AGENDA DATE: 12/13/2023
TITLE:
Title
Personnel Policy Amendments
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Consider amendments to County personnel policies to comply with federal and state laws, best practices, and reflect organizational values.
ITEM TYPE: Consent Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Rosenberg, Bessette, Shifflett, Rice
PRESENTER (S): N/A
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: Albemarle County ended the shared service Human Resources (HR) model in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 23) and approved the formation of a Human Resources Department dedicated to local government operations. Foundational work in establishing a government-focused HR Department includes a full review and revision of all County Personnel Policies, which is now underway. During this review, staff identified opportunities to modernize existing Personnel Policies to align with changes in legislation and public sector best practices.
Under the County Code, personnel policies and amendments are adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Workforce & Customer Service - Recruit & retain engaged public servants who provide quality government services to advance our mission
DISCUSSION: Staff is proposing updates to the Personnel Policies listed below with a summary of the proposed changes for each. The policies have been renumbered, as indicated below, to improve ease of use and accessibility for all staff. These policies also utilize a new template, which will be used for all future proposed personnel policy updates in an effort to standardize these policies.
§P-4 Effect of Criminal Conviction or Arrest
Previously § P-05 Effect of Criminal Conviction or Arrest (Attachment A), the proposed changes include: added sections for Roles and Responsibilities and Definitions; removed administrative instructions and processes; added accountability for reporting criminal investigations; added provision for backfilling position in the event of extended administrative leave; added requirement for providing employee with reports and documents obtained and used in any adverse employment action.
§P-6 Standards of Conduct
Previously § P-25 Standards of Conduct (Attachment B), the proposed changes include: added sections for Roles and Responsibilities and Definitions; re-structured and categorized by type of behavior.
§P-7 Code of Ethics
Previously § P-27 Conflict of Interest, § P-28 Indebtedness to the County, and § P-33 Outside Employment by County Employees (Attachment C), the proposed changes include combined three former policies pertaining to ethics, conflict of interest, and integrity into one policy; inserted the informally adopted ethical requirements into a formal policy document to create accountability; added sections for Roles and Responsibilities and Definitions; added requirements for reporting fraud, waste, and abuse of county assets; added conflict of interest protocols for employment decisions.
§P-32 Employee Discipline
Previously § P-22 Employee Discipline (Attachment D), the proposed changes include: added sections for Roles and Responsibilities and Definitions; created structure for determining severity of policy violations to ensure fair and equitable discipline practices; standardized formal steps of progressive discipline; established types of behaviors and violations warranting immediate dismissal; added recordkeeping requirements.
BUDGET IMPACT: There is no budget impact associated with the proposed adoption of these amendments.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board adopt the Resolution (Attachment E), to amend personnel policies § P-4, § P-6, § P-7, and § P-32.
ATTACHMENTS:
A - Proposed § P-4
B - Proposed § P-6
C - Proposed § P-7
D - Proposed § P-32
E - Resolution