Layoff notice wait begins for Kane Co. Health employees

Every Kane County Health Department employee except the executive director next Wednesday will receive a 30-day notice of a potential layoff.

For about half the staff, there won't be anything "potential" about it.

The county board voted earlier this week to move more than 6,000 local residents receiving access to Medicaid services and prenatal care through the county health department to private providers. The transition will result in the layoff of about half the health department's employees.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union officials said Thursday they've been told every employee will have a face-to-face meeting with Executive Director Paul Kuehnert to discuss the layoff notice. Once that's done, it's just a matter of timing before 62 department employees begin looking for new jobs.

AFSCME spokeswoman Carla Williams said the great unknown now is exactly when the 62 employees will lose their jobs. Union employees must receive a 30-day notice, but not all of the 62 jobs involve union employees. Nonunion staffers can be terminated at any time.

Once the 30 days elapse, every union employee can be shown the door, but that's unlikely, Williams said. More likely is some sort of staggered departure as the health department hands over human services programs to the private sector over the course of the next 90 days, Williams said.

"People are naturally distressed with this," Williams said. "People are still trying to come to terms. There's still a lot of questions. Many of our union employees are fielding calls from clients who've become aware of the situation, and they don't have all the answers for them."

Health Department spokesman Tom Schlueter could neither confirm nor deny the details of the layoff process Thursday but said the answers for clients with questions are coming starting Monday. That's when the health department will have a call center up and running where anyone receiving human services programs - such as access to Medicaid through the health department - can call to find out what private organizations can help them.

The call center will also field any complaints county residents have about the transition. The health department will announce the number for the call center on Monday.

Williams said the union is keeping a close eye on the job descriptions of the health department jobs left after the layoff. Williams said any positions left over that are filled by union people should continue to be filled by those people.

"You can't say one day you're qualified and the next day you're not," Williams said.