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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR2002-036A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS APPROVING REVISED CITY POLICIES REGULATING THE DISCIPLINARY APPEAL POLICY OF CITY EMPLOYEES; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City of Denton, Texas has a disciplinary hearing policy for city employees to allow appeals of certain disciplinary actions under certain conditions; and WHEREAS, the Director of the Human Resources Department for the City of Denton has presented a revised policy regarding employee roles and regulations concerning the disciplinary appeal process; and WHEREAS, the City Council, desires to adopt such policy as an official policy regarding employment with the City; NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS HEREBY RESOLVES: SECTION 1. That Policy numbered 109.03 "Disciplinary Appeal" of the Personnel Policies and Procedure Manual of the City of Denton attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein, is hereby approved as official policy of the City of Dznton, Texas, and replaces former policy 109.03. SECTION 2. That the foregoing policy is attached hereto and made a part hereof and shall be filed in the official records with the City Secretary. SECTION 3. That this resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage and approval.. PASSED AND APPROVED this the ~.~day of~ 2002 EUL1NE BROCK, MAYOR ATTEST: JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY AP~J~)~D ;S TO LEGAL FORM: HERBERT L. PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY CITY OF DENTON PAGE1 OF4 POLICY/ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE/ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTIVE SECTION: HUMAN RESOURCES REFERENCE NUMBER: 109.03 SUBJECT: DISCIPLINE AND SEPARATION INITIAL EFFECTIVE DATE: 11/08/96 TITLE: DISCIPLINARY APPEAL LAST REVISION DATE: 09/03/02 POLICY STATEMENT: It is the policy of the City of Denton to give individual employees an opportunity for an appeal regarding disciplinary dismissal, disciplinary suspensions or demotions when they believe that a disciplinary action taken against them is capricious or arbitrary; the discipline violates an existing City of Denton policy or administrative directive; the discipline violates an existing state or federal law or regulation; or when the employee believes that the conduct for which ,he/she has been disciplined constitutes the exercise of a constitutional right or a statutorily protected activity. Disciplinary appeals are considered according to prescribed guidelines as set forth in the following "Administrative Procedures". The disciplinary appeal process is designed to afford the employee a responsive forum to guard against biased or arbitrary decisions; however, nothing in this policy shall be construed as a grant to any employee of a property right in tenured public employment. All employees are employed strictly on an at-will basis. Temporary employees, seasonal employees, contract employees, the City Manager, the City Attorney, Municipal Judge, Assistant Judges and those employees governed by the provisions of Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code are exempt from this policy, unless specifically stated otherwise herein. However, an opportunity for a response and appeal shall be afforded such employees when they believe that a disciplinary action taken against them is capricious or arbitrary; the discipline violates an existing City of Denton policy or administrative directive; the discipline violates an existing state or federal law or regulation; or when the employee believes that the conduct charged constitutes the exercise of a constitutional right or a statutorily protected activity. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES: I. GENERAL DISCIPLINARY APPEAL INFORMATION A. Since it is important that disciplinary appeals be resolved as rapidly as possible, time limits, as set out in the following paragraphs, shall be considered a maximum and every effort shall be made to expedite the process. However, the limits may be extended or shortened at any or all steps if both parties agree in writing. In the event either party cannot agree, the Director of Human Resources shall have the discretion to shorten or extend the time limits. In the event the last day of a time limit falls on a weekend or a City holiday, in the cas e of a time limit based upon calendar days, the time limit shall include the next working day. In all instances, consecutive working days will be counted (excluding Saturday, Sunday, and ItPdPOLICY/109.03 PAGE 2 OF 4 POLICY/ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE/ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTIVE (Continued) TITLE: DISCIPLINARY REVIEW HEARING REFERENCE NUMBER: 109.03 City holidays) in arriving at the length of the time interval. Under no circumstances shall any failure to meet any time limit affect the validity or finality of event for which a hearing is sought. A disciplinary appeal not responded to within the time limits prescribed by the appropriate representative at each step shall be considered a violation of this policy for which the representative may be subject to disciplinary action. C. All requests for a disciplinary appeal must be in writing and must be filed with the Human Resources Department. An employee who requests a disciplinary appeal must inform the Human Resources Department in writing of his/her correct mailing address and telephone number. Failure to provide current mailing address and telephone information may result in administrative closure of the disciplinary appeal. II. APPEAL PROCESS An employee who has been demoted involuntarily, suspended without pay or dismissed may request a disciplinary appeal to be conducted by an Assistant City Manager or department Director. ("Dismissed" means that an employee has been involuntarily terminated and does not include resignations.) The employee must make the request for the disciplinary appeal in writing within 10 business days after receiving notification of an action taken. The written request must set forth the specific reasons why the employee feels the action is capricious or arbitrary; the discipline violates an existing City of Denton policy or administrative directive; the discipline violates an existing state or federal law or regulation; or the employee believes that the conduct for which he/she has been disciplined constitutes the exercise of a constitutional right or a statutorily protected activity. The employee should also identify those persons whom the employee believes have knowledge of facts relevant to the matter being appealed. If the request for a disciplinary appeal fails to contain the reason for the appeal or any facts to support the reason for the appeal, the Director of Human Resources may refuse the request for appeal. The Director of Human Resources or Human Resources designee will appoint the Appeal Official. The Director of Human Resources or designee will not assign an Assistant City Manager or department Director if he/she played a role in the disciplinary action from which the employee's complaint arose. An Assistant City Manager or department Director shall be presumed to have played a role in the disciplinary action if he/she: HR/POLICY/109.03 PAGE 3 OF 4 POLICY/ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE/ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTIVE (Continued) TITLE: DISCIPLINARY REVIEW HEARING REFERENCE NUMBER: 109.03 1. Discussed the details of the proposed disciplinary action with the employee or any supervisor in the chain of command; 2. Approved the disciplinary action; or 3. Personally imposed the disciplinary action. Nothing shall prevent an Assistant City Manager or a Director of the City from acting as the appeal officer for an employee's appeal if he/she has merely been informed of the type of disciplinary action imposed against the employee. If the employee requesting the appeal or the employee's supervisor object to the appointed Appeal Official because he/she believes that the appointed appeal official is biased, he/she must submit a written objection to the Director of Human Resources within three business days of the date of the letter giving notice of the appointment. Any written objection must contain specific facts upon which the objection is based. It is not sufficient objection that the appointed Appeal Official is an employee of the City of Denton. Within five business days of receiving the objection, the Director of Human Resources will determine whether the objection will be sustained based upon the written reasons in the objection--although the Director of Human Resources may seek clarification of those facts from the appointed Appeal Official. Should the Director of Human Resources sustain the objection, the Director of Human Resources will either appoint a different Appeal Official (to which either the appealing employee or the employee's supervisor may again object in writing within three business days) or the Director of Human Resources may submit a list of three proposed appeal officials to which each party (the appealing employee or the employee's supervisor) may object to one name and the Director of Human Resources will select an Appeal Official from the names without objections. It is within the Director of Human Resources' discretion as to which method is used for the appointment of an Appeal Official. When an objection is made to an Appeal Official, the thirty calendar days by which an Appeal Official must conduct a review and investigation into the employee!s appeal, as described below, will be suspended for the length of time it takes for the Director of Human Resources to determine the objection or appoint another Appeal Official. The Appeal Official will conduct a review and investigation into the employee's appeal within 30 calendar days of the employee's request for an appeal, unless an extension is agreed upon by both parties as described in this policy or unless an objection is made to the Appeal Official as described above. In addition to reviewing the employee's written appeal and documentation relevant to the discipline, the Appeal Official may conduct interviews of witnesses or persons with knowledge relevant to the appeal. As part of the review process, HR/POLICY/109.03 PAGE 4 OF 4 POLICY/ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE/ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTIVE (Continued) TITLE: DISCIPLINARY REVIEW HEARING REFERENCE NUMBER: 109.03 the Appeal Official may or may not require a face-to-face meeting between the employee filing the appeal and the supervisor who recommended the discipline being appealed. Upon conclusion of the investigation of the appeal, the Appeal Official will make a recommendation to the City Manager and a final action will be concluded within ten (10) business days. The City Manager may accept the recommendation; reject the recommendation; or accept the recommendation with modifications. The City Manager's acceptance or rejection of the recommendation is the final decision on the appeal. After the City Manager has either accepted the recommendation (with or without modifications) or rejected the recommendation, the Appeal Official will communicate the fmal decision in writing to the employee, the employee's supervisor and others with the need to know in the chain of command. As all employees are employed strictly on an at-will basis, and no contractual rights are implicated, no particular burden of proof need be met to sustain a termination or disciplinary sanction. III. REMOVAL HEARINGS FOR OFFICERS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS: A. As an alternative to the procedures otherwise allowed by this policy, officers and department heads may request a hearing in the event of their removal as provided by Charter. B. As all employees are employed strictly on an at-will basis, no particular burden of proof need be met to sustain a termination. C. Officers and department heads may request a hearing pursuant to the provisions outlined in Sections II relating to the imposition of disciplinary actions not constituting removal. If employee is at Director level or above, the City Manager shall serve as the Hearing Officer. In the event that the hearing concerns the employee's removal, the employee may instead request a hearing before the City Council pursuant to the City's Charter (§5.03(a)). Such a hearing before the City Council is not constrained by the stricture of this policy. ItP./POLICY/109.03