Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Springfield Employee Benefits Manager Cameo Restrepo presents during a Finance 101 for HR workshop at MMHR’s annual HR101 conference on May 9 in Northampton.
The Massachusetts Municipal Human Resources’ annual HR101 boot camp on May 8 in Boylston focused on managing health insurance benefits, municipal finance basics, and local diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
During an opening workshop on health insurance benefits, attorney Kevin Feeley gave an overview of Chapter 32B, the law that governs insurance for municipal employees and their dependents, and answered legal insurance questions.
“Every community has the right to adopt reasonable rules and regulations to make a decision within 32B,” he said. “You can define who’s a retiree, who’s an employee, and when they can access benefits.”
Feeley was joined by Dover Human Resources Director Robin Tusino and Maryanne Bilodeau, a former assistant town administrator and human resources director in Sudbury who retired earlier this month. Tusino and Bilodeau shared best practices for 32B compliance, with examples from their own communities.
“As stressful as navigating insurance benefits can be, it can also be rewarding and a lot of fun,” Bilodeau said.
A “Finance 101 for HR” workshop was presented by Andover Chief Financial Officer Patrick Lawlor, Danvers Assistant Town Manager Jen Breaker (who stood in for her colleague Julianny Vittini), and Springfield Employee Benefits Manager Cameo Restrepo.
Lawlor covered the relationship between a town’s HR and finance departments and how they can align effectively and jointly address municipal workforce challenges, such as benefits or pensions expectations.
“Developing creative financing is going to be really important” for recruiting the next generation of public servants, he said.
“Finance departments need that empathy and human connection from HR,” Lawlor said. “The more we know our people and what they’re going through, the more we can improve our employee service delivery.”
Breaker discussed strategies for crafting a strong HR department budget, including tips for preparation and record-keeping, while Restrepo reviewed best practices for employee benefits audits.
“To get started with the process,” she said, “really study those benefit plans and review those prior audit findings.”
In the afternoon, Lynn Personnel Director Drew Russo moderated a discussion panel on fostering inclusive workplaces in an uncertain political climate. Russo was joined by Salem Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director Regina Zaragoza Frey and Cambridge Chief of Equity and Inclusion Deidre Brown.
“There’s this impression that DEI is somehow about letting people skip the line, and I want to emphasize that it’s very much not,” Brown said. “It’s about making sure that everyone has access to the line. … Fact checking is so very, very important right now.”
Zaragoza Frey added that, internally, municipal HR departments can support their community’s DEI goals and practitioners by “helping to establish a culture of inclusion and address misconceptions up front.”
“There are a lot of spaces that HR professionals are in that we are not, so you have an opportunity to protect our work and amplify why it matters when we’re not there,” she said.
The conference concluded with a speed mentoring session. In timed rounds, attendees were paired with different veteran MMHR members to discuss their career goals, receive feedback on professional challenges, and brainstorm new ideas.