Published May 04, 2008 10:45 pm - Personnel and social-services leaders take the initiative to prevent valuable information and knowledge from being lost when retirements occur within the next year.
Tapping into expertise now will stabilize Franklin County's future work force
By DENISE A. RAYMO
Staff Writer
MALONE -- Two Franklin County department heads are taking proactive steps to ensure the accumulated expertise from long-term employees will not be lost when they retire.
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Personnel Director Donna Barnes received permission this week to retain per-diem services of Carolyn Firlik, the principal clerk in the Worker's Compensation Unit, who is retiring June 30 after 35 years.
Firlik will be contracted on an as-needed basis during the year to help the incoming Principal Clerk Karen Lavoie with certain more-complicated tasks such as budget preparation and year-end reports.
"She treated this plan and the money as if it were her own," Barnes said of Firlik. "She has a lot of knowledge over 35 years that we need to tap into once in a while.
"If we get into a real bind, her knowledge will help us out," she said. "But maybe we won't need her."
In making her pitch to legislators this week, Barnes said Lavoie is in training now with Firlik for a majority of the clerking duties, but since budgeting and year-end reports are already finished, she cannot receive any hands-on experience.
Help from Firlik might be called in for 15 hours a year, and Barnes suggested she be paid at her current rate of $22 per hour.
The wording of the per-diem contract and the hourly wage will be determined by the board's Administrative Committee.
At the same time, Barnes was given permission to hire someone to take over Lavoie's job as personnel aide once she obtains the promotion.
That position is expected to be filled by June 2.
Department of Social Services Commissioner Lesley Lyon also took the initiative to see that junior workers are fully trained before two senior workers in the Accounting Unit take retirement.
An account clerk leaves in mid-June, and it is Lyon's idea to create a senior-account clerk position in its place and transfer in some of the duties now carried out by a principal-account clerk because the current principal-account clerk with 30 years experience is retiring in 2009.
The moves would leave four people to staff the Accounting Unit in 2009, a principal clerk and three senior-account clerks.
Lyon said there would be a temporary spike in salaries for about 18 months, but once the second retirement occurs, expenses will decrease.
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