Personnel Details
| Site: | MSL Learn |
| Course: | Next Level Montana Library Law |
| Book: | Personnel Details |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Friday, April 4, 2025, 11:08 AM |
Description
Read through this section to learn about laws related to personnel.
The Trustee Essentials: Responsibilities course covers additional information on this topic. Please consider taking that course to learn more.
Personnel Laws
How the Board interacts with the library director can have as much impact on library services as anything else the Board does. The two must work together closely, but they have very distinct areas of responsibility. Building a relationship of mutual respect and clear communication will ensure that both the Board and the director can do their jobs well.
Chief librarian -- personnel -- compensation. The board of trustees of each library shall appoint and set the compensation of the chief librarian who shall serve as the secretary of the board and shall serve at the pleasure of the board. With the recommendation of the chief librarian, the board shall employ and discharge such other persons as may be necessary in the administration of the affairs of the library, fix and pay their salaries and compensation, and prescribe their duties.
The first thing to realize in working with the library director is that the director reports to the Board as a whole, not to individual trustees. Therefore, a trustee cannot give orders or suggestions to the director unless the action is approved by the entire Board.
Who Employs Library Staff?
Library staff are employees of local government, per 39-31-103, MCA:
“Public employee” means... a person employed by a public employer in any capacity
and
"Public employer" means the state of Montana or any political subdivision thereof, including but not limited to any town, city, county, district, school board, board of regents, public and quasi-public corporation, housing authority or other authority established by law, and any representative or agent designated by the public employer to act in its interest in dealing with public employees.
However, the library board of trustees has considerable autonomy and authority to set compensation within the confines of the library budget.
The Montana Supreme Court's opinion holds that the details of that budget such as fixing salaries and compensation and prescribing duties of employees, is the sole discretion of the library board, pursuant to 22-1-310, MCA. (54 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 7)
A board of county commissioners does not have the authority to modify the library trustees’ decisions regarding library staff compensation even if the library is funded by a general fund levy. (48 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 3)
For a complete reading of the Supreme Court Decision and Attorney General Opinions, refer to the Montana Library Laws: Attorney General Opinions and Supreme Court Decisions document.
Different Library Types and Board Authority
A key difference between free county libraries and library districts is that after the initial appointment of trustees by the commissioners, library district trustees are elected officers. By contrast, city and county library board trustees are appointed.
County library trustees have direct responsibility for administering county libraries in a manner largely independent of city or county control. Even though library employees may be considered city or county employees for certain purposes, the library trustees’ express authority to fix such employees’ compensation prohibits commissioners from establishing a different wage level. (41 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 91)
However, there is no obligation on the part of local government to increase revenue to cover salary increases, and so the board will need to consider the library’s overall budget when considering increases.
While the application of 7-4-2110, MCA to library board trustees is not as clear because they are not “officers of a district or subdivision,” Attorney General (AG) opinions have held that the board of county commissioners continues to exercise overall budget authority over county libraries, and thus over employee pay. However, various AG Opinions and the Butte-Silver Bow Supreme Court Case also give library board trustees authority over the level and detail of assignment of employee duties and pay.
The plain language of 22-1-310, MCA grants a public library board of trustees, not the county, the authority to determine the salaries and compensation of library employees. (Board of Trustees, Butte-Silver Bow Public Library v. Butte-Silver Bow (DA 09-0024))
A county with a formalized pay plan that establishes the compensation and benefits for county library staff may require the trustees to appoint and set compensation under 22-1-310, MCA according to the pay plan. Similarly, the adopted personnel policies and procedures adopted by the county governing body can ultimately be enforced by the Board of County Commissioners. It is within the authority of the library board to challenge county compensation plans if the board believes that the compensation system unfairly classifies library employees at a lower classification than the nature of their duties warrants.
District
library boards are usually autonomous and as such are able to set the salary
and wages for library staff with little oversight from the county commission.
District library boards may wish to consider adopting a pay scale and
classification system that is like what counties or cities might have.
Fair and Lawful Personnel Policies
If the personnel policies and procedures adopted by the county governing body include an established pay plan, then compensation for library employees may be determined by the board of county commissioners. The board and commissioners should work together on this issue since the Montana Supreme Court in Board of Trustees, Butte-Silver Bow Public Library v. Butte-Silver Bow (DA 09-0024) ruled that the board has exclusive authority to determine salaries and compensation of library employees.
Boards and directors should follow local personnel policies to minimize their own risk. They also minimize risk for the local government when they follow local personnel policy because it means that all local government employees are treated fairly. It puts both the library board and the local government in a precarious position if two local government employees are treated differently when it comes to benefits.
An example of this is giving the director health insurance when that person only works part-time if the county policy says an employee must work full-time to receive health insurance. This could create a legal nightmare for the county because one set of local government employees must work full-time while another set only has to work part-time to receive the same benefit.
Collective Bargaining Units
39-31-101, MCA recognizes and encourages collective bargaining between public employers and their employees.
By statute all public employees have the right to join labor organizations and to bargain collectively through their union representatives. One obvious question that arises is whether library directors are "public employees" as defined in Montana's collective bargaining statutes.
Montana's laws governing collective bargaining define "public employee" as a person employed by a public employer in any capacity,” and “an individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of or in connection with any unfair labor practice or concerted employee action."
Public employee does not mean
“a supervisory employee" - an individual having the authority on a regular, recurring basis while acting in the interest of the employer to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees or to effectively recommend the above actions if, in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of the authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature but requires the use of independent judgment.
or
“a management official” - a representative of management having authority to act for the agency on any matters relating to the implementation of agency policy. (39-31-103, MCA)
Thus, while library employees who are not in supervisory or management positions are eligible to join a union, supervisory employees and management officials, such as library directors, are excluded from the definition of "public employee," and therefore do not possess the statutory right to join unions and bargain collectively.
District Libraries
Independent Library District trustees are elected from the district but just as city or county libraries, the district board hires a library director to be in charge of the day-to-day operation of the library.22-1-707. Duties and powers of board of trustees. (1) The board of trustees of a public library district shall:
(a) (i) employ or contract with administrative, professional, or other personnel necessary for the operation of the district.
If the personnel policies and procedures adopted by the county governing body include an established pay plan, then compensation for library employees may be determined by the board of county commissioners.
The board and commissioners should work together on this issue since the Montana Supreme Court in Board of Trustees, Butte-Silver Bow Public Library v. Butte-Silver Bow (DA 09-0024) ruled that the board has exclusive authority to determine salaries and compensation of library employees.
Now it is time to work through Personnel Scenarios.
Personnel Scenarios