Durham social services in a bind

The department wants the county to provide bonuses to keep workers from leaving

DURHAM -- Desperate to keep overburdened workers from fleeing their jobs after just months, Durham's Department of Social Services is asking county commissioners to set aside nearly $100,000 for retention bonuses.

To get a proposed $500 bonus, all a DSS employee would need to do is work for one year -- a commitment that apparently is harder than it sounds.

Over the past two years, more than 60 percent of social workers in child welfare and employees who work with Medicaid and food-stamp programs have left because of low pay and job stress, DSS Director Sammy Haithcock told county commissioners in a budget plea Thursday.

The bonuses would be available to these two types of workers, which account for almost half of 482 full-time positions in the department, he said.

As a result of the turnover, remaining employees are carrying the workload and burning out.

"We believe we're actually at the point where turnover is creating turnover," Haithcock said.

County Manager Mike Ruffin has not recommended that county commissioners fund the proposal, however. He says bonuses are not the solution.

Still, commissioners listened as Haithcock described the turmoil.

Some new employees are leaving after six or eight months, just after they've concluded costly job training at taxpayer expense.

From July 2007 through March, the department has hired and trained 50 new employees, at about $4,400 per employee -- a lot more expensive than a $500 bonus, Haithcock said.

Ruffin said he didn't recommend authorizing the bonuses because, based on a recent internal analysis of more than 300 voluntary exit interviews, only 25 percent of county employees say they're leaving because of low pay.

"Seventy-five percent are leaving for other reasons," Ruffin said. "Therefore I'm not convinced that this is the strategy that is going to provide the retention goals they are looking for."

Ruffin suggested his staff analyze just DSS exit interviews and come up with another strategy.

Newman Aguiar, a social services board member, said he hoped the county manager and commissioners would act quickly.

Aguiar said the one-time, emergency effort would cost taxpayers $40,000 at most because of state and federal salary contributions.

"I agree completely that more strategies need to be investigated," Aguiar said. "But I think it's a really small amount to pay for what it's already costing us."

The conversation prompted some commissioners to bring up the idea of bigger bonuses for all employees, rather than the 1-percent cost-of-living adjustment Ruffin had proposed in his draft budget.

A public hearing on the county's budget will be held at 7 p.m. June 9 at the old Durham courthouse, 200 E. Main St.