAMAHOE: So— MR. BRILHANTE: So, if you have—so, for fiscal year, so far, from October—from—this is for the whole year, so this is fiscal year to date till December 31St. So, July 1'of 2019 to December 31st of 2019, we have 75 new claims. From July 15t of 2018 to— CHR. NAMAHOE: June 30th MR. BRILHANTE: —June 30th of 2018, we had—we were carrying 440 open claims. So, from July 1st of 2019 to December 31st of 2019, we've closed those 59—if my math-69 claims. We've closed 69 claims. MS. HUGHES: But the 381 then, we're looking at, right? MR. BRILHANTE: Correct. MS. HUGHES: That does include the old ones and the new ones? MR. BRILHANTE: Correct. Page 16 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 MS. HUGHES: That (inaudible). MR. BRILHANTE: It's everything. MS. HUGHES: Got it. MR. BRILHANTE: Right. MS. HUGHES: Got it. MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. MS. HUGHES: Is there any— MR. BRILHANTE: Clear as mud? MS. HUGHES: (Inaudible) projecting—it's clear, but it'd be interesting about the budget what you're saying of, sort of, finding out what you would really need to move this process forward. MR. BRILHANTE: Right. So, what we do is, because we've never been so aggressive in closing claims before—the only real number.we have is we're instructed to have a status quo budget. So, our budget for claims and paying claims and carrying cases—have always been 2.1 million—at least for the past three or four years. So, that's how, going forward—so for fiscal year 2019—so for fiscal year July 1st, 2019 through the end of June 30th, 2020— CHR. NAMAHOE: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: —we had that $2.1 million to address our work comp cases. CHR. NAMAHOE: But we're already 2.7? MR. BRILHANTE: As of January we have maybe about$400,000 left out of that 2.1 million. MS. HUGHES: For the rest of the whole year. MR. BRILHANTE: For the rest of the fiscal year. MS. HUGHES: Until June 30th. Okay. MR. BRILHANTE: So, January of 2020 we have about 400—we had about $480,000 leftover on that—from that original 2.1 million. Right? June—July 1St we got 2.1 million; July 1St of 2019 we got 2.1 million. We've been carrying these cases, we've been working six months Page 17 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 later—January 1St of 2020, we only had—out of that 2.1 million—we had $480,000-something left. We knew that just based on the monthly figures that we weren't going to be able to—that wasn't going to be able to sustain us for the remaining six months—so, we were going to be short. So, we went in—we're going to be short about $600,000 on top of the 480 that we had leftover. So, we went into council and, based on our estimates, what we've been using for the previous six months, we came in and requested $600,000 additional to cover the work comp expenses. CHR. NAMAHOE: So, you've already reported this to county council? MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. CHR. NAMAHOE: In the last— MR. BRILHANTE: We've already got approval for the— CHR. NAMAHOE: All right. MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. CHR. NAMAHOE: In the last month. MR. BRILHANTE: That was the last month. CHR. NAMAHOE: All right. MR. BRILHANTE: Correct. And it came to our attention and that's our fiscal division. They monitor those funds. Also, along those lines, too, specifically, one of the departments—Public Works—they were running out of funds because some of the departments, some of the coverage for the work comp comes directly from the departments in some cases, the larger departments—the seven larger departments—`cause we just don't have the resources to monitor and close those funds. So, we use a third party to, kind of, help us monitor with the payments and the settlements and stuff And so, it came to our attention that the funds for the Department of Public Works was being used up as well. So, we had to send a request to Public Works to make additional—transfer funds into their work comp account to cover their claims going forward. So, that was something that we addressed at the same time as well. We usually do—that type of vetting is usually conducted on a quarterly basis. And so, that's why it was in January that it was brought to our attention that we were using funds and we were running low. It's not unusual for that to happen. I think the reason it hasn't happened in the past was because cases weren't being closed. Page 18 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 MR. TAM: So, another fiscal year is coming to an end very shortly. MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. MR. TAM: What is your plan for next year, going forward if 2.1— MR. BRILHANTE: Wasn't enough? MR. TAM: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: And that's exactly the consideration we had. So, at that same point in time where we requested the additional funds—we also adjusted our budget request going forward to incorporate the 600-something thou—I think we went for at—right at about $600,000. So, we increased our annual work comp budget by an additional 600,000 or we increased— MS. HUGHES: So, you requested 2-7— MR. BRILHANTE: Correct. MS. HUGHES: Just a question, kind of, drifting off that—so, I love this model of actually trying to close this out. Is there, like, any data—has this been done somewhere else in the U.S. that you're modeling after—so, you know what, kind of, occurred what'd look like—it seems you're going to spend a lot for a couple years, get them closed, and then maybe it might go down. MR. BRILHANTE: And that's exactly the point. MS. HUGHES: Okay. MR. BRILHANTE: If you look at every other jurisdiction in the United Sates— MS. HUGHES: Yes. MR. BRILHANTE: —who properly maintains— MS. HUGHES: Mm-hmm. MR. BRILHANTE: —and evaluates— MS. HUGHES: Mm-hmm. MR. BRILHANTE: —and we say run through their work comp cases— MS. HUGHES: Right. Page 19 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 MR. BRILHANTE: That's what you see. MS. HUGHES: Okay. MR. BRILHANTE: Is because— MS. HUGHES: So, this is a process that you see— MR. BRILHANTE: —it's a process. MS. HUGHES: —coming down— MR. BRILHANTE: Exactly. MS. HUGHES: —in other places in the U.S. MR. BRILHANTE: And the reason that we're having—we're taking a hit fiscally is because— I'm just going to use an example—hypothetical example—say, a police officer gets injured— injures his back on the job. So, he goes out on work comp. He goes out on work comp, he's out on work comp, he's staying home, he's getting—we're paying his doctor's bills, we're paying his medication, we're paying his PT, we're paying anything related to that injury—we're covering. Plus, we're paying his salary. For police, we coy—because they have a special provision in the HRS, they get 100 percent of their salary while they're out on work comp. The other employees get about 60-something percent, but the police can use their additional time to cover the additional amount. So, they get their full salary. So, those are all carrying costs. So, the carrying costs for that is maybe around 10,000 a month. So, 10,000-10,000-10,000-10,000-10,000 going forward. So, that's $120,000 for the year just my simple example here. However, we pay if we settle the case. What happens is we're able to stop the 120,000 but based on the extent of the injury, we have a settlement based on the independent medical examiners determination of how bad these injuries are. So, we could end up paying $170,000. We'll pay that on Monday, right, to settle the case. Whereas, the carrying you get 120, 120, 120 each year. We pay the 170, we—that 170 comes out of pocket immediately and then that's how come it adversely affects our budget. CHR. NAMAHOE: On a sidebar note,just because I'm curious. If Joe policeman is out for the fiscal year and within that period of time they just got a step increase or a—does the work comp, then, that claim also adjust? MR. BRILHANTE: It's because the—in the—under the statute and J is the work comp—he used to be in his previous life before corp. counsel—you pay 60 percent of their base salary. So, as their salary increases you make the adjustments. Page 20 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: Okay. So, that's incentive to close the case. MR. BRILHANTE: Oh, definitely. The least number of employees you have on the books for work comp, the much better you're off in the long run. Because you—one thing is, when that employee's out on work comp, the job doesn't go away. CHR. NAMAHOE: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: So, oftentimes, there's that backfill— CHR. NAMAHOE: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: —on that domino effect and everything. CHR. NAMAHOE: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: So, that—and the other thing, I was just going to report on this—we've implemented—we reimplemented our return-to-work program. So, that's been something that within the last month, I've already authorized three situations where I approved three situations where employees are coming back on light duty. Before departments, they didn't want to do that. They were, kind of, reluctant to it `cause it's babysitting in their minds. But then, if we can have an individual come in and they do clerical work— CHR. NAMAHOE: Yeah. MR. BRILHANTE: —or they do this or they do that. It's two-fold. One—the department doesn't have to hire somebody else to do that. CHR. NAMAHOE: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: They can have this individual. And, two, I don't know, I think I would rather come back and do my regular job, if I'm coming back and having to get ready every morning, every—and either way—and do something— CHR. NAMAHOE: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: —that might be, kind of, menial to that effect. So, it's—there's a motivation factor to help our employees come to the realization that, "Oh, maybe I not so hurt after all." Facetiously. And—but that's the general intent for light duty. And we've been pushing that. We've been making that much more available for our departments. CHR. NAMAHOE: So, I want to thank you— MR. BRILHANTE: I got to go. Page 21 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: —for your report. MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. CHR. NAMAHOE: I know you got, like a five-minute time. Is there any particular area that—I mean, always appreciate the time that you provide us, Mr. Brilhante. Is there anything that you want to make sure that you leave in our mind as the last thoughts or we're going to start talking work comp. `Cause I'll go there. So— MR. BRILHANTE: I just want just last month. Well, was it—it was last month, we had a ceremony, a graduation for our first supervisory training class attendees who took our management training class. We had about 40-something mid-level—upper-level managers in the County. It was a 12-month class. Our Professional Development Manager, Jenny Sakamoto, taught the class. The rest of our staff—we even had Corp. Counsel come in and give some of the lectures. They met twice a month, four hours each time, and the class was very well received. The applicant—all the candidates successfully completed the program. I think what spoke volumes is we opened up the enrollment for this year's program and within a day or two, the—all the—a lot of(inaudible) were full and we also have a waiting list for next year's, so— CHR. NAMAHOE: Congratulations! MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. So, it's been received well. The mayor's very appreciative of that. I think a lot of the departments are appreciative of that. And, quite honestly, it's been a good—for me, it's been really good because we're able to identify issues and problems that the departments have now on a regular basis. We were able to catch it when they're weeds and address them as opposed to—in the past, without that regular communication and contact with the managers— we'd get it when it's a grievance or something like that. So, it's just been—not only are we educating our managers, but we're also educating ourselves as to—going forward. And I think it's been really successful. The other thing we did was we opened up a new training class for supervisors in Unit 2—and those are not generally the mid-level managers, but they're the supervisors for our laborers. So, it's a lower class of supervision that our Unit 2 workers and we have a separate class going with them—and that class is full as well, and it's going to be a one-year class. CHR. NAMAHOE: Congratulations. MR. BRILHANTE: Well, I think that's been—so far, it's been pretty successful. Now, I got to go give my coronavirus report. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you. Page 22 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 MR. BRILHANTE: Thank you very much. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. I'd like to suggest we take a five-minute break. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah. CHR. NAMAHOE: And then we can return and we'll entertain executive session re-hash or re- do. Do I need to take a motion to go a session or no, we good? MR. YOSHIMOTO: You can just call recess. CHR. NAMAHOE: Recess. RECESS: The Chair called for a recess at 10:59 a.m. RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened in open session at 11:06 a.m. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. So, we're back in session at 11:06. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Madam Chair, recommend that we have a motion to file the HR Quarterly Reports from the director as noted on the agenda.' CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. I'll entertain a motion that we do that. MR. CHILLINGWORTH: So move. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you. MS. HUGHES: Second. CHR. NAMAHOE: Second. All in favor? AYES: Board Members Chillingworth, Hughes, Tam, and Chair Namahoe–4. NOES: None. ABSENT: Board Member Ventura– 1. EXCUSED: None. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you. MR. YOSHIMOTO: You want to go back into executive session for item number 7. CHR. NAMAHOE: Okay, we are returning to the unfinished business which is in executive session we are reviewing the executive session minutes—that's next. And then, we're going to be talking about the Merit Appeals Board evaluation tool. So, can we go back into session please, may I have a motion? Page 23 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 MR. CHILLINGWORTH: I move that we re-enter executive session. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you. And a second? MR. TAM: I'll second. CHR. NAMAHOE: All in favor? AYES: Board Members Chillingworth, Hughes, Tam, and Chair Namahoe–4. NOES: None. ABSENT: Board Member Ventura– 1. EXCUSED: None. MS. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. RECESS: The Chair called for a recess at 11:07 a.m. to re-convene executive session. RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened at 11:36 a.m. in open session CHR. NAMAHOE: In front of us are some reviews—or we've done our review in executive session, so now we're looking at some approvals. Unfinished Business (for discussion and appropriate action) (Item 7) FY 2019-2020 Annual Performance Evaluation of the Director of Human Resources (HR): Merit Appeals Board's Evaluation Tool For The Director Of HR For FY 2019-2020 And SurveyMonkey Questions For FY 2019-2020 (Note: At the Merit Appeals Board meeting held on December 18,2019, the above evaluation tool and SurveyMonkey questions for FY 2019-2020 were postponed.) CHR. NAMAHOE: The two approvals that are at-hand, right now, is to approve the SurveyMonkey questions with the revisions as we've discussed them? I would like to entertain a motion that we approve the SurveyMonkey panel question—panel of questions? MR. YOSHIMOTO: As amended. CHR. NAMAHOE: As amended. MR. CHILLINGWORTH: So moved. MR. TAM: Second. CHR. NAMAHOE: All in favor? Page 24 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 AYES: Board Members Chillingworth, Hughes, Tam, and Chair Namahoe—4. NOES: None. ABSENT: Board Member Ventura— 1. EXCUSED: None. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. We will now submit the amended SurveyMonkey questions that will be submitted in May for the department heads. Review of Executive Session minutes of: December 18,2020 CHR. NAMAHOE: Second up is the approval of the executive session minutes from December 18, 2019—may I take a motion? MR. TAM: I make a motion we accept the—or approve the executive session minutes. MS. HUGHES: Second. CHR. NAMAHOE: And a second—thank you. All in favor? AYES: Board Members Chillingworth, Hughes, Tam, and Chair Namahoe—4. NOES: None. ABSENT: Board Member Ventura— 1. EXCUSED: None. CHR. NAMAHOE: Thank you very much. We have approved the executive session minutes. Director's Report (Item 8) HR Quarterly Reports: April—June 2019 And July—September 2019; And General Update Re Bargaining Units (Previously taken out of order.) Schedule Next Meeting Date (Item 9) The Merit Appeals Board will convene its next meeting on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. with the location to be determined. Page 25 Merit Appeals Board February 26, 2020 Adjournment (Item 10) The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m. Respectfully submitted, git OWA) Glynis amada, ecretary-Reporter APPROV I: fri Luahiwa Namahoe, Chair Merit Appeals Board Page 26