I joined KPHRS – Kentucky Public Human Resources Association and attended their fall conference recently. KPHRS is an association of HR professionals who work for City, County or Public Agencies. It is similar to the ConnPelra group in CT that represents the Municipal HR professionals. The Fall conference was held in Frankfort at the Kentucky Association of County Officials-KACO.
Topics covered at the fall conference included the State Pension Plan revisions that affect all municipal employees (there is one system in the State so if you move from one city to another you are still in the same pension plan). The Kentucky system includes State employees-KERS and the City/County Employees in the CERS. Unfortunately, the State has not been making their payments while the City and Counties have and the retirement system is underfunded similar to other States.
There was also a review of health benefits that was based on a survey conducted regarding usual changes in premium share and co-payments.
The last speaker, a municipal attorney, reviewed the State Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, and sexual harassment cases by vendors or customers. FOI rules in Kentucky allow Cities to charge commercial entities for copies and time spent gathering information. It also allows Cities to appeal if the request is too burdensome and only provide the information in the format they have and not put it into a requested format.
The State of Kentucky does not require by law that supervisors be trained in Sexual Harassment Prevention as is required in Connecticut. However, it is recommended that training be conducted and the policies must have a number of ways for employees to report problems. It also requires that employers make sure that employees are not being harassed by outside vendors or customers. For additional information about Sexual Harassment Prevention see my website at https://randifrank.com/category/hr-tips-techniques/sexual-harassment-prevention/
