Schuylkill County employees who leave their jobs before becoming vested in the pension program will now have clear options for the money they've accrued.

Commissioners on Wednesday approved the county's first policy spelling out the choices.Employees become vested after five years on the job. Now, those who leave before then will received two letters asking them to choose whether to take their money as a refund or roll it over into an Individual Retirement Account within 30 days, then 60 days.At the 90-day mark, a letter would be sent letting the former employee know that if he or she has $1,000 or more, the county would roll it over into an IRA with Wilmington Trust.If the former employee has less than $1,000, the county would send him or her a check, less 20 percent for federal taxes.If the check goes uncashed, the county would send it to the unclaimed property department.The policy went into effect immediately."We didn't have a formal policy. We would reach out and contact people," Controller Christy Joy said. "People didn't necessarily know they had this money, and they didn't know they had a choice.So we wanted to make sure they had the ability to decide whether to take their money now, or put it into an IRA and invest it into their future. "There were a lot of people who didn't come in to make a decision, and we had to track them down."In other matters, commissioners approved several personnel moves:At Rest Haven, the county nursing home, Maria Quinn of Pottsville was transferred from her job as a part-time registered nurse/head nurse to full-time assistant director of nursing at $53,390.Kelsie Blankenhorn of Schuylkill Haven was transferred from her job from a part-time nurses' aide to a per diem nurses' aide at $13 an hour; Brittany Bradley of Pottsville was transferred from her job from a part-time nurses' aide to full-time nurses' aide at $12.56 an hour.Gerard Clark of Pottsville was hired as a full-time maintenance worker at $12.73 an hour, and Anita Potts of Pottsville was terminated from her full-time nurses' aide job.Part-time nurses' aides Taylor Maskerines, Amy Jenkins and Bethann Clark, all of Pottsville; Christopher Grant, Serena Perry, Nicholas Mosely and Samantha Schell, all of Schuylkill Haven; and Hannah Tobin of Saint Clair, Fallyn Brachman of Tamaqua, Clarissa Hostetter of Auburn and Jillian Emerich of Cresson all received wage increases to $12.44 an hour after passing the nurses' aide training program.Full-time nurses' aides Angela Detweiler and Stephanie Foose, both of Schuylkill Haven, and full-time licensed practical nurse Kathleen Gingrich of Lebanon all resigned.In court administration, Winifred Dillman of Frackville retired from her judicial secretary job.In Adult Probation, Leo Kayes of Shenandoah was hired as a probation aide at $13.21 an hour. At the prison, corrections officer Andrew Runkle of Port Carbon resigned, and in the Tax Claim Bureau, research clerk Amanda McNulty also resigned.The Office of Senior Services appointed Carissa Underwood of Orwigsburg and Justin Doyle of Minersville as unpaid interns.