Ala. Admin. Code r. 670-X-18-.03 - Suspensions
Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 6, March 31, 2022
(1) An appointing authority from time to time
may peremptorily suspend any employee without pay or other compensation as
punishment for improper behavior, but such suspension or total suspension of
the person by the appointing authority shall not exceed 30 business days in any
year of service. Such suspension with loss of pay may be effected only by
service upon the employee by the appointing authority of written charges
setting out clearly the delinquency for which the suspension was made, a copy
of which must be at the same time mailed or delivered to the Director. The
suspended employee shall have a right to file with the appointing authority a
written answer or explanation of such charges.
(2) The suspended employee may within 10
business days after notice pursuant to this section file a written notice of
appeal from the suspension. If the suspended employee gives notice of appeal
from the suspension, the appointing authority shall have the discretion of
whether to stay the suspension pending the disposition of the appeal or proceed
with the suspension and provide the employee with a post-suspension review
subject to the time frames prescribed herein.
(a) If a timely notice of appeal is filed,
the appointing authority shall elect between one of the following methods of
reviewing the claim. The appointing authority shall, within ten (10) days after
receipt of the appeal, do one of the following:
(i) Appoint a panel as provided for in
subsection (3) to decide questions of fact, conclusions of law, and make
recommendations to the appointing authority.
(ii) Appoint a designated hearing officer as
provided for in subsection (4) who will decide questions of fact, conclusions
of law and make recommendations to the appointing authority.
(b) This subsection shall apply
only to a department or agency of the state that has 25 or more employees for
each working day during each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
preceding calendar year.
(3) In instances where the appointing
authority elects to appoint a panel, the panel shall consist of three
individuals, two of whom shall be in the same or equivalent classification as
the suspended employee. The panel, by majority vote, may recommend to the
appointing authority, after a hearing, either of the following:
(a) That the charges are unwarranted and that
the suspension be revoked.
(b) That
the charges are warranted and that the suspension be upheld.
(4) In instances where an
appointing authority elects to appoint a hearing officer, the hearing officer
shall be selected from a list of individuals maintained by the Department. The
appointed hearing officer may be employed by the appointing authority, but
shall be independent of the division or area in which the employee works. Any
challenge to the appointment of an independent hearing officer shall be made to
the Director within five days of notification of the appointment. However, a
hearing officer may also be appointed from the Governmental Hearing Officer
register, which is compiled and maintained by the Department.
(5) Irrespective of which method the
appointing authority selects for adjudicating a suspension appeal hearing, all
hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the notions of due
process.
(6) The burden of proof
shall lie with the appointing authority to prove the charges forming the basis
of the suspension.
(7) Those
departments or agencies that by August 1, 2001, already had in place an
existing process for suspension hearings may continue to use the existing
process, provided that they observe tenets of due process including that the
burden of proof shall lie with the appointing authority.
(8) This rule shall not apply to any
department which employed, as of August 1, 2001, and continues to employ as a
standard practice in such cases a pre-disciplinary hearing before an
independent hearing officer who makes a recommendation for disciplinary action
to the appointing authority based upon a fair hearing of the matter.
(9) This rule shall not apply to any
department which currently employs and continues to employ as a standard
practice in such cases an appeal hearing before an in-house hearing officer
independent of the division or area in which the employee works. Said hearing
officer shall be selected from an approved list of individuals maintained by
the Department.
Notes
Author: Jackie B. Graham, State Personnel Director
Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, ยงยง 36-26-9, 36-26-28.
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