HR2401_ INFORMAL FORMAL DISCIPLINE POLICY_ FINAL_02072018 BOS AGENDA.PDF

MARICOPA COUNTY INTERNAL POLICY
Policy Number: HR2401
Policy Title:
Current Adoption
MM-DD-YYYY
EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Date:
Current
MM-DD-YYYY
Implementation Date:
Board Agenda
Approved by: C-##-##-###-#-##
Number:
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Original Adoption
July 1998
Date:
I. PURPOSE
To provide guidance and expectations to supervisors when considering and developing a course of action
to address inappropriate behavior or misconduct of employees through discipline.
II. APPLICATION
This Policy applies to Classified Employees of all appointed departments and Maricopa County Special
Districts.
This Policy shall also be used as guidance when an Appointing Authority is considering disciplinary action
for At-Will Employees. Nothing written in this Policy is to be construed as changing the At-Will nature of
the employment relationship of the employees covered herein. These general guidelines shall not be
interpreted to afford any At-Will Employee with additional rights to employment and shall not create any
supervisor obligations that could affect the At-Will status of the employee-employer relationship.
This Policy shall apply to employees of County Elected Officials unless the County Elected Official has
implemented an employee discipline policy specific to their respective Office.
III. DEFINITIONS
A. Appointing Authority: An elected official, single executive head of a department, or the designated
representative authorized to act in this capacity.
B. At-Will Employee: An employment relationship where either party to the relationship may sever the
relationship for any reason other than an unlawful reason. This includes Unclassified, Initial
Probation, Contract and Temporary Employees.
C. Central Human Resources: The Maricopa County Human Resources Department.
D. Classified Employee: Employees covered by the Employee Merit System or the Law Enforcement
Officers’ Merit System.
E. Contract Employee: At-Will Employee whose terms and conditions of employment are limited to
those contained in a written agreement.
F. Department Human Resources: A department’s assigned, internal human resources office. If there
is no departmental human resources office, the reference is to the department’s assigned HR Liaison.
G. Human Resources Director: The Maricopa County Human Resources Director or designee.

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2401
EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Current Adoption
MM-DD-YYYY
Date:
H. Initial Probation: A specified period of time following the employment of an employee in a budgeted
position during which the work performance of the employee is evaluated. An employee may be
released from Initial Probation for or without cause.
I. Initial Probationary Employee: An employee who is serving an Initial Probation period upon their
most recent employment, to include hire, promotion, demotion or transfer into any Classified position,
with the exception of market range title adjustments and reassignments. An Initial Probationary
Employee is At-Will and may be released for or without cause.
J. Temporary Employee: At-Will Employee who works on an as-needed basis, generally for a limited
number of hours or a limited period of time.
K. Unclassified Employee: At-Will Employee that is not covered by the Employee Merit System or the
Law Enforcement Officers’ Merit System.
IV. AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Human Resources Department is responsible for administering this Policy. Appointing Authorities
and supervisors are required to understand the provisions of employee discipline outlined in this Policy
and refer any questions to Department Human Resources or Central Human Resources.
V. POLICY
A. Discipline is utilized to notify employees of, and correct, inappropriate behavior or conduct.
B. Management has the right to discipline any inappropriate behavior or misconduct on the part of
employees using the disciplinary alternatives outlined in this Policy.
C. The level of discipline should be appropriate to the offense and consistent with disciplinary actions
taken for similar offenses, while taking into account relevant distinctions, such as: the nature and
seriousness of the offense; whether the offense was intentional, technical or inadvertent, or was
committed maliciously or for gain; frequency of the offense; the employee’s job level and type of
employment, including supervisory or fiduciary role, contacts with the public, and prominence of the
position; the employee’s overall work performance and the employee’s past disciplinary record.
D. There is some misconduct that is so egregious in nature that, depending upon the circumstances, a
single act may be regarded as sufficient reason for suspension or dismissal. Such misconduct may
include, but is not limited to:
1. Theft or abuse of property;
2. Falsification of application for employment, records, reports, or other required data;
3. Bringing unauthorized intoxicants, drugs or narcotics onto County property; consuming
unauthorized intoxicants, drugs or narcotics on County property; reporting for duty or being
present on County property while under the influence of such intoxicants, drugs or narcotics;
4. Buying and/or selling of any unauthorized intoxicant, drug or narcotic or arranging to do so on
County property;
5. Unauthorized possession of weapons on County property;
6. Fighting or inciting a fight on County property;
7. Maltreatment or abuse of an employee or other person;
Page 2 of 4

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2401
EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Current Adoption
MM-DD-YYYY
Date:
8. Unauthorized disclosure of confidential County information;
9. Discriminating against any employee or other person because of race, gender, religion, color,
national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, veteran status, genetic information
or any other characteristic defined by law or Board approved policy;
10. An unprofessional or immoral act sufficient to justify suspension or dismissal;
11. Conduct constituting violation of state or federal law sufficient to justify suspension or dismissal;
12. Conduct that is not in compliance with position-specific licensure requirements;
13. Insubordination, including refusal to perform assigned duties or follow directives from the
employee's supervisor, failure to cooperate with a County investigation and failure to correct
inappropriate behavior after receiving notification in accordance with the provisions of this Policy;
14. Dishonesty;
15. Performing work for another company, employer or agency while on duty and/or using County
resources for another company, employer, or agency.
E. All suspensions and dismissals of Classified, Unclassified and Initial Probationary Employees shall be
reviewed by and receive the concurrence of the Human Resources Director, or designee, prior to
implementation.
VI. DISCIPLINARY ALTERNATIVES
A. Warning
1. Supervisors may initiate a Warning with an employee as soon as problem behavior or misconduct
occurs. The supervisor shall advise the employee of the specific behavior or misconduct and
how it is negatively affecting the workplace, communicate specific instances of the behavior or
misconduct, and identify appropriate corrective action. The employee must be advised that
failure to end the problem behavior or misconduct may result in further disciplinary action, up to
and including dismissal. The employee may also be required to complete corrective actions to
improve behavior or conduct, such as training or policy/procedure review.
2. The supervisor shall document the Warning to include a brief, dated summary of the discussion,
which shall be placed in the supervisor's personnel file for the employee.
B. Written Reprimand
1. If an employee continues to engage in similar inappropriate behavior or conduct, or if the
employee's behavior or conduct is such that bypassing Warning is justified, the supervisor may
issue a Written Reprimand. A Written Reprimand informs the employee in writing that a serious
infraction has occurred and that immediate improvement is required to avoid further disciplinary
action. The Written Reprimand may require the employee to complete corrective actions to
improve behavior or conduct, such as training or policy/procedure review.
2. The Written Reprimand shall be drafted by the supervisor, in conjunction with Department Human
Resources. Once completed, the supervisor should review the Written Reprimand with the
employee. Both the supervisor and employee should sign the Written Reprimand. By signing the
document, the employee is simply acknowledging that he/she received it. If the employee
Page 3 of 4

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2401
EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Current Adoption
MM-DD-YYYY
Date:
refuses to sign the document, the supervisor shall make that notation on the document and sign
and date it.
3. If the employee disputes the contents of the Written Reprimand, the employee may submit a
written response within 5 business days, absent extenuating circumstances. The employee shall
be given a reasonable amount of work time to draft the response. The Written Reprimand and
any employee response shall be placed in the employee's official personnel file in the Central
Human Resources Department. A copy must also be retained in the supervisor’s personnel file
for the employee.
C. Suspension
1. If the employee engages in serious or repeated misconduct, and it has been determined that
dismissal is not appropriate, the Appointing Authority may choose to suspend the employee.
2. Employees may be suspended from work without pay in full workweek increments, and no more
than thirty (30) calendar days for any single cause. A notice of suspension must be given in
writing to the employee, stating the length of and reason for the suspension. For Classified
Employees, the Appointing Authority must comply with the provisions of the Employee Merit
System Resolution and Rules (or Law Enforcement Officers’ Merit System Rules, if applicable)
and Policy HR2402 Pre Disciplinary Action Hearing as it relates to due process.
D. Dismissal
1. If lesser discipline has failed to result in improved behavior or conduct, or is deemed not
appropriate or sufficient given the severity of the infraction, the Appointing Authority may dismiss
the employee. For Classified Employees, the Appointing Authority must comply with the
provisions of the Employee Merit System Resolution and Rules (or Law Enforcement Officers’
Merit System Rules, if applicable) and Policy HR2402 Pre Disciplinary Action Hearing as it relates
to due process.
Revision History
Version Revision Date Description of Revision
1 July 1998 Initial version
2 9-20-2005 Amended version; Approved by County Manager
3 MM-DD-YYYY Retitled to ‘Employee Discipline’ from ‘Informal/Formal Discipline;’ Amended
Application Section to indicate the policy applies to Classified Employees and should be
used as guidance by an Appointing Authority when considering disciplinary action for
At-Will Employees (i.e. Unclassified, Initial Probation, Contract and Temporary
Employees), and that this policy applies to employees of County Elected Officials unless
the County Elected Official has implemented an employee discipline policy specific to
their respective Office; Included a Definitions section; General updates made to the
description of egregious conduct; Included a statement requiring that all suspensions and
dismissals for Classified, Unclassified and Initial Probation Employees shall be reviewed
by and receive the concurrence of the HR Director, or designee, prior to implementation;
‘Progressive Steps’ modified to ‘Disciplinary Alternatives’ and the list of possible actions
revised to – Warning, Written Reprimand, Suspension and Dismissal; Suspension
language has been modified to require that they be served in full workweek increments;
Demotion has been removed from this policy, but will remain an option under Policy
HR2431 Performance Management Process, which is currently under review. Approved
by the Board of Supervisors (C-##-##-###-#-##).
Page 4 of 4