AAC F A M I L Y F R I E N D S » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »
Class is in session
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Mike Rainwater, AAC Risk Management legal counsel, explains FMLA protocols.
I want to talk to gatekeepers and let you know that you all have a lot of power. And people who make decisions will back you up when you perform the func- tion of keeping the gate.
— Mike Rainwater
cumulative limit on periods of service, must not been released from service by dishonorable discharge and must report to a civilian job in a timely manner. Te Arkansas Legislature enacted A.C.A. § 21-4-102 that covers coun- ty employees in the uniformed services. A.C.A. § 21-4-102 allows all em- ployees of the state or any of its political subdivisions who take a leave of absence for the purpose of participating in the military training programs … “shall be entitled to such leave for 15 days plus travel time for annual training performed in any one year.” If a county employee is called to service, Greer suggested the “Em-
ployer” and the “Service Member” checklists provided in the USERRA Pocket Guide. On the Web:
www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.
Employee / employer dynamics Mike Rainwater, AAC Rick Management legal counsel, explained the
law concerning public employment and how it relates to a contract be- tween employer and employee. He referenced the AAC Risk Manage- ment Fund “Model County Employment Policy (for at-will employ- ment)” throughout his presentation. “I am here today because I want to talk to gatekeepers and let you all
know that you have a lot of power,” Rainwater said. “And people who make decisions will back you up when you perform the function of keep- ing the gate.” Arkansas law nor the federal government requires any holiday for county employees, “so, what is the law?” “Te law is the agreement between the parties and that comes back to
your policy document. Te law is an applied element of every bargain [between employee and employer] oral or written. Holiday pay is strictly determined by your policy at the county level,” Rainwater said. “Holiday pay in the public sector is not determined by state law.”
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De Anna Schmalz, (right) Franklin County Clerk, and Beth Low- man, Monroe County Clerk, listen to Mike Rainwater talk about employment policy and the nuances between the law and an agree- ment of employment.
Rainwater also defined and explained public safety employees and ran-
dom drug testing. He said public safety employees are the only employees in the public sector that are subject to random drug testing. “Why is that? Because we don’t want somebody to get hurt,” he said. Public safety employees are defined as employees who: n maintain a commercial driver’s license n drive a vehicle as part of normal county duties n carry a firearm n routinely operate an emergency vehicle n serve as mechanics on county vehicles n are prepared to use justified physical force “Random drug testing means what? Random. It has really got to be random,” Rainwater said. Rainwater said the AAC Rick Management fund has included paying for random drug testing for its member counties through a third party contractor because “we can rationalize that because it is reasonable and we are trying to prevent lawsuits and we don’t want people to violate the Fourth Amendment and so we contract with a third party that is in the business of being random.” Other types of drug testing include pre-employment testing, reason- able suspicion testing and post-accident testing. Rainwater warned against reasonable suspicion testing in the public sector and suggested those type of concerns, if they exist, should be for- warded to the local prosecutor. Pre-employment drug testing is legal if a county chooses to include it as a condition of the agreement or bargain between employer and em- ployee. “It is perfectly legal, perfectly constitutional for you to drug test [pre-employment] as long it is an element of the bargain,” Rainwater said. Rainwater went on to say that a county should be consistent and equal when pre-employment drug testing.
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