Paid parental leave policy a good first step

Listening is always a good way to lead. Bloomfield Township Supervisor Mike McCready spent his first couple of months in office on a listening tour – hearing what the township's department heads, employees, residents and business owners all had to say about everything from working conditions, pay, benefits, roads, sewers, public safety, special assessment districts, and more. A notable deficit in the township's health care, it turned out, was not the deductibles employees had to pay, but the total lack of a paid family leave policy in its plans.

McCready, who is a former small business owner, city commissioner, state representative and economic development officer for both Oakland County and the city of Novi, recognizes that one of the keys to a successful term in office – which translates into a more successful community – is providing employees with an environment in which they want to work. Another is recruiting the best possible future employees to come to work in Bloomfield Township.

A benefit and compensation study has been undertaken to guide the administration on comparative jobs and salaries – the study has provided salaries and benefits for numerous positions with several neighboring municipalities. This is providing a road map for the administration as it seeks to retain their long-term department heads and highly-trained staff, and seek out the most desirable individuals for open positions, including police officers and fire department personnel, among other employees.

At a mid-January Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting, McCready presented a paid parental leave policy for eligible township employees, which was unanimously passed – with some trustees noting the township was woefully behind the times. McCready said when he spoke with Bloomfield Township department heads, both they and their staff were dismayed to learn there wasn't already some type of paid parental leave in place. Those employees will now be able to take up to 120 hours of paid parental leave.

To be qualified, an employee must be permanent, full-time employee of Bloomfield Township, have worked for the township for at least one year, and have worked at least 1,250 hours the previous calendar year.

While previously an employee could have taken time off through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), they would not have been compensated for that time.

McCready wrote in a recent supervisor's letter to resident's that he took office in mid-November in the midst of a compensation study.

“Recruitment, retention, and compensation are the keys to healthy work environment. This board needs more information on how the township compares to other municipalities of similar size and scope to know how to best recruit, retain, and compensate. Especially in public safety, we can’t experience a revolving door of employees. We need the right information to attract and keep the best employees for each department and fulfill the vision of a premier government.”

We agree. Cutting costs on the employee front is a fool's errand. They are a municipality's bread and butter, and the hidden “sauce” behind a community's value. Retention and recruitment are one of the keys to retaining market value.