This afternoon (April 9), in keeping with the order by Governor Walz to extend his "stay at home" executive order through 11:59 p.m. Sunday May 3, the Wright County Board of Commissioners voted to keep public counters closed until Monday, May 4.

The board met in special session to discuss the latest COVID-19 developments, but much of the discussion at the meeting focused on how county employees are compensated during this period. Given the complexity of multiple union contracts, it was deemed that until April 18, all county employees would be paid whether they were on site or working remotely. At today’s meeting, the board discussed having a policy in place that defines that employees who aren’t working their full schedules will either be required to use paid time off (vacation pay) to make up the difference in hours or opt for a voluntary leave without pay program.

The board approved setting a special board meeting for 1 p.m. Thursday, April 16 to discuss the policy. The meeting was set for Thursday because the board is conducting a workshop Tuesday, April 14 and won’t have a regularly scheduled board meeting.