No. HR Page 1 of 5 Effective Date: 08/31/15

Transcription

1 TEXAS STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE STATEWIDE OPERATING STANDARD No. HR Page 1 of 5 Effective Date: 08/31/15 DIVISION: SUBJECT: Human Resources Employee Corrective Action AUTHORITY: Minute Order #06-13 PROPOSED BY: TITLE: RECOMMENDED BY: TITLE: APPROVED BY: Original Signed by Gail Lawrence Vice Chancellor & Chief Culture Officer Original Signed by Gail Lawrence Vice Chancellor & Chief Culture Officer Original Signed by Mike Reeser Date: 08/31/15 Date: 08/31/15 TITLE: Chancellor Date: 08/31/15 STATUS: Approved by the Chancellor 08/31/15 HISTORICAL STATUS: Revised 07/2015 Approved by MC 05/9/13 HR Non-contract, Non-faculty Employee Performance Improvement Process and HR Discipline, Dismissal, and Grievances of Contract and Faculty Employees, combined and renamed HR Employee Corrective Action Approved by BOR 2/7/13 Approved by MC 09/09/05 Revised 08/17/05 MO #127-94, Discipline & Dismissal of Non-faculty and Noncontract Employees, Rescinded by MO # /26/02 Approved by MC 06/24/02 Revised 06/2002 Approved MC 11/17/94 Approved 10/24/94 Proposed MC 07/24/02 Revised 6/24/02

2 POLICY It is the policy of Texas State Technical College that all employees shall maintain standards of conduct and performance established by the college and that any noncompliance with these standards will be subject to corrective action. PERTINENT INFORMATION All non-contract employees are at will, meaning that any employee not under contract may be dismissed from employment with or without cause. Any such dismissal must be in compliance with federal and state law. Nothing in this regulation shall be construed as modifying any noncontract employee s at-will status. Although the principle of corrective action found in this policy is not required for employees, it is encouraged as a good management practice when practicable. In addition, even if corrective action is chosen, not every step must be taken in each case. This regulation is for guidance purposes only and is specifically not intended to create any right to notice and opportunity for a hearing. Failure by TSTC to follow the procedural steps outlined in this regulation will not form the basis of any employee s complaint or grievance. Employees are expected to acquaint themselves with Statewide Operating Standards. Heads of departments or similar administrative units are responsible for informing their employees of the department procedures to be followed, the standards of conduct to be met and the job performance to be achieved. Those employees who do not follow the procedures or meet the standards of conduct or job performance will be subject to corrective action. Standards of conduct and job performance to be met: A. Conduct All TSTC employees are expected to adhere to such standards of conduct that will result in a productive environment. Examples of misconduct include but are not limited to: 1. Falsification of time sheets, personnel records or other records of the college; 2. Violation of safety rules or accepted safety or risk management practices; 3. Refusal to follow instructions or to perform designated work that may be required or refusal to adhere to established rules and regulations; 4. Neglect of duties, or failure to meet a reasonable and objective measure of efficiency and productivity; 5. Smoking in areas where prohibited; 6. Gambling, or participation in other games of chance on the premises at any time; 7. Soliciting, collecting money or circulating petitions on the premises other than within the rules and regulations of the college; 8. Possessing intoxicants or drugs in the work place or the use of intoxicants or drugs during working hours; 9. Abuse or waste of tools, equipment, fixtures, property, supplies, or goods of the college or any item on loan and under the control of the college; 10. Creating or contributing to unhealthy or unsanitary conditions;

3 11. Failure to cooperate with supervisor or co-worker, impairment of function of work unit, or disruptive conduct; 12. Disorderly conduct, horseplay, harassment of college personnel, including racial and/or sexual harassment, or use of abusive language on the premises; 13. Fighting, agitating a fight, threatening or attempting bodily harm or causing injury to another employee of the college; 14. Failure to meet a reasonable and objective measure of efficiency and productivity; 15. Theft, dishonesty or unauthorized use of college property or equipment, including college records and/or confidential information; 16. Creating a condition hazardous to the individual or fellow employee; 17. Refusal to follow instructions or to perform designated work in the time prescribed that may be required or refusal to adhere to established rules and regulations; 18. Repeated tardiness or absence, absence without proper notification to the supervisor or without satisfactory reason or unavailability for work; 19. Violations of college policies or rules; 20. Other acts or omissions of misconduct determined to be negligent. B. Job Performance The general standard of job performance of employees should exceed the merely satisfactory level, and employees are expected to strive for excellence. Job performance is to be judged by supervisory evaluation describing the quality and quantity of work performed by each employee. When the job performance of an employee is unsatisfactory, the supervisor must take appropriate corrective action. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY The Chancellor or his or her designated Executives have the responsibility to maintain standards of conduct and job performance for Texas State Technical College. The designated Executives have the responsibility to maintain standards of conduct and job performance for their respective campus. The Office of Human Resources, in conjunction with the Office of General Counsel, will recommend changes to this Statewide Operating Standard. OPERATING REQUIREMENTS The Corrective Action Process should ensure that employees are informed of exactly what behavior needs to be corrected, inform employees of the measures they must take to correct the behavior, and give employees adequate opportunity to correct the behavior. Employees will be asked to sign the Record of Conversation and/or Notice at each step of the Corrective Action Process. The employees signature is to acknowledge that the Corrective Action Step occurred. Refusal to sign may result in termination. Step One: Record of Conversation The immediate supervisor of the employee will meet with the employee and inform him or her of the specific behavior that is unacceptable. The behavior will be clearly identified and a time by which the situation must be corrected is set. A written record of this conversation should be signed by the employee and forwarded to Human Resources to be placed in the employee s personnel file. Please contact Human Resources for the Record of Conversation form.

4 Step Two: Final Written Notice The same procedure as the Record of Conversation will be followed. The Final Written Notice must specify that the consequences of failure to correct the behavior will be termination of employment. Please contact Human Resources for the Final Written Notice form. In conjunction with issuing an employee a Final Written Notice, a supervisor also may grant an employee a one-day paid Decision-Making Leave of Absence in order to impress upon the employee the seriousness of his/her situation. A Decision-Making Leave of Absence must be documented in the Final Written Notice and approved by Human Resources. Employees will be permitted only one Decision-Making Leave of Absence during their employment with TSTC. If an employee is granted a one-day paid Decision-Making Leave of Absence then the employee must return to work with a written plan for changing their behavior. Immediately upon return from a Decision-Making Leave of Absence and prior to beginning work on the day of return, the employee shall meet with the supervisor for review and approval of the employee s written plan for changing his/her behavior. Failure to report for the return meeting or failure by the employee to provide a written plan for review will result in the employee being terminated. An employee who does not correct his or her behavior after the above steps will be terminated if the behavior continues. If six months have elapsed since the employee received corrective action, the Corrective Action Process begins at Step One (Record of Conversation). Acceleration of the Corrective Action Process to Termination The corrective action process may be accelerated and an employee may be terminated for a single occurrence or violation of TSTC policy without having been previously warned. Once campus administration has approved, supervisors should suspend the employee pending a complete investigation of the situation before terminating the employee. The investigation shall be performed by Human Resources. Any termination of this nature must be reviewed with the Vice Chancellor or his or her designee in conjunction with campus administration prior to the termination. Where the supervisor feels an employee should be terminated immediately, the supervisor should: 1. Immediately inform campus administration and Human Resources of the circumstances 2. Advise the employee that he or she is suspended; and 3. Request the employee immediately leave the premises. Alternative Corrective Action Measures Demotion and Suspension without Pay In consultation with the Vice Chancellor or designated Executives, demotion and/or suspension without pay may also be used at any point in the Corrective Action Process. Suspension without pay may not exceed five working days as a corrective action measure. Probationary Employees Any new or transferred non-faculty employee will be in his/her probationary period for the first 180 days of his/her employment. Members of faculty remain in their probationary status for 12 working months after hire. If corrective action needs to be taken during the probationary period, the employee will be issued a Final Written Notice that clearly states any additional occurrence

5 of unacceptable behavior within the probationary period will result in termination. The new employee will be asked to sign the document indicating that he/she has read the notice. Any written notice issued during the probationary period will become a Record of Conversation upon completion of the probationary period. Appeal of Corrective Action If an employee wishes to appeal any corrective action or termination for employment, the appeal must be made in accordance with the provisions of SOS HR Conflict Resolution Complaint and Grievance. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS All corrective action documentation is maintained in accordance with this policy and appropriate records retention schedule. All accelerations and terminations are reviewed by the Vice Chancellor or his or her designee to assure compliance with EEO guidelines.