Louisa county implements laws that prohibit smoking on state government properties. However, there is a loophole that vaping product users still exploit to vape whenever they are.
Paul Greufe, the Human Resource Consultant for Louisa County revealed Tuesday (July 19, 2022) that the State laws do not adequately cover vaping products. He said this while speaking to the board of supervisors on the use of e-cigarettes and vaping products.
Greufe pointed out that the county policies on smoking ban rely on the Iowa Smoke-Free Air Act. This does not ban vaping on government properties because vaping products do not produce any smoke. The use of vaping products is therefore not considered smoking under the act.
“I can’t believe it’s not in state laws,” Brad Quigley, the supervisor chair was surprised by this revelation.
Sandi Sturgell, the country auditor, argued the supervisors to add vaping products to the county policy as studies had shown that they were harmful as well. Sandi was supported by supervisor Randy Griffin who also felt that vaping products were not safe to allow use on government premises. Voicing his support, he said:
“It’s OK with me to add it. I don’t want someone doing something in a confined space that can hurt someone else.”
With most of the supervisors agreeing that vaping products were harmful they directed Greufe to take the matter up and review the county policy to include vaping products on the list of banned substances.
Greufe agreed to take up the matter and review the county policy and then report back to the supervisors later.
The supervisors and Greufe also had a discussion on the way forward for the county’s vacation and internet policies. Quigley noted that the world had advanced so much that there was a need for the internet policy to be reviewed to factor in the new developments. Greufe agreed to review the policy and report to the supervisors at a later date.
The supervisors noted that both the Louisa country Public Health (LCPH) Administrator and the Board of Health (BOH) had reported issues with the current vacation policy. For example, early in the year Roxanne Smith, the LCPH administrator had failed to get applicants for the open health aide position. The BOH had to increase the beginning salary to $19 an hour during its special seating on 24th May for the open position to get some applicants.
Some other issues also emerged concerning the vacation policy. The most pertinent one is the requirement that employees have to commit to working one full year before being eligible for a one-week vacation.
Greufe reported that in a special meeting of the heads of departments Smith had proposed that the one-week vacation be brought forward so that employees can be eligible once hired. This proposal received full support from all the other departmental heads.
The supervisors approved the proposal to be part of the vacation policy effective 1st July 2022. They also asked Greufe to review the county records and report all new hires in the last six months. These new hires are to be considered under the new policy framework.
