7. Conduct

– PRINT ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – Date Employee, Classification Home Address OR Hand-delivered Whenever Possible Home Address Dear Mr. Employee: Please take notice that you are dismissed from your position of (Classification) effective today, (date). The grounds upon which this dismissal action is being taken are in accordance with Section 4 of Civil Service Commission Rule XIII as follows: Absence Without Leave. Absence without leave shall mean any time an employee is absent from the workplace without authorization or without an explanation satisfactory to the appointing authority. This includes an employee’s failure to report to work after a leave of absence has expired orRead More →

– PRINT ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – Date Employee, Classification Home Address OR Hand-Delivered whenever Possible Dear Mr. Employee: Please take notice that it is the intent of this office to dismiss you from your position of (Classification) effective (approximately 10 days from date of letter). The grounds upon which this dismissal action is being proposed are in accordance with Section 4 of Civil Service Commission Rule XIII as follows: A. Absence Without Leave. Absence without leave shall mean any time an employee is absent from the workplace without authorization or without an explanation satisfactory to the appointing authority. This includes an employee’s failure toRead More →

– PRINT ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – Date Employee Name Classification (Hand-delivered) Dear Ms Employee: Please take notice that you are issued this disciplinary letter that equates to a thirty-day suspension. Although you will not miss work or have your pay docked, this non-punitive disciplinary action carries the weight, in terms of progressive discipline, as if you had been actually suspended without pay. The grounds upon which this disciplinary action is being taken are in accordance with Section 4 of Civil Service Commission Rule XIII as follows: G. Through willful misconduct, causing damage to public property or waste of public supplies, or waste of publicRead More →

– PRINT ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – Date Employee Name Classification (Hand-delivered) Dear Ms. Employee: Please take notice that it is the intent of this office to issue you a disciplinary letter equating to a thirty-day suspension. Although you will not miss work or have your pay docked, this non-punitive disciplinary action carries the weight, in terms of progressive discipline, as if you had been actually suspended without pay. The grounds upon which this disciplinary action is being proposed are in accordance with Section 4 of Civil Service Commission Rule XIII as follows: G. Through willful misconduct, causing damage to public property or waste ofRead More →

– PRINT ON DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – Date: To: Supervisor From: Manager Subject: Letter of Reprimand This is an official Letter of Reprimand for Discourtesy. On (date), while in a public forum, you raised your voice towards one of your direct reports. This is unprofessional and will not be tolerated from a supervisor. In addition to staff reporting this incident to me, a patient phoned to report that they were upset by how you treated the employee. You advised me that you were not pleased with this employee and that you did raise your voice because you felt that was the only way to get throughRead More →

– PRINT ON DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – Date: July 31, 2010 To: Janine Jones, Legal Office Services Supervisor From: Alan Smith, Legal Office Services Manager II Subject: Letter of Warning – Waste of County Time Janine, we recently discussed during our July 29th bi-weekly meeting your excessive personal calls. It was brought to your attention that personal phone calls using county time and resources were not permitted. Subsequent to our meeting, in your email response, you also admitted to making personal long-distance calls on county phones. I recognize that you are aware of your part in this, have paid for the calls, and have stated yourRead More →

DATE: Day following Interview TO: Employee, Classification FROM: Name, Supervisor SUBJECT: Counseling on Discourtesy As a result of my meeting with a client yesterday, I became aware that you had raised your voice and stated that you had lost your patience with her. When I spoke to you about this, you indicated that you had indeed become frustrated with the client and may have been harsher than you intended. You also stated that the client had been here twice before and continued to fail to bring the documentation you requested of her. Although clients can be difficult at times, it is your responsibility to maintainRead More →

The Non-Punitive Discipline Program is designed to help correct conduct and attendance problems by serving as a step in progressive discipline. Normally, the Non-Punitive Discipline Program will not be used to correct performance problems (quantity/quality of work). Performance problems are dealt with through counseling, corrective action plans with performance-specific objectives and outcomes, and performance evaluations. Investigation – When an incident of misconduct or an attendance problem has been investigated and it is found that more likely than not unacceptable behavior occurred, the department confers with Employee & Labor Relations and makes a determination regarding the appropriate level of discipline. If it is determined that theRead More →

The Non-Punitive Discipline Program replaces unpaid suspensions with a disciplinary letter which fully equates to a suspension of a specified length (e.g., one day, three days, etc.) and the Union agrees and acknowledges that the disciplinary letter carries the full weight of such a suspension for the purposes of establishing progressive discipline. This process eliminates the financial impact of a suspension on the employee and the employee’s family while still establishing a record of progressive discipline should the offense recur. This process also eliminates the need for the department to replace the employee during the suspension, thereby conserving County funds. Employees retain the right to appeal non-punitiveRead More →

The overall goal of the Non-Punitive Discipline Program is to improve public service and productivity in the workplace by: Correcting conduct problems promptly, rationally and constructively Alleviating the financial impact of discipline on employees’ families Affording employees the ability to be rehabilitated and to clear their records Taking disciplinary action which is just, equitable and sustainableRead More →

The County practices the concept of progressive discipline. When an employee’s conduct warrants corrective action, the supervisor/manager takes the lowest level of disciplinary action which: 1) is appropriate to the severity of the employee’s offense; and 2) is likely to result in the employee not repeating the misconduct. Under a traditional discipline program, minor misconduct (e.g., initial instances of tardiness or absenteeism) is normally dealt with through counseling confirmed in writing. Should the misconduct be repeated, the normal progression is a letter of reprimand followed by a suspension. Further misconduct may result in a second suspension, demotion, or dismissal. Misconduct of a more serious nature may result inRead More →

All County employees are covered by the Non-Punitive Discipline Program. The Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to impose unpaid suspensions on law enforcement employees when warranted.Read More →

When an arbitrator decides whether to sustain or overturn a disciplinary action, he/she considers a number of factors. One of those factors is whether the level of discipline that was taken was appropriate under the circumstances. In making this determination, the arbitrator expects to see that any serious discipline was preceded by lesser discipline to place the employee on notice that the conduct is unacceptable and that more severe discipline may result if the conduct is not corrected. This does not mean that every infraction must go through every step of the corrective action process. Some forms of misconduct, such as theft, may warrant dismissalRead More →

If the misconduct still continues, or if the first instance of misconduct is serious in nature, contact Employee & Labor Relations for consultation on the appropriate course of action. Following the concept of Progressive Discipline, Employee & Labor Relations will advise you to take the lowest level of corrective/disciplinary action that will be likely to correct the problem. In determining the level of action to take, you will look at the following factors: The seriousness of the offense and the relationship to the employee’s duties The employee’s position and level of responsibility (i.e., supervisory/public trust) The employee’s past disciplinary record The employee’s past work record andRead More →

The first step is to conduct an investigation. If you have personally observed the misconduct (e.g. an employee arrives late for work), the investigation may consist of a simple interview of the employee to get his/her side of the story. Investigations are discussed in detail in Section 8: Conducting Employee Investigations. When minor misconduct occurs for the first time (e.g. an employee is late arriving for work), and the interview of the employee does not indicate mitigating or extenuating circumstances that would excuse the offense, verbal counseling is usually sufficient. Do not ignore the problem hoping it will correct itself. By not confronting the problemRead More →

First, you must clearly communicate your expectations. Employees must know that they are expected to arrive for work on time, return promptly from breaks, follow procedures for requesting time off, treat customers and coworkers with courtesy and respect, etc. If your department has written policies covering these areas, make sure each employee receives a copy or knows where the unit’s copy is. Supervisors are also responsible for monitoring employees’ conduct and for providing honest and timely feedback when an employee fails to meet expectations.Read More →

Conduct cases are those where an employee fails to comply with work rules, policies, and procedures such as arriving for work on time; treating clients and coworkers with courtesy and respect; being honest; maintaining a good attendance record; following procedures for requesting time off; using County time, supplies and property in a responsible manner; and other similar behavior-related areas. Violations of these work rules, policies, and procedures can form the basis for corrective and ultimately disciplinary action, including dismissal.Read More →