Summary
The document under review by the Leelanau Township Board on October 14, 2025 is a draft Personnel Manual intended to govern all non-elected, at-will Township employees. It covers hiring classifications, payroll practices, health and safety, conduct standards, discipline, leave and benefits, and separation procedures. The draft contains numerous embedded drafter's notes ("Commented [JT...]") flagging open policy choices that the Board must resolve before formal adoption, including the length of the workweek defining full-time status, the probationary period, pay frequency, and vacation/sick leave payout terms. No vote to adopt the manual is recorded in this document.
Other Business
Appendix A lists positions currently classified as exempt from overtime rules: Fire Chief, Township Zoning Administrator, Township Assessor, and Librarian; all other employees are classified non-exempt. Appendix B sets out a detailed workplace harassment and sexual harassment complaint procedure, requiring written complaints to a Department Head within ten days and allowing appeal to the Township Board within ten business days if unsatisfied.
Action Items
- Decide whether to add a formal appeal to the Township Board when the Supervisor's interpretation of a policy is disputed (unresolved drafting question).
- Resolve inconsistent language on the discrimination/retaliation complaint appeal timeline (drafts vary between requiring appeal "within 5 business days" and other unspecified periods) — flagged repeatedly as needing clarification before adoption.
- Determine whether the full-time/part-time threshold should be set at 30 or 40 hours per week; draft notes recommend 40 hours to align with overtime rules.
- Decide whether to retain a formal Probationary Period policy at all.
- Choose between bi-weekly and weekly pay schedules.
- Decide whether to add additional paid holidays (e.g., Election Day, day after Thanksgiving, or December 31).
- Clarify the vacation rollover/maximum accrual provision, which appears to conflict with the tiered vacation-accrual schedule.
- Decide whether to continue full (100%) payout of unused vacation and sick time upon separation, or reduce the percentage.
- Determine whether to raise or eliminate the 40-hour annual cap on paid sick time usage beyond the legal minimum.
- Complete Section 6 (Health Insurance), which the draft notes "needs input from Jessica."
- Decide whether to keep or remove the jury-duty pay-differential requirement.
- Decide whether the Township will continue voluntarily following FMLA-equivalent leave practices even though it currently has fewer than 50 employees and is not legally required to do so.
- Finalize non-solicitation and political-activity language, which drafter's notes suggest simplifying to avoid inconsistent application.