[IDHR] Administrator Update

[DHR Staff Contact List]

Hello!

I hope you all enjoyed the three-day weekend! I was pleasantly surprised to see that Tamarack received 22" of snow since the last time we'd been up there, and got to do some skiing with my kiddos (ages 2 and 6).

There are a few things happening at DHR that I wanted to update you on!

First of all, I am excited to announce that since being officially appointed to the Administrator role, I have thought a lot about our organizational structure and how best to accomplish our strategic objectives as an agency. As a result, I have decided to hire two Deputy Administrator positions who will report to me. One deputy administrator will oversee our field operations and the other our central office operations. One of these positions is what I vacated (except that in my role I also oversaw our policy bureau) and the other position will be new using remaining FTP from a variety of part-time positions we have in DHR. I have attached a high-level copy of the org structure. These positions have been reviewed and approved by our HR team (thanks, Taryn!) and DFM, and should be ready for recruitment soon.

The next item I wanted to update everyone on is related to telecommuting. As you may have seen, Senate Bill 1261<https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2024/legislation/S1261.pdf>, made it to the Senate floor last week on Friday and was debated by legislators, ultimately resulting in being passed by the Senate. The next step for this bill is to make its way through the House, which will start with the House State Affairs Committee. This bill differs from the statewide telecommuting policy issued by DHR in January, in that it limits telecommuting to 15% and doesn't allow exceptions for those working in rural communities.

What this means for DHR is that we are actively reviewing our current telecommuting practices and developing a plan to be in compliance with S1261 should it pass. I have attached data on our current telecommuting numbers. As you can see based on this data, we have some adjustments to make to be in compliance with the bill upon its passage (if passed, I would anticipate it will take effect around the end of March/beginning of April).

As an HR professional, it has been an interesting couple of years to watch employers work to find the right balance of telecommuting and in-office work to support both their business needs and the needs of their employees. I do not believe that there is a one-size fits all approach that works and that it will always be nuanced based on the work performed and the culture of the organization. There are certainly pros/cons both ways and there is no universal right answer.

My goal as the Administrator for DHR is to support work/life balance and provide flexibility to our DHR team, to the extent we can while also ensuring that we are providing the necessary services to our customers. With that, the Bureau Chiefs are reviewing the telecommuting percentages within their teams and once we have a better understanding of how we can make some adjustments that both satisfies the requirements of the bill while also trying to limit the impact on you all, we will communicate with you in more detail.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Thanks everyone!

Janelle White | Administrator
[cid:image001.png at 01DA64DA.DA777180]  208.871.2871
[cid:image002.png at 01DA64DA.DA777180]  janelle.white at dhr.idaho.gov<mailto:janelle.white at dhr.idaho.gov>
[cid:image003.png at 01DA64DA.DA777180]  www.dhr.idaho.gov<https://dhr.idaho.gov/>

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