Are you overwhelmed by the volume of state and federal laws and regulations governing human resource matters? Do you wish there were resources available to assist you in understanding how to navigate this bureaucratic maze? The Municipal Association offers a variety of tools and resources to help make the task of human resource management easier.
Municipal Human Resources Association
The Municipal Association manages 10 affiliate organizations designed to offer relevant and timely training to municipal employees working in specialized professional fields. One of these groups is the SC Municipal Human Resource Association.
MHRA, with membership made up of HR staff in 94 cities and towns, promotes sound human resources administration and encourages best management practices. Through its training programs, MHRA provides its 200 members opportunities to exchange ideas and stay up-to-date on changing state and federal labor law and court rulings. Speakers include experienced human resource professionals, labor attorneys and consultants.
MHRA members also have access to a listserve which is an online forum for human resource professionals to ask questions and solicit feedback from other MHRA members.
Model employee handbook
To help municipalities develop an employee handbook (or revise an existing one), the Municipal Association, MHRA, and attorneys with Gignilliat, Savitz & Bettis, LLP publish the Model Employee Handbook for South Carolina Municipalities.
The handbook, which is updated every few years, is designed to comply with state and federal employment laws. Policies contained in the handbook were drafted to minimize being interpreted as express or implied contracts and to help employers deal with practical issues that arise in the employment relationship. Each policy is accompanied by an explanation of what the policy is designed to accomplish.
Online compensation survey
Attracting and retaining quality employees is essential for municipalities to provide services to residents, businesses and visitors. To do that, employees need to be compensated fairly relative to the marketplace. The Association compiles an annual online compensation survey reporting the wages and salaries of South Carolina municipal employees and elected officials. This online tool allows officials to compare their city's compensation scale with other municipalities of similar population or budget size.
Additionally, the online tool allows users to review the data with search criteria such as year, position, a specific municipality and demographic information for each city. The demographic information includes the number of full-time employees in each position, annual payroll, cost-of-living adjustment amounts and range of merit increases. Users can export the information as a PDF report or to Excel, allowing them to sort and filter the data.
Labor attorney
The Association has a labor attorney on retainer. Member municipalities may contact the attorney without charge for questions that can be answered quickly by telephone.
Additionally, South Carolina Municipal Insurance and Risk Financing Fund (the Association's property and liability insurance pool) members have access to a free employment and labor hotline. This service helps SCMIRF members avoid claims and lawsuits related to issues such as wrongful termination; age, racial and sexual discrimination; and other employment-related matters.