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Employers checking into overtime laws
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Employers are getting more than six months to prepare for overtime regulation changes that go into effect Dec. 1, 2016.
On May 18, 2016, President Barack Obama announced the publication of the Department of Labor’s final rule updating overtime regulations, which will automatically extend overtime pay protection to over 4 million workers within the first year of implementation.
While some individuals will be unaffected by the changes, others will be. Warren County government has two to three employees who may no longer qualify for salaried status.
“These changes are mandatory,” said finance director Linda Hillis. “It’s under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division regarding overtime pay.”
The Wages and Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in federal, state and local governments. Covered nonexempt workers are entitled to a minimum wage of not less than $7.25 per hour and must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and a half their regular rate.
In order to be an exempt employee, a person must pass all the tests set down under the new overtime regulations. If an individual is exempt, he or she can be designated by their employer as salaried, meaning they are paid a set salary regardless of the hours worked and not provided overtime pay.
The following Warren County departments are currently under review to see if the employees overseeing them should be salaried or hourly by the new guidelines: Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Center director Kim Pettrey, Codes Department director Richard Thompson, and Emergency Management Agency director Jim Cunningham.
Hillis says the issue in those departments is the number of employees.
“Under the new regulations, the individual has to oversee at least two full-time employees to be considered exempt and eligible to be a salaried employee,” Hillis said. “There are other requirements to be exempt. You have to meet all those. If you don’t meet one, you can’t be considered exempt. We just got this information from CTAS on May 18 so were are still trying to process everything.”
Pettrey oversees two part-time employees, Thompson is the only employee in his department, and Cunningham oversees one employee. All three are salaried employees.
No decision has been made.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community