Human Resources Issues in Local Government: Yesterday's Headlines Remain Today's “Hot Topics”

• Date: 01 September 2011
• DOI: 10.1177/009102601104000304
• Author: Amy M. McDowell,William M. Leavitt
• Published date: 01 September 2011
• Subject Matter: Article

Human Resources
Issues in Local
Government: Yesterday’s
Headlines Remain
Today’s “Hot Topics”
By Amy M. McDowell and William M. Leavitt, PhD
The authors of this article suggest that one of the most informative methods to
identify the human resources issues that occupy an organization’s time and efforts
is to ask the experts directly. In many local governments, there are at least three
groups or organizational units that share responsibility for human resources
functions and that must work together as a team to successfully resolve human
resources issues: managers and supervisors, human resources professionals, and
attorneys. This article specifically addresses some of the legal concerns and
issues, i.e., the “hot topics,” that constitute the primary workload of attorneys
practicing local government employment law, explores these issues, and identifies
strategies used to address these ongoing concerns.
Introduction
An analysis of “hot topics” in human resources must necessarily begin by identifying
which issues are “hot.” The authors of this article suggest that one of the most inform-
ative methods to identify the human resources issues that occupy an organization’s
time and efforts is to ask the experts directly. In many local governments, there are at
least three groups or organizational units that share responsibility for human
resources functions: managers and supervisors, human resources professionals, and
attorneys. The first group, managers and supervisors, are the key players responsible
for carrying out human resources responsibilities on a daily basis, such as perform-
ance appraisal and discipline. Human resources professionals, typically housed within
a centralized human resources department, have formal authority to conduct and
oversee many human resources functions, such as employee testing, job audits and
compensation programs. The third group, attorneys, have a wide range of responsi-
bilities to ensure that human resources policies and decisions pass legal muster. To
successfully tackle human resources issues, these three categories of individuals must
work together as a team, each contributing their own personal expertise to address
complex, rapidly changing concerns in the workplace.
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This article specifically addresses some of the legal concerns and issues, i.e., the
“hot topics,” that constitute the primary workload of attorneys that practice local gov-
ernment employment law. The typical duties of these attorneys are wide-ranging in
nature. A sampling of responsibilities for such an attorney often includes the follow-
ing types of activities:
• Presenting the employer’s case in a grievance panel hearing for an employee
who is appealing disciplinary action taken in accordance with the employer’s
workplace policies;
• Reviewing standards for criminal background checks for applicants for public
employment;
• Drafting the employer’s position in response to a charge brought before the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
• Auditing employer pay practices to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor
Standards Act; and
• Preparing training sessions for managers and supervisors on recently revised
employer policies due to federal and state law amendments.
In the employ of counties, cities and towns, these attorneys must be prepared
to address all sorts of matters that arise within the sizeable field of employment law.
They are charged with advising their employers on a host of situations that arise in
the public sector workplace. As subject matter experts, they are responsible for pos-
sessing and imparting knowledge of numerous federal, state and local employment
laws and regulations. They may serve in multiple roles; as litigator, advisor or coun-
selor, depending on the skills necessary to resolve the situation at hand. One measure
of the importance of the employment law attorney is a look at litigation statistics; at
this time, employment law litigation represents an increasing percentage of the dock-
et in trial courts in the United States.1
There is no question that the quantity and complexity of federal and state laws
impacting the work of local government human resources departments has increased
dramatically in the last few decades. Examples of laws and regulations impacting
human resources functions include: the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the
Americans with Disabilities Act; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”);
the Fair Labor Standards Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; and the Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, among others. It would be fool-
hardy for managers, supervisors, and human resources department personnel to set
out through the minefield of employment laws and regulations without the compe-
tent guidance of attorneys who regularly practice in this area of law.
In many jurisdictions, there is an in-house attorney or attorneys who fulfill(s) the
organization’s employment law needs. In the best of circumstances, that attorney is
able to devote his or her entire practice to this field. More commonly, however, the
attorney who serves in this role is also responsible for providing legal services in a
variety of other areas as well. In some jurisdictions, the primary attorney responsible
for employment law compliance is an attorney in private practice, who has a contrac-
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tual relationship with the local government. Regardless of the arrangement for provi-
sion of legal services, the employment law attorney is a valuable member of the
human resources team.
Determining the “Hot Topics”: Human Resources
Issues in the Literature
An examination of the use of legal resources focusing on employment law must begin
with an analysis of the types of issues encountered by human resources managers. To
identify the types of issues facing today’s local government human resources practi-
Table 1:
Human Resources Issues in the Literature
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Alternative Dispute Resolution
The Americans with Disabilities Act
Benefits
Compensation
Disaster Management, Planning, and Recovery
Discipline/Dismissal
Evaluation or Performance Management
The Fair Labor Standards...