Dive Brief:
- A controversial plan to outsource the city of North Las Vegas’ HR functions will go to the City Council on Wednesday, but some city workers say the move is a foregone conclusion—right down to the company to get the contract, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. UPDATE: The plan passed the council on Wednesday with few questions. City Manager Qiong Liu is under fire for reportedly dodging city employees' questions, such as how a smaller outsourced department would be able to handle the tasks when even the existing larger city department couldn't keep up.
- Prism Global Management Group was awarded the contract, subject to council approval, on May 7. It beat out one other bidder, Elite InSource of Tempe, Ariz.
- HR outsourcing is not unusual for small towns, but it is unusual for a city of more than 200,000. The Review-Journal notes that the intent is to save money by eliminating eight positions, two of which are currently open. The department’s director was ousted in September and has not been replaced.
Dive Insight:
White the North Las Vegas situation is hardly settled (the police union leadership is unhappy and two long-time HR employees have filed a complaint saying the outsourcing decision was in retaliation for the pair's earlier discrimination lawsuit against the city, which had been settled), it is potentially a drastic move.
City Manager Qiong Liu said the idea to outsource HR follows a similar move by the city of Reno, though Reno outsources only some functions. For example, a private company handles workers’ compensation, something already true in North Las Vegas, the article said. This is an interesting scenario, if in fact the entire HR operation is outsourced. At this point though, it is a relatively small department, as the media report said there were 8 open positions.
