Aug 16, 2018 By Amy Fauth afauth@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

Westmoreland County commissioners continued the process to restore the county’s in-house human resource department Thursday when they created a deputy human resources director position.

The position, which will have a $57,774 salary, is expected to be filled sometime this year.

The deputy director will work side-by-side with human resources director Amanda Bernard, who was hired earlier this year after the commissioners terminated their contract with Felice Associates of Greensburg, a private consulting firm that managed human resources for the county since 2014. Bernard makes $69,000 annually.

In four years, Felice Associates earned more than $900,000 from the county for providing services, including the placement of a full-time staffer to serve as the department’s administrator.

Felice and Associates was scheduled to earn $191,000 this year before the commissioners decided to terminate the contract in February. In March, Commissioners Gina Cerilli and Chuck Anderson voted to hire the firm for $84,000 to oversee union negotiations and labor relations. The firm is also to support the new human resource staff this year. That contract has an automatic renewal for next year that will pay Felice and Associates $108,000.

Despite that, Cerilli said the need for a deputy director became apparent now that the department is in-house. The commissioner said the position is needed to ensure the department continues to operate properly.

Commissioners said Bernard, who is often working after-hours, needs the back-up.

“You have to have a bench,” said Commissioner Ted Kopas. “The further we move away from outsourcing human resources is a positive.”

The position was approved by the county’s salary board, which is comprised of the three commissioners and county controller, Jeff Balzer.

In addition, Cerilli and Kopas teamed up to pass an agreement between the county and SEIU unions (Healthcare PA and Local 668) to grant access to employees for union organizers in reaction to the United States Supreme Court Janus vs. AFSCME ruling. The ruling states that employees who decline union membership are not required to pay “fair share” dues to the union that collectively bargains on their behalf.

Although the county already granted union representatives up to 10 minutes of access to non-union employees on government time, the new agreement increases that to a half hour during new employee orientation to explain the services and distribute materials.

Anderson voted against the agreement because he felt it was a “knee-jerk reaction” to the decision. He said Westmoreland County, is not and has never been against unions.

“Information is good,” said Kopas. “We should never fear it.”

Participation is voluntary for employees, but Kopas said those employees should get the information directly from the union organizers and then make their decision based on that information.

The new agreement only applies to the county’s two largest unions, but the commissioners said it will eventually be extended to the other unions in the county.