DERBY – The Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen unanimously voted Aug. 13 to set the salary range for a human resources director at between $105,000 and $115,000 annually.

The human resources director, when hired, will serve both Derby City Hall and Derby Public Schools.

The new, combined position was recommended by the city’s shared services committee, which meets the first Monday of each month, and was approved by both the Derby Board of Education and the Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen.

The human resources consolidation is estimated to save Derby about $90,000 a year, according to Jim Gildea, a BOE member who chairs the shared services committee.

The salary range was recommended by Derby Finance Director Brian Hall, Derby Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Conway, and Mayor Joseph DiMartino.

The salary range also received a positive recommendation from the finance and public safety committee, a subcommittee of the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen.

The subcommittee talked about the salary range with Hall during a public meeting July 23. 

Hall said the job won’t be easy. The person hired won’t have support staff, and the school district and city operate on different payroll and financial software.

“I can tell you that this is going to be a very large job,” Hall said July 23. “You’re going to be looking at in the neighborhood of 400 employees (that) would have to be managed and handled.”

He gave the subcommittee a table showing human resource salaries in other parts of Connecticut. The table is embedded below.

EMBED TABLE

“The HR director oversees a broad range of essential functions, including employee recruitment and retention, hiring and onboarding, professional development and training, benefits and insurance administration, and other personnel-related responsibilities,” Gildea said. 

The position is especially important to the school system, he said.

“The position helps ensure that the district remains in compliance with numerous employment and regulatory requirements. This includes coordinating required training and procedures related to sexual harassment prevention, DCF reporting requirements, workplace policies, and other state and federal mandates,” Gildea said.

The full Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen approved the salary range at a public meeting Aug. 13.

Before the vote, Katherine Christopher, the current director of human resources for the City of Derby, said she was told she will have to re-apply for her job, and that the job will be posted for others to apply.

“Why?” she asked.

Christopher is the first HR director in the city’s history. She said she has worked diligently for four years to bring the city into compliance with state and federal standards.

She questioned whether other employees will have to apply for the jobs they currently hold, including Hall, the finance director. The shared services committee  is currently exploring whether it is worth combining the finance positions in the school district and the city into one department with one manager.

Christopher asked for a fair process.

“I ask for a fair process to be in place in consideration of the HR position, and all positions,” she said.

Christopher said she was hired by Walt Mayhew, the former chief of staff under former Mayor Richard Dziekan.

She began working in August 2022. The position was part time. Dziekan signed an employment contract with her in April 2023 that paid $89,180 annually.

However, the BOAA voted to slash the salary to $70,000 in March 2024, after Dziekan was voted out of office.

Christopher sued, citing breach of contract. 

A federal judge eventually ruled Dziekan did not have the legal authority to sign her contract without an approval from the BOA/A. The judge said the initial employment contract was therefore “unenforceable.”