April 2, 2026 | 10am-11:15am | Online via Zoom & On-Demand 

Local elected officials play important roles in the employment of our public workforce. They establish the local government’s personnel policies, they develop pay and benefit plans, they sometimes may even serve in “supervisor-like” roles, depending on the organizational framework of their unit of government. 

As an elected official, you do not need to be experts in these areas but you need to be sufficiently aware of the applicable laws to know how to ask the right questions of the right people at the right time. In this class, you will gain a basic understanding of the employment laws that apply to local governments. You will become more conversant with the employment issues that affect our local government workforce and explore the role of the elected body in assuring that the laws are being followed.  Questions that will be addressed in this class include:

• What is the appropriate role for the elected body in matters related to employment?
• What benefits MUST be provided? What benefits MAY be provided?    
• What is the difference between FLSA and FMLA? Does size matter?
• Are there specific recruitment processes that are required?
• Is there a difference between a personnel “policy” and a personnel “ordinance”?
• What constitutes a personnel record? Who can see it? What is confidential?
• If there is no Town Manager, who supervises the employees? 
• How do we hold the right people accountable?