Department: Human Resources and Risk Management
Department Head/Elected Official: Shain Carrizal
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for discussion and possible action of recognizing Veterans Day and Election Day as paid County holidays.
end
Background and Discussion:
Section 12.02 of the Harris County Personnel Policies and Procedures provides Active Duty, Regular Position Employees eight (8) paid hours for holidays. All Regular Position Employees receive 8 hours of holiday pay regardless of their schedule. Harris County currently provides 11 paid holidays plus one (1) floating holiday that the employee may take on any working day during the Payroll Year subject to the Department Head’s discretion.
On September 19, 2023, the Commissioners Court directed Human Resources & Risk Management (HRRM), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the County Attorney’s Office, and OCA, in collaboration with the County Clerk and the Tax Assessor, to explore options and considerations for implementation of a possible Veteran’s Day and/or Election Day holiday beginning in 2024 and report back to the Court in Q1 of 2024.
Based on discussions with the County Attorney’s Office, there are legal concerns with providing Election Day as a County holiday; therefore, it is recommended that only Veteran’s Day be considered.
Expected Impact:
There are currently an estimated 18,619 Regular Position Employees. Based on their hourly rate, the cost impact of a holiday is approximately $6.3M; however, the cost impact can be further categorized as direct versus loss of productivity. For example, if an office worker received an additional holiday, they would most likely not work that day, and the cost to the County would be one day loss of productivity during the year.
For 24/7 operations, there is a direct cost. For example, if a deputy received an additional holiday that fell on their normal workday, the deputy would receive pay for working that day plus eight hours of holiday pay. The deputy would either earn overtime or compensatory time for those additional hours assuming they posted 40 hours that week; therefore, there is a direct cost. For the most recent holiday with available data (Memorial Day 2024), approximately 3,674 regular employees posted work hours at an estimated cost of $1.2M. The General Fund accounted for 97% of this cost.
Thus, if Commissioners Court approves Veterans Day as a paid County holiday, the direct cost impact is estimated at $1.2M. Furthermore, there is loss of productivity, estimated at $5.1M.
Alternative Options:
Commissioners Court could choose not to give an additional paid holiday.
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
X Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
6/29/2021 |
414 |
Resolution designating Juneteenth an official Harris County holiday to apply to all Harris County employees. |
|
8/29/2023 |
22 |
Motion to direct Human Resources & Risk Management and the Office of Management and Budget to determine the budgetary and operational impacts of recognizing Veterans Day and Election Day as County holidays, and to come back to Court on September 19th with a plan. |
|
9/19/2023 |
39 |
Request for discussion and possible action of recognizing Veterans Day and Election Day as paid County holidays. |
Location:
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: August 6, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): N/A
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Shain Carrizal, Executive Director, Human Resources & Risk Management
Attachments (if applicable): County Holiday Assessment PowerPoint