Union County, NC

This agency is unethical and a racist place to be employed by. The management will stabb you in the back while smiling in your face. If there is an issue, management  will have these secret meetings and talk about the situation amongst themselves and make a decision without giving you an opportunity to explain your preception of things. Management does not take ANY accountability for their mishaps but wants you to "own it" and move on.  An "interim supervisor" (who was still on probation, might I add) was caught speaking negativley regarding a colleague and this same interim supervisor have has numerous complaints concerning how she belittles staff and is very condesending to her colleagues but has never been reprimanded for her behavior (and by the way has since been promoted to being the program manager of CPS). A plethora of excellent, thorough, proficient and experienced social workers has left the agency due to being treated unfairly and fear of being fired for standing up for what is right. The turnover rate is extremely HIGH, some "supervisors" appears to be incompetent and have less experience in Child Protective Services than the actual social worker;  On Fridays, which is usually a spike in critical CPS referrals being screened in, I don't know whose bright ideal it was to send all supervisors to a random training on (Thurs. & Fri.) while high risk reports were being screened in and just about all of the social workers were new hires (and on probation) with no direction or guidance from anyone because these "Supervisors" were in a training. They allow a team of social workers to be on vacation knowing the department is short staffed; New hires were walking on egg shells and catching back lash from the previous exposed unethical garbage approximately 2 years ago from this same agency people are scared to say anything in fear of being fired. Some supervisors are NOT supportive of their teams which makes the job more complex as the job itself is already cumbersome. The building as a whole is substandard. Recently,  there was a bed bug infestation in the individual cublicles, there is a mold problem in the building and humidifiers were placed throughout the building apparently to subside the mold problem. However, the mold problem continues to exit which poses a health and safety hazard not only to the employees but to constituents being served. The benefits are good as well as a few work relationships that I developed. There will not be any growth for this agency as long as the management continues to waddle and walk in fear from the past, not being held accountable for their actions, not working collaberativley with their staff continue to promote individuals that are out for self gain by dehumanizing others and exhibit themselves trustworthy. I am waiting for breaking news to flash across the television screen out of Union County and when this agency falls, I will NOT be surprised as it is only a matter of time. BEWARE...When you do dirt, you get dirt.

Pros: There is no shift briefing at the beginning or end of your tour of duty. The mobile computer terminal (MCT) software Sungard OSSI public sector is user-friendly. Court dates are mostly once a month and usually scheduled while you are working. The Union P25 digital 800 Mhz trunked radio system works nicely; the same is piggybacked to Charlotte. GPS is in all marker cars that have an MCT.  Email and Internet are in cars equipped with an MCT. Issued firearms are a Glock 21 handgun and a Remington 870 shotgun.
Cons: The 30/60 minute meal breaks are not paid, There is no compensation for on-call pay. Patrol officers living outside the county cannot take the issued patrol car home. Drive time from 311 patrol zone to residence and vice versa is not compensated within your jurisdiction and WHILE ON DUTY (if you live within the county). Compensatory time for all training. No minimum allowance if called in on a day off. 

The best benefit is the free insurance. The pay is horrible for what you are expected to do. Politics! People seem nice but almost all are snakes, especially management! The buildings are infested with mold. Retirees' are stricken with cancer at an increased rate. Health Hazard and no one has done anything about it. They have tarps hanging from the ceiling catching the water from the leaks, you just might happen to have the leak bucket in your cubicle. If you love your life, stay away! People are always sick. People have sued for their problems and they settle out of court to keep them quiet and for all others they say find another job! The Administration has air purifiers but they won't purchase any for employees! So Sad! If you love your life stay away! (If you find work in the Government Building you may be ok.)

Management maintains it's history of cliquish and overbearing management styles and behavior.  Managers will witness un-professionalism and simply ignore it if you're in their favor.  Management is reactive and not proactive.  Management fails to own up to their lack of true leadership/vision.  Several Managers have never done the actual work of the staff under them and they have no understanding of what staff and supervisors deal with on a daily basis.  They bow and kiss the ring of the people at the County Office and they continue to be in a perpetual ring of turnover that they simply don't have a clue as to how to slow or end. The work life balance is horrible for staff. Managers  go home not knowing or understanding the duties of lower staff who often work past the hours they are supposed to.

The hardest part of the job is dealing with incapable managers that have been placed into positions they do not deserve.  Hard workers will have a target on their back due to the fact the management feels threatened because they are not even capable of managing themselves. Management provides no training, care, support or knowledge, and rarely show up. The work load is thrown on those with good work ethics and the hard workers are bullied by those who are there for the paycheck and the benefits. It is very hard to serve the public when the managements have an alternative motive to serve themselves and those who worship them. Like other reviews the “Good Ole Boy” system is in place if you can lower your standards to retire early. If you can get through the 12 month probation period for your hired position.

Culture is also very cliquish while group think rules the day.  Entire time I felt like I was working inside a submarine parroting my boss when he said up periscope.   Anyone with a  cogent thought or who tries to take initiative is immediately seen as a problem and a threat.  Backstabbing by old timers wanting to suck up to boss is bad.

Good place for someone that doesn't want to work hard, likes being told what to do, and can nod in agreement with everything the boss says and laugh at his jokes. 

Things may be changing, however, after recent election and better direction coming.

Where to begin? 

Union County Government Culture: High-stress, zero reward. 

Union County Management's Motto: "Why acknowledge the 100,000,000 things they've done right when we can berate them and grind them into dust over this one typo?"

Most common employee characteristics:  uneducated, petty, vindictive, melodramatic, incompetent, dishonest, small-minded, vicious, backward thinking, predatory.

Compensation: Fantastic....if it were 1976.

Benefits: Honestly, the only good thing about a job with UC government is the health benefits.  They are truly excellent.

Very pro-feminist environment. Don't think about applying if you are male. 90% of the work force are females. Managers are not concerned about employees. Any critical feedback from employees is seen as a negative, rather than as an opportunity to improve the workplace/environment. Turnover is high.


Union County is a pretty good place to work. When I was hired, I knew it was a part-time job with no benefits, so I can't complain about that. My job allows me to work very flexible hours as long as I get in my time within a two week period.

The bosses aren't bad and they leave me alone to do my job. I get out and travel around the county in a county vehicle doing my job.

It would be nice to get a pay raise of some type.

I am a former employee at Union County. It’s not the worst place to work but it’s definitely not the best. The management over my department was shady and would talk about people behind their backs. It still has a “good ole boy” type of mentality. Lots and lots of turnover in my department due to micromanagement and other issues. All of these are reasons I moved on from this employer. 

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