CCR2010019-Policy-Attachment
Employee Discipline Policy
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to state the City of Muskego policy on
administering discipline fairly and consistently, and to clearly communicate to
management, supervisors, and employees the elements of disciplinary action
definitions and processes for discipline. The focal point of this policy is to
correct employee misconduct or inappropriate behavior, and eliminate future
occurrences of misconduct.
II. POLICY
All City of Muskego employees are expected to meet a standard of conduct
appropriate to the professional workplace. While at work, employees are
responsible to be aware of and abide by existing rules and regulations. It is
also the responsibility of employees to perform their job duties to the best of
their abilities and to the standards set forth in their job descriptions,
performance evaluations, or as otherwise established. Under normal
circumstances, the City of Muskego endorses a policy of progressive
discipline in which employees are provided with a notice of their deficiencies
and an opportunity to improve.
This policy applies to all City of Muskego employees with the exception of
sworn Police Department employees who fall under the authority of the Chief
of Police and the Police and Fire Commission (Wisconsin State Statute
62.13).
Administration and enforcement of discipline are subject to the general
requirements of federal and state law, and discipline must be imposed without
motivation that is discriminatory. Therefore, it is the supervisor’s
responsibility, along with guidance provided by Human Resources and
Mayor, to apply discipline fairly and consistently.
A. Progressive Disciplinary Actions
The city’s progressive discipline policy incorporates the following series
of increasingly severe penalties for repeated violations, misconduct, or for
a series of unrelated problems involving job performance or behavior.
However, the progression or level of discipline may vary depending on the
nature and severity of the behavior or misconduct.
Unacceptable conduct that does not lead to immediate dismissal may be
dealt with using the following progressive steps if conduct does not
improve within established time periods (please see Appendix A for
definitions):
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1. Verbal Warning/Counseling
2. Written Warning
3. Suspension
4. Termination
B. Documentation
It is imperative for disciplinary proceedings to be properly completed and
consistently documented. Proper documentation helps to support the
supervisor’s disciplinary actions and is necessary to communicate to
employees what behavior or action was inappropriate or a violation of city
policy, procedure, or rule.
C. Corrective Action Plans
Depending on the seriousness and nature of an employee’s behavior or
infraction, it may be helpful and necessary for the supervisor to develop a
corrective action plan (C.A.P.) or work improvement plan. This type of
plan emphasizes the need for improvement on behalf of the employee, and
the primary goal is to assist the employee in solving the problem in order
to improve behavior. All documentation becomes a part of the employee’s
personnel file. The following elements should be incorporated into a
C.A.P.:
1. Identification of the problem
2. Goals for change
3. What the employee needs to do to improve (specific, measurable
performance indicators should be established over a defined period
of time)
4. What the supervisor and department will do to monitor and assist
(the C.A.P. should be discussed (and documented) with the
employee on a monthly basis in order to assess progress and
problems)
5. Evaluation of the employee’s progress at the end of the agreed
upon time frame to correct the deficiencies (evaluation should be
documented and memorandum should indicate whether employee
met requirements of C.A.P.)
D. Misconduct & Discipline Levels Warranted
The following information provides examples of behavior or misconduct that
warrants a termination, suspension, or warning for first offense. These
examples are not meant to be all-inclusive. The city will provide pre-
suspension and termination hearings as required by law. The city reserves the
right to separately prosecute any employees for alleged criminal actions, in
addition to termination.
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1. Notice: Any employee who commits any of the actions listed
below, or any other action not specified, but similarly serious, will
be suspended without pay pending an investigation of the situation.
Following the investigation, the employee may be terminated
without any previous disciplinary action having been taken. Any
employee cleared because of the investigation shall receive any
pay lost while on suspension.
2. Termination: Theft, assault on another employee or citizen,
bringing a weapon into the workplace, bringing alcoholic
beverages or illegal drugs into the workplace, falsification of any
city record, serious safety violations, sexual harassment, repeated
violations of less severe infractions, and willful or negligent
damage to city equipment and/or property.
3. Written Warning/Suspension: Reporting to work under the
influence of alcohol or drugs; repeated violations of less severe
infractions, and using abuse or threatening language to a co-
worker, supervisor, or citizen; failure to follow safety practices;
and negligent destruction of city property.
4. Verbal and Written Warning: Unexcused or excessive absenteeism
or tardiness, leaving work without permission, failure to maintain
work standards, refusal to work required overtime, safety
violations, failure to report injuries or accidents, horseplay, and
sleeping on the job.
E. Steps In Discipline Process
Disciplinary actions are typically not taken against employees, without
conducting an objective investigation, which includes the opportunity for
the employee to explain their action(s) (due process meeting). In some
cases, the nature of the offense or level of misconduct may be severe
enough to warrant termination for a first offense. However, rule
violations, poor performance, or misconduct are handled in accordance
with the steps previously outlined. Steps in the disciplinary process
include:
1. Employee notice and/or
2. Investigation
3. Due process meeting with employee
The employee will be provided with a written notice of the
misconduct and an explanation of the reasons for discipline. The
due process meeting serves as an opportunity for an employee to
provide additional facts prior to the finalization of discipline.
During meetings that may lead to discipline, a union employee has
the right to request and be afforded representation from the union
at the meeting.
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4. Discipline
If discipline is warranted following the due process meeting, the
employee will be provided a written notice of the discipline,
including the infraction and a general statement of the reasons for
the discipline action. The administered discipline becomes a part
of the employee’s personnel file.
F. Just Cause
To help ensure that discipline is administered fairly, consistently, and
properly, it is important that discipline meets “just cause”. Please see
Appendix B for the Seven Tests for Just Cause.
G. Grievance & Employee Rights Related to the Discipline Procedure
(Appeals)
For employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the appeal
procedure is as set forth in the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
For non-represented employees, an appeal step is established to provide an
opportunity for regular, full-time, non-represented employees to have
adverse employment actions reviewed including written warnings,
suspensions, and terminations. All city employees are expected to make
every effort to resolve problems as they arise. An employee facing
disciplinary action by their Department Head may appeal that action to the
Mayor. A Department Head facing disciplinary action may appeal that
action to the City Finance Committee, which deals with personnel matters.
The City Common Council, at the recommendation of the Mayor and/or
Finance Committee, shall make all decisions concerning termination.
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APPENDIX A
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Counseling: Employee counseling typically involves an informal meeting
between the employee and supervisor, where the employee is made aware
of their inappropriate behavior, work rule violation, etc. and guidance is
provided as to how the employee can improve their behavior. Counseling
may be more formal, involving a third party, if warranted. Formal
counseling is appropriate when alcohol, drugs, or personal problems are
the source of the employee’s work related problem. Counseling should be
designed to resolve the problem early and avoid the need to take further
action. The supervisor for their own department records should do
documentation of any counseling.
Verbal Warning: This type of notice occurs when a supervisor verbally
warns an employee regarding inappropriate behavior, poor performance, a
work rule violation, insubordination, etc. Verbal warnings are given when
counseling has failed to produce the desired result or the behavior is
clearly unacceptable. Supervisors should meet with the employee in
private to discuss their behavior or conduct and future expectations,
including a clear explanation of the consequences of the failure to correct
the problem. All verbal warnings should be documented in writing. A
memorandum documenting the facts of the situation (specific violation(s),
date/time of violation(s), prior related discipline, standards for future
conduct, warning of further corrective discipline for non-compliance, and
any follow-up action to be taken) should be prepared by the supervisor,
and maintained for their own department records. A copy of the
memorandum should also be given to the employee.
Written Warning: A written notice occurs when an employee’s behavior,
misconduct or poor performance is documented and in a written memo or
letter and retained in the employee’s file. The notice should contain the
specific violation(s), the date and time of the violation(s) (or period of
time), prior related discipline, specific standards for future conduct
(including timelines, if appropriate), warning of further corrective
discipline for non-compliance, and any follow-up action to be taken.
Suspension: A suspension occurs when an employee is involuntarily
relieved from work for a certain number of days, with or without pay.
Those employees suspended without pay may substitute vacation time
with pay. Typically this occurs when prior warnings have not been
successful in correcting employee behavior or the misconduct or violation
is more serious in nature. Non-exempt employees under the FLSA may be
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suspended in increments in any length; Exempt employees under the
FLSA and Wisconsin law may only be suspended in increments of a
workweek. Employees suspended without pay pending an investigation,
and the investigation clears the employee, the employee shall be paid for
any lost time while on suspension.
Termination: Termination is the permanent removal of an employee from
city employment. Termination is administered in situations where
previous attempts to correct an employee’s behavior have failed or the
severity of the level of misconduct justifies the termination.
Prior to termination, supervisors and the City of Muskego should
undertake a proper and thorough investigation, which must incorporate
complete documentation. Outside legal counsel along with the Mayor and
Human Resources must review all terminations before final action is
taken.
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APPENDIX B
7 TESTS FOR JUST CAUSE
1. Could the employee be reasonably expected to know the consequence
of their conduct?
Did the employee know the behavior could result in
disciplinary action?
How was the employee made aware of the expectations of their
conduct?
Were written rules or policies distributed?
If unwritten rules existed, were the expectations commonly
understood?
Does the employee understand the consequences of rule
violations or substandard performance?
2. Is the rule that the employee violated reasonable?
Is the rule related to the efficient and safe operations of the
city/department? Is the rule related to performance that might be
expected of the employee?
3. Did the supervisor conduct a complete investigation?
Effort must be made to discover whether the employee violated a rule
prior to discipline. Be sure to do the following: witnesses should be
interviewed and written statements obtained, personnel file should be
reviewed for past discipline as well as other employees who have been
disciplined for the same violation, supervisors should be contacted to
find out if there were other employees who were not disciplined for the
same infraction(s), and review all related policies and rules for
ambiguity.
4. Was the effort put forth by the supervisor fair and objective?
To ensure due process occurs, the employee must have the opportunity
to be heard and provide written or verbal evidence to support their side
of the incident, prior to the administration of the discipline. The
supervisor should provide the following:
Appropriate reason(s) for possible discipline;
Adequate notice before disciplinary action is taken;
Substantiation and justification of city’s actions;
Presentation of evidence;
Opportunity for the employee to be heard.
5. Did the supervisor discover substantial evidence (witnessed or
documented) that the employee violated the rule?
6. Has the rule been applied fairly and without discrimination to the
employee?
Supervisors should review the level of discipline that has been
administered in the past for specific behaviors and how the rules have
been enforced. Employees in similar situations should be treated in a
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similar manner, and if not, a supervisor must be able to show a
mitigating circumstance.
7. Does the discipline relate to the seriousness of the violation and take
into account the employee’s past disciplinary history, performance
record, and employment history with the city or department?
Many different factors influence the level of discipline imposed. It is
necessary to take into account the differences in the length of
employment, corrective action history, level of responsibility, type of
position within the city/department, as well as past practice. Judgment
and discretion are critical in order to apply appropriate and equitable
disciplinary action.
Adopted by Reso. #019-2010 - 3/9/2010