The purpose of employee disciplinary
action is to modify or correct unacceptable employee behavior. In general,
progressive discipline rises through the following levels: verbal warning,
written reprimand, disciplinary probation, and termination. Any of the levels
may be omitted, added to, imposed singularly or in combination with any of the
other levels at the discretion of the college.
(A)
The
non-exhaustive list of misconduct for which an employee may be disciplined
includes:
(1)
Professional incompetence or failure to maintain an acceptable quality of job
performance.
(2)
Insubordination or refusal to perform duties properly
assigned as part of the employee's obligations to the college.
(3)
Violations of
stated rules and policies of the college or damage to college
property.
(4)
An act involving moral turpitude, punishable by a
criminal statute of the state of Ohio. Includes serious misconduct of moral,
social, or physical nature unbecoming of a professional.
(5)
Others - gross
neglect of work or duty, absenteeism, failure to report to work and not
notifying appropriate personnel for up to two workdays, voluntary abandonment
of position, habitual tardiness or failure to observe assigned work hours,
leaving work without authorization, abuse of leave, excessive use of leave,
unauthorized leave, interference with work of other employees, failure to
maintain satisfactory working relations with other employees, students, or the
public, refusal to cooperate with administrative investigations or to answer a
work-related inquiry, theft, sleeping while on duty, gambling during work
hours, excessive use of telephone for personal matters, falsification of
records, unauthorized release of confidential information, or acts that
jeopardize the safety of oneself or others.
(B)
Formal steps for
employee disciplinary action up to and including termination of
employment.
Unless stated otherwise in this policy,
the following procedures should be used for imposing discipline. The procedures
in this section do not apply to employees in their introductory
period.
No disciplinary actions beyond a
written reprimand may be taken without being authorized by an appropriate
member of the college's administration or designee after consultation with
human resources. The steps for disciplinary action are as follows:
(1)
Verbal
counseling.
(a)
Ordinarily, an employee should be verbally counseled for minor misconduct. The
employee's supervisor should talk privately with the employee and cover the
following:
(i)
Review exactly what is expected of the employee and why.
(ii)
Explain to the
employee why his/her conduct is unsatisfactory.
(iii)
Allow the
employee to give his/her side of the story.
(iv)
Specify what
disciplinary action will be taken if similar problems continue.
(b)
The
employee's supervisor must make a written record of the date of the interview
with the employee and information covered in the interview using the verbal
counseling form. The supervisor must also have the employee sign and date the
form. The "written" oral reprimand should be placed in the employee's file in
human resources. It will become a permanent part of the employees
file.
(2)
Written warning for disciplinary action.
If, because of the seriousness of the
offense, or if the employee has repeated the first offense covered by the
"written" oral reprimand, and the employee's supervisor determines that a
written reprimand is warranted, the following action should be
taken:
(a)
The written warning must be on the written warning
form. Prior to obtaining the written warning form, a copy of earlier "written"
verbal counseling(s) pertaining to the current situation must be made available
to the human resources office. The written warning must specify details of the
employee's misconduct. The written warning should also include the corrective
action needed, if any, and a statement that a recurrence of the same type of
conduct could result in additional disciplinary action leading to and including
termination.
(i)
Types of violations.
(a)
If the employee
has repeated the violation covered in the prior "written" verbal counseling,
the supervisor should review again with the employee the points covered in the
"written" verbal warning.
(b)
If the offense is the first, and of such serious nature
as to warrant more than a verbal counseling but does not warrant suspension or
termination, then a written warning should be given to the
employee.
(b)
The supervisor should review the written warning with
the department head, appropriate executive administrator or designee prior to
delivering it to the employee. The supervisor should then review the warning
with the employee. It should be signed by the employee with an indication that
it has been received. If the employee refuses to sign, the supervisor should
have another supervisor witness by signing the written warning that the written
warning was delivered to the employee.
A copy of the written warning must be
forwarded to the human resources office. It will become a permanent part of the
employee's file.
(C)
Suspension.
The appropriate executive administrator
or designee is authorized to affect a suspension with approval from the
president. If because of the seriousness of the offense or if the employee has
repeated the offense which calls for a suspension and the supervisor determines
that a suspension is warranted, the following action should be
taken:
(1)
The employee's supervisor submits a written summary,
which is reviewed by the department head, of the cause and it is sent to the
vice president or designee.
(2)
The executive
administrator or designee will review the case and, if possible, meet with the
employee to give the employee an opportunity to respond to the charges. The
executive administrator or designee will then consult with the director of
human resources and will recommend to the president a letter of suspension, if
warranted.
(3)
The suspension letter will be written and signed by the
president and given to the employee with a copy to the supervisor, department
head, and human resources. The president's decision to issue a suspension
letter is final. The letter will include the following:
(a)
Any previous
disciplinary steps or counseling sessions relating to the deficiencies in
conduct.
(b)
The detailed reasons for the disciplinary
action.
(c)
The corrective action needed by the
employee.
(d)
The specific dates of the suspension.
(e)
That termination
may result in the case of recurrence.
(D)
Termination.
An employee may be terminated due to
the frequency or nature of serious misconduct. Very serious offenses may be
cause for immediate termination without prior progressive disciplinary steps.
If, because of the seriousness of the offense, or if the employee has repeated
the offenses which ultimately call for a termination, and the appropriate
executive administrator determines that termination is warranted, the following
action should be taken:
(1)
The supervisor prepares a written summary of the case
with all previous disciplinary steps outlined, which is reviewed by the
department head, and sent to the appropriate executive administrator or his
designee prior to any disciplinary action being taken.
(2)
The executive
administrator or his/her designee will review the case and, if possible, meet
with the employee to give the employee an opportunity to respond to the
charges. The executive administrator or his/her designee will then consult with
the director of human resources and will recommend to the president a letter of
termination, if warranted.
(3)
The president
will write and sign the termination letter and it will be given to the employee
with a copy to human resources. The president's decision to terminate an
employee is final. The termination letter shall include the following:
(a)
Previous
disciplinary steps;
(b)
The reason for termination;
(c)
The effective
date of the termination; and;
(d)
The record will
be placed in the employee's file in human resources. Pay for time worked in the
pay period in which the employee is terminated will be paid on the next
immediate pay date.
(E)
Reassignment or
demotion my be considered as an alternative to the above disciplinary
actions.
(F)
In the event of reassignment or demotion, the following
action should be taken:
(1)
The employee's supervisor prepares a written summary of
the case and any previous disciplinary steps, which is reviewed by the
department head and sent to the appropriate executive administrator or
designee.
(2)
The executive administrator or designee will review the
case and, if possible, meet with the employee to give the employee an
opportunity to respond to the charges. The president will then authorize a
letter of reassignment or demotion if warranted.
(3)
The president or
designee will write and sign the letter and it will be given to the employee.
The president's decision to reassign or demote the employee is final. The
letter shall include the following:
(a)
Previous disciplinary steps;
(b)
The reason for
reassignment or demotion and;
(c)
The effective
date of the reassignment or demotion.
(d)
The record will
be placed in the employee's file in human resources.
(G)
Health
or safety risks.
The above policy/procedure is not
required to be specifically followed if the president after consultation with
the director of human resources and/or the director of public safety and
security and/or other appropriate individuals, reasonably believes that the
employee will pose a health or safety risk to the college.
(H)
Suspension or dismissal for arrest or conviction of division (D) of section
3345.23 of the Revised
Code.
Without limiting the grounds for
discipline or the procedures the college can use to impose discipline, if the
college receives notification that a faculty, staff member, or employee of the
college is arrested or convicted of an offense listed in division (D) of
section 3345.23 of the Revised Code, as
may be amended from time to time, the college may also use the procedures set
forth in section 3345.22 of the Revised Code, et
seq., as may be amended from time to time, to effect an immediate suspension or
automatic dismissal of the faculty, staff member, or
employee.
