AVERT Policies and Procedures 1650
1.0 PURPOSE To provide guidance regarding the circumstances that permit disciplinary action being taken against an employee, member or volunteer and outline the procedure that must be followed when imposing discipline. 2.0 DEFINITIONS 2.1 AVERT - Acronym for the Association of Valley Emergency Response Teams. 2.2 ERTs - Acronym for Emergency Response Teams. 2.3 BOARD - The Board of Trustees of the Association of Valley Emergency Response Teams. 2.4 ORGANIZATION - Any Member Team, District Representative, Committee or other subdivision authorized by the Board, within the State of Utah whose operations are funded by AVERT. The "organization" is the standard term to reference subdivisions of the AVERT Board. Financial policies of AVERT provide that accounting, budgeting and fixed asset information be maintained by "organization." Each AVERT subdivision is assigned a unique "organization" number. 2.5 MEMBER - A general term to mean any emergency service trained individual, business entity, municipal entity, governmental entity or Board Member that has made application to and has been accepted by the AVERT Board of Trustees. The various categories are collectively known as the MEMBERSHIP. 2.6 VOLUNTEER - A general term to mean any individual that provides services to the Corporation without receiving monetary or material compensation or any person providing services under Court ordered Community Service. 2.7 EMPLOYEE - A general term to mean any individual that provides services to the Corporation and is receiving monetary or material compensation and benefits in accordance with State and Federal Labor laws. 3.0 PROCEDURE 3.1 Dismissals, demotions, reduction in pay or suspension shall only be to advance the good of the public service and for a cause including, but not limited to: violation of the AVERT Policies and Procedures, violation of the statutory ethical and disclosure requirements, malfeasance, nonfeasance, neglect of duty, insubordination, misconduct, inefficiency or inability to satisfactorily perform assigned duties, unprofessional conduct at the workplace or at anytime while performing job duties or acts inimical to the public service, etc. 3.2 The usual sequence of discipline shall be verbal warning, written warning, suspension and termination. A disciplinary evaluation period with interim performance evaluations may be a part of the progressive discipline process. Deviations from procedure may be justified depending on the severity and circumstances of the action(s) to be disciplined. 3.2.1 An official written warning may be made by: 3.2.1.1 Completing a "Warning Report", in written form, signed by the offending party's supervisor; OR 3.2.1.2 Developing a letter addressed to the offending party containing the following information: - Notification that the letter is a written warning; - Date of warning; - Type of violation; - Date, time and place of violation; - Number and types of previous warnings; - What is needed to correct the violation; - Probable consequences of not correcting the violation. 3.2.1.3 A copy of the "Warning Report" or written warning shall be given to the offending party, a copy forwarded to the Personnel Division for placement in the offending party's permanent file, and a copy retained by the supervisor. Supervisors are encouraged to discuss the contents of the written warning with the subordinate. 3.2.1.4 Performance evaluations covering a disciplinary evaluation period may be conducted by the immediate supervisor but shall not be counted towards merit awards or be used in the calculation of retention points for reduction-in-force. 3.3 No employee, member or volunteer may be suspended for more than thirty (30) calendar days for a single disciplinary incident nor for more than sixty (60) calendar days in one (1) calendar year. 3.3.1 Employees designated as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (E-FLSA) shall not be suspended for a period of less than one entire work week; all other disciplinary steps may be applied. 3.4 No employee, member or volunteer shall be removed from employment covered under the Merit System or membership rules by means of job or other reclassification or transfer of job function where the job or other reclassification or transfer of job function is primarily for the purpose of dismissing the employee or volunteer or of terminating membership. 3.5 In cases of discipline involving suspension, demotion, reduction in pay or termination, the Administrator shall notify the employee, member or volunteer in writing of the actions to be taken, the reasons for discipline and the date of action at least ten (10) calendar days before the effective date of such discipline. This notice shall be delivered, in person, to the offender or to the offender's last known address by certified mail or personal service. The offender shall also be given copies of AVERT Policies & Procedures # 1680 - "Grievances". 3.5.1 If the offender is not in agreement with the proposed disciplinary action, the offender may move to the next higher review level in accordance with AVERT Policies & Procedures # 1680 - "Grievances". 3.6 In cases of discipline involving termination the Administrator or designee shall notify the offender in writing of the action to be taken, the reasons for the termination, the date of termination, and the date of a pre-termination hearing, as provided in paragraph 3.6.1 below. This notice shall be delivered, in person, to the offender or to the offender's last known address by certified mail or personal service. The offender shall also receive copies of AVERT Policies & Procedures # 1680 - "Grievances" at least ten (10) calendar days before the effective date of termination. An offender may be terminated for a single offense without undergoing progressive discipline if the severity of the circumstances justify the action. 3.6.1 No disciplinary termination from merit covered employment or membership shall occur unless the offending party is provided written notice at least ten (10) calendar days prior to termination and provided a pre-termination hearing no sooner than two (2) working days nor later than ten (10) calendar days after notice is given. 3.6.1.1 The purpose of the pre-termination hearing is not to definitively and finally resolve the propriety of the termination, but to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the charges against the offender are factual. 3.6.1.2 The pre-termination hearing is held between the offender and the Administrator or designee, and may be either in person or in writing, at the offender's discretion. If the hearing is held in person a tape recording of it shall be made and kept until all formal post-termination proceedings are completed. Neither the offender nor the terminating organization shall be represented by legal counsel and witnesses shall not be called, though witness statements may be informally presented by the parties in writing or orally. 3.6.1.3 The Administrator shall give his or her decision in writing regarding the termination within five (5) working days after the hearing. The decision by the Administrator shall be mailed to the offender, Board of Directors and the Program Manager for placement in the offender's permanent file. 3.6.2 If the Administrator so determines, he or she may place the offender in a leave-with-pay status between the notice and the proposed effective date of termination. 3.6.2.1 An employee suspended with pay under the above circumstances shall remain on-call and available to the terminating organization during normal working hours throughout the suspension-with-pay period and provide the organization with a telephone number at which the employee may be reached. 3.6.3 Temporary withholding of payment for accumulated vacation leave may be authorized when an employee is being terminated under circumstances in which the employee may owe money to AVERT or is holding AVERT property. 3.6.4 A pre-termination hearing provided under these paragraphs does not eliminate a formal post-termination grievance proceeding, as set forth in AVERT Policies & Procedures # 1680 - "Grievances". |