The Town of Northborough Personnel Board, meeting remotely, approved three personnel changes affecting municipal employees: a revision to vacation leave eligibility, an update to the executive assistant job description to add the police and fire chiefs, and a 2% increase to the nonunion compensation schedule.

Diane, a staff member who presented the items, said the board is amending the personnel bylaw to delete language that required new employees to wait until completing a six-month probationary period before using vacation. Diane read the proposed replacement language into the record: “Upon hire, an employee will begin to earn paid vacation allowance per month. The employee becomes eligible to take paid vacation allowance following at least 1 full calendar month of continuous employment. The town administrator may issue rules and regulations on the implementation and administration of this change of the earning and use of vacation leave.”

The proposal leaves the accrual rate unchanged: Diane said employees “accrue monthly 6.67 hours of vacation.” Under the current policy described in the meeting, employees already begin accruing after one month but could not use accrued vacation until the end of a six-month probationary period; the amendment lets employees use whatever vacation they have accrued after one full calendar month of continuous employment. Diane said the clause granting the town administrator authority to issue implementing rules was requested by the town council and does not by itself change the bylaw without a future personnel-board or council action.

Board members also approved a revision to an existing executive assistant job description to add the police chief and fire chief as positions covered by that description. Diane told the board the change does not create a new position; it aligns the police and fire executive assistants — named in discussion as Angie Soudin and Linda Lepore — with the same duties and confidentiality expectations as the other executive assistants to the town administrator and select board.

Finally, the board adopted the annual adjustment of the nonunion municipal pay schedules. Diane said the general compensation scale and Schedule D (merit-based miscellaneous employee positions) will be increased by 2 percent “per the bylaw, the average increase of the town’s collective bargaining units.” The presentation did not include an estimated fiscal-dollar total for the change.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes of April 18 (administrative): moved and seconded; approved (roll call: Lisa — yes; Gigi — yes; Chuck — yes; Virginia — yes).
- Amendment to personnel bylaw (vacation leave eligibility): motion to approve amendment; seconded; approved (roll call: Lisa — yes; Gigi — yes; Chuck — yes; Virginia — yes).
- Amendment to executive assistant job description (add police chief and fire chief): motion to approve; seconded; approved (roll call: Lisa — yes; Gigi — yes; Chuck — yes; Virginia — yes).
- Adoption of 2% increase to nonunion compensation schedules (Schedule B and Schedule D): motion to approve; seconded; approved (roll call: Lisa — yes; Gigi — yes; Chuck — yes; Virginia — yes).

The board did not provide a detailed budgetary breakdown for the compensation increase during the meeting. Diane reminded members that the town meeting and other routine personnel processes are forthcoming and that staff will follow up on implementation details and any rules the town administrator issues.