The basic role of Barrow County Human Resources is to provide supportive human resource management services to County departments, managers/supervisors, employees, and prospective employees in order to enhance the delivery of local government services. The Human Resources Department administers the insurance benefits for the employees and Elected Officials of Barrow County. Following is an outline of Barrow County Employee benefits:

• 100 percent coverage for the individual for HMO or POS, and 70 percent coverage for dependents;
• 100 percent coverage for the individual for dental, and 70 percent coverage for dependents; and
• 100 percent coverage for the individual for Vision, and 70 percent coverage for dependents.

Eighty-one percent of Barrow County employees elect some type of insurance coverage; thus, Human Resources manages benefits for 380 of Barrow County’s 402 full-time employees. Barrow County provides nine paid holidays to all full time employees, as follows:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Day after Thanksgiving Day
• Two days at Christmas as determined annually by the elected officials

During 2005 the Barrow County Board of Commissioners contributed 11.6 percent of an employee’s salary toward a defined retirement plan. All employees who have invested at least three years of service with Barrow County receive this benefit, and will become fully vested after five years of employment. An employee is currently able to retire from Barrow County at age 55, if he or she has ten years of service with the County. At retirement the County continues to pay one-half the cost of insurance coverage for the employee until age 65.

During 2005 a few major accomplishments in the past year include:

• Participation and membership with Society for Human Resources Management
• Participation and membership with Georgia Local Government Personnel Association
• Compliance with the Federal and State requirements regarding employee notifications
• Barrow County Health Fair with over 200 participants

During FY 2006, Human Resources plans to expand the Health Fair, as understanding one’s health, taking advantage of preventive medicine, and gaining knowledge of medical conditions promotes healthier employees, thus leading to a more productive work environment, as well as insurance savings for all benefit plans. Also, the Human Resources staff is committed to completing the Applicant Management component of Kronos to better serve staff, potential employees, Elected Officials and directors.