The Human Rights Commission has joined the city’s Public Safety Commission in recommending that City Council commit funds in the next budget to add staff for first responders dealing with individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The rights commission unanimously approved a recommendation heavily based on a May report that outlines the need for $1.75 […]
Austin Human Resources Department
This city department oversees city employees, who number over 12,000 strong.
Posted inCity Hall
Audit update shows progress on city HR complaints, with more work needed
The city’s Human Resources Department has made some progress on achieving the recommendations outlined in a 2017 report that found the city was taking too long to investigate complaints brought by city employees. The report, from Matrix Consulting Group, also found the city lacked proper training to prevent instances of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. In […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics commission loses some duties
Austin’s Ethics Review Commission will no longer be looking at allegations of ethics violations related to most city employees. On Thursday, City Council approved changes to the ordinance governing the commission’s authority after ensuring that reports about such allegations would eventually become public. Mayor Steve Adler proposed the changes after Human Resources Department Director Joya […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics Review Commission dismisses case against Human Resources director
The city of Austin professes to have a “mother-friendly” work environment that supports new moms and working parents. However, a complaint filed in December by the Office of the City Auditor brings that policy into question. The complaint filed by Brian Molloy, chief of investigations for the city auditor’s office, alleges that Joya Hayes, director […]
Posted inCity Hall
Updated: Human Resources director faces ethics complaint
Joya Hayes, director of the city’s Human Resources Department, misused city resources and abused her position by directing staffers to care for her child while Hayes attended meetings, according to a complaint filed by the Office of the City Auditor. The allegation came to light last week when the Ethics Review Commission posted its agenda […]
Posted inCity Hall
Firefighter off for one day for ‘disrespect’
After finding that a male firefighter under his command spoke in a disrespectful manner to a female firefighter, Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker suspended the firefighter for just one day, to the dismay of the female firefighter. Baker did not characterize the language as sexual harassment or intended to create a hostile work environment. Baker […]
Posted inCity Hall
Austin Energy troubled by hiring concerns
City jobs are notorious for having a prolonged hiring process. However, at Austin Energy, the process has become excruciatingly long, even by its own standards, and it’s starting to have repercussions. At the April 16 Electric Utility Commission meeting, Mark Dombroski, who is the chief financial officer of Austin Energy, distilled the issue down into numbers […]
Posted inCity Hall
Without final rules in place, Austin closes two fair chance hiring complaints
When Lewis Conway Jr. was released from prison in 2000 after serving time for manslaughter, the state required him to wear an electronic monitoring device. But nothing fit his ankles. “So they put the electronic monitor on my wrist,” said Conway, who works on criminal justice issues for the nonprofit Grassroots Leadership. “It was about […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Commission: Who polices the police?
Last month, members of the Public Safety Commission voiced concerns about the lack of consistent rules or guidelines on investigating senior members of the police, fire and emergency medical services departments for harassment or discrimination. On Monday, a representative of the city’s Human Resources Department conceded that the city did not have a defined process […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit raises questions about on-call pay
Although Austin has a citywide procedure governing on-call and call-back pay, the Office of the City Auditor has found that the procedure is not consistently applied, and the city’s Human Resources Department has apparently not evaluated call-back pay since 2012. That’s according to an audit approved by the City Council Audit and Finance Committee last […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit: City employees violated lottery rules
An assistant director of the city’s Human Resources Department helped to conduct a raffle last summer at an event sponsored by a large non-city organization. City employees participated in that raffle in violation of city HR policies, according to a brief special report released by the Office of the City Auditor on Thursday. Although city […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics commission sets final hearing for former music department staffer
Austin’s Ethics Review Commission will hold a final hearing next month to determine whether a former music office employee attempted to inappropriately pay herself out of city coffers. The complaint against Ashley Buchanan, who worked as an employee in the Music and Entertainment Division for four years until 2015, is at the heart of the […]