EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE POLICY (HR2401) 7-27-2022.PDF
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MARICOPA COUNTY INTERNAL POLICY Policy Title: EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Policy Number: HR2401 Current Adoption Date: 07-27-2022 Current Implementation Date: 07-27-2027 Approved by: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Board Agenda Number: C-31-18-027-6-01 Original Adoption Date: July 1998 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. AUTHORITY This Policy is authorized by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to A.R.S.§11-251. III. APPLICATION This Policy applies to Classified Employees of all Maricopa County appointed departments, the Flood Control District of Maricopa County, and the Maricopa County Library District (Special Districts). The Board of Supervisors is authorized to jointly adopt policies applying to the Special Districts under the Intergovernmental Agreement, C-06-18-393-6-00, approved on April 11, 2018. This Policy may 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 also applies to employees of County Elected Offices unless the elected official has implemented an employee discipline policy specific to his or her office. IV. DEFINITIONS A. Appointing Authority: An elected official, the single administrative or executive head of a DepartmentSpecial District, 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 an applicable set of Merit Rules (i.e., Employee Merit System Commission or Law Enforcement Officers Merit System Commission). E. Contract Employee: At-will employees hired to work for a defined purpose or project and defined time period (typically more than one (1) year but less than three (3) years). 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. Policy Title: EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Policy Number: HR2401 Current Adoption Date: 07-27-2022 Page 2 of 4 G. Human Resources Director: The single executive appointed as the director of County Human Resources or the designated representative authorized to act in that capacity. H. Initial Probation: A specified period of time following the employment of employees in budgeted positions in classified service during which they serve in an at-will status and may be released from employment for or without cause. Employees serve an initial probation period upon their hire, promotion, voluntary demotion, or transfer into classified positions. 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 employees hired to work less than one (1) year or sporadically on an as- needed basis (e.g., election workers). K. Unclassified Employee: At-will employees not covered by the Employee Merit System as determined by the Board of Supervisors or the Law Enforcement Officers’ Merit System. 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. Some misconduct is so egregious that, depending upon the circumstances, a single act may be a 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 or selling 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; 8. Unauthorized disclosure of confidential County information; Policy Title: EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Policy Number: HR2401 Current Adoption Date: 07-27-2022 Page 3 of 4 9. Discriminating against any employee or other person because of race, gender, religion, color, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, including transgender status, 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 a 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 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 supervisor shall draft the written reprimand 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 acknowledges that he/she received it. If the employee 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 written reprimand, the employee may submit a written response within five (5) business days, absent extenuating circumstances. The employee shall be given a reasonable Policy Title: EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE Policy Number: HR2401 Current Adoption Date: 07-27-2022 Page 4 of 4 amount of work time to draft the response. The written reprimand and any employee response shall be placed in the employee's official Central Human Resources personnel file. C. Suspension 1. If the employee engages in serious or repeated misconduct, and it is 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 2/07/2018 Retitled to Employee Discipline from Informal/Formal Discipline; policy applies to Classified Employees and used as guidance for At-Will Employees; added definitions; updated egregious conduct description; required HR Director approval for all suspensions and dismissals; suspension must be served in full workweek increments; removed demotion as it is covered under another policy. (C-31-18-027-6-00) 4 11/18/2020 Added “gender identity, including transgender status” as a protected characteristic consistent with the US Supreme Court’s ruling on June 15, 2020. (C-31-15-037-6-00) 5 7/27/2022 Clarified how this Policy may apply to At-Will Employees (C-31-15-037-6-01)