In dealing with performance and conduct issues you will encounter corrective action and disciplinary action. Corrective action is a lower level of action and can include verbal counseling as well as letters such as warning or reprimand. Disciplinary action includes punitive/non-punitive suspensions, temporary reductions in step, demotions, and dismissal. (Please note that currently, only the Sheriff’s Office may take disciplinary action in the form of a punitive suspension.)
All disciplinary actions fall within the Skelly process. Arbitration is a step within the grievance process.
The Skelly process has three distinct steps which are: 1) the intent letter, 2) the written and/or oral response, and 3) the decision letter.
The intent letter informs the employee that a disciplinary action has been proposed. As part of the Skelly process, the employee is then given an opportunity to respond to the charges outlined in the intent letter, within the specified time frame, either orally or in writing before a decision is issued.If requested by the employee, the response is heard/reviewed by a reasonably impartial party who has not made up his/her mind about the case. This second step is also known as a Skelly hearing. The Skelly hearing provides an opportunity for the employee to present their side of the story before a decision is issued. The deciding official can sustain, mitigate, or overturn the proposed discipline.
Once a decision has been issued and a disciplinary action has been taken, the employee can (at his/her discresion) either grieve or appeal the discipline depending on what has been negotiated with their union. The grievance process may include the following steps:
- Meeting between the employee (with or without union representation) and the Department Head
- Appeal to Employee Relations
- Adjustment board
Alternatively the employee may choose to appeal the decision to the Civil Service Commission, in which case the Commission will formally hear the case from both sides and issue a decision in which they can sustain, reduce, or overturn the discipline.
Performance evaluations, as well as other documentation such as supervisory notes or copies of products, can be used by either side in personnel actions. For example, performance evaluations can be used to provide evidence that the employee has not been performing for a while and what was specifically called to the employee’s attention. Likewise, performance evaluations can serve as evidence that the employee has been performing fine and the misconduct or poor performance is new. It is important to make the evaluations ACCURATE.
Conducting regular and effective performance evaluations has many benefits to the employee, the supervisor, and the organization. Performance evaluations provide a formal opportunity for the employee and the supervisor to exchange ideas, feelings, communicate expectations in addition to reviewing performance.
Generally, seniority does not play a role in determining who is transferred to a different position that is the same classification, however there are instances where it may depend on the specifics of the situation. When geographic displacement (moving to another City) is a part of the transfer seniority is considered, along with other relevant criteria. It is important to be able to articulate your reasons for your decision. If you have questions about your specific situation, you should check with Employee Relations.
Generally, we recommend that you coach the employee to approach the peer to give the feedback (so long as it is not a complaint of any kind of discrimination or prohibited harassment – such issues must be reported to HR) through role playing and other support. If the employee is not comfortable going directly to the peer, you should recommend that they go through their management chain. If you are observing the same issues, then you should approach your peer directly based on what you observe yourself.
Discipline can be for repeated acts of separate types of misconduct and can increase progressively even if not for the exact same thing. Conduct cases are those where an employee fails to comply with work rules, policies, and procedures and can include issues such as attendance, dishonesty, disrespect, and proper use of County time. This can be a single instance or repeated incidents. When proposing a discipline for acts of misconduct the totality of the situation should be considered along with relevant prior discipline. When conduct cases arise you should consult with Employee Relations to get advice on how to best handle your specific situation.
First, review the Dealing with the Impaired Employee: Employee Relations Bulletin 5, located under Procedures.
If you suspect that an employee is under the influence of alcohol or drugs while at work it is recommended that you take the following steps:
- Note your observations using the Objective Signs of Impairment Checklist. This form is available in the Employee Relations Handbook and can be obtained by following the directions outlined above.
- Ask another manager or supervisor to complete a checklist without reviewing the checklist you completed.
- If the other manager or supervisor also has concerns that the employee is impaired from performing his/her duties, you should send the employee home. Do not allow the employee to drive. Do not allow another employee to drive them. You may have the employee call a friend or a family member, or you may call a taxi to take him/her home.
- When the employee returns to work, their supervisor or manager should conduct an investigatory interview.
- Contact Employee Relations for guidance on the appropriate action to take.
Bumping rules are covered by each specific MOU, so you should check the relevant MOU. But generally when a filled position is eliminated, the person in that position has bumping rights if she/he has more seniority than other people in that classification. There are a lot of caveats to this, so check the MOU and call HR for advice.
A New Employee Onboarding website was created as a source for Managers/Supervisors and new hires as a single source for storing all of the onboarding tools and resources including the guides and checklists, as well as helpful links to benefits, policies, and employee program resources. The website (http://hr.smcgov.org/onboarding) is accessible to new hires in advance of their start date.
With the launch of Workday in April 2015, Many of the paper forms that were required when an employee was hired have been automated. New hires can now complete personnel information, elect benefits, enter direct deposit information, and read and acknowledge county-wise policies in Workday.
The County also offers a Supervisors’ Online Support (SOS) page (http://intranet.co.sanmateo.ca.us/sos/) which offers key tools such as performance management and training and development options. For offboarding, the County has an Employee Separation Checklist. You can access the Employee Separation Checklist on the County’s intranet homepage by selecting it from the County Forms list.
At this time the onboarding and offboarding process varies from department to department. The County is currently working on County-wide onboarding and offboarding features as part of the Workday project.
This is a complicated situation that is very dependent on the facts; you should get advice from Employee Relations on how to best handle such a situation.
The Wellness Program is available to all County employees, regardless of whether the employee receives health insurance through the County. However, Wellness Rewards are only available to Blue Shield or Kaiser members. To verify your eligibility, log into Workday.com.
We recommend training on team building. LMS (www.smcgov.org/LMS) has the following courses for supervisors:
- Team Building for Supervisors
- Generating Creative and Innovative Ideas: Maximizing Team Creativity
- Leading Teams: Dealing with Conflict
- Leading Teams: Fostering Effective Communication and Collaboration
HR also offers the following courses for all staff members:
- Being an Effective Team Member
- Team Building for Employees
Every circumstance is different. First, it always behooves us to look at our own behavior to see what might be provoking such behavior by our manager. Are we going over the same issues with our manager repeatedly, not accepting no for an answer? Are we presenting the ideas in ways that show how they would benefit the work, the team, the manager? Are there better times or ways to present ideas to this manager? Can you use any of the managing up tips (the County offers a course on this) to give feedback to the manager that you feel your ideas are not being heard and evaluated on their merits? Is there a way to give feedback to your manager’s supervisor so she or he can understand how his/her approach is making you feel? The way you phrased this question implies that you have a pretty negative overall relationship with your manager. You can invite your manager to mediation utilizing the County’s Workplace Mediation Program which can assist in improving relationships in the workplace. If you have exhausted all the ways you know of to change the situation, you might consider looking for a position with a manager who would be a better fit for you.
Yes. It should be dealt with in private and straightforwardly. Call Employee Relations if you need help preparing for such a conversation.
No. But to develop a good relationship with the employee, you should give advance notice of the change and explain why the change is necessary for business reasons.
The County supports alternative or non-traditional work schedules that provide flexibility to the employees, as long as such schedules do not negatively impact service delivery or coverage. Examples of schedules include 5/8, 4/10, 9/80, teleworking, voluntary time off, and flexible hours. When considering scheduling, the Department considers maintenance or enhancement of service levels, extension of office hours, and how scheduling effects the level of service to the public. Availability of alternate schedules can vary from department to department, and from position to position.
Because of the variety of possible schedules, start/end times as well as meal breaks times/length can vary. All full-time workers are allowed two fifteen-minute rest breaks prior to and after the mid-shift meal break. At times, circumstances may prevent an employee from taking a rest break, however rest breaks can not be accumulated if they are not taken.
The Telework Program allows approved employees to work at a location other than a County office. Although this is usually from home, employees can work from varying alternate locations. Employees participating in this program must have a written and approved Telework agreement. It is expected that employees who work remotely will do so in an appropriate manner that does not allow for information to be inappropriately shared.
For additional information about telework please also visit: http://hr.smcgov.org/telework
An employee can apply for VTO for any reason. Deciding whether to grant VTO is discretionary, but you should have a good business reason when you deny a VTO request. An example of a good business reason for denying VTO might be that the unit staffing is planned with everyone working full-time so there is not staffing available to backfill if one employee takes extra time off on top of the allotted vacation time.
There is no such thing as a grace period. Employees are expected to maintain regular and predictable attendance. If you have an employee with attendance problems, please consult with Employee Relations on how to handle this.
This is a complicated question that is very fact specific. Please consult with Employee Relations.
Good for you for recognizing the risk to the employee and to be proactive about it. As each situation is unique, please contact Risk Management to discuss how to manage this issue.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) commute to/from work is not considered work time. The work day begins when an employee arrives and is prepared to work at their work location. Only when an extreme distance is required (i.e. a meeting in Sacramento) is driving considered the start of a work day.
If the employee is traveling from his/her residence directly to a required training program, conference, or other work related travel the employee is entitled to reimbursement for all miles traveled minus the normal mileage to or from the employees regular work location. For more information please see the County’s Driving Policy located on the intranet site.
The goal of the Repetetive Stress Injury Prevention Program (RSIGuard) is to help prevent or manage computer related injuries. The County is offering RSIGuard to employees as a benefit in an effort encourage healthy work habits. As such, RSIGuard is not considered a disciplinary tool to be used by supervisors for monitoring quantity of work, but it can be used as a tool to ensure that those with computer work restrictions are abiding by their restrictions.
AFSCME and SEIU represent extra help employees in classifications that are represented by their unions. All other extra help employees are not represented by the unions.
Generally, pay is negotiated by the labor unions and in the MOUs. You should recommend that they speak with their union representative about negotiating a new pay scale for the position the next time the MOU is negotiated. If the employee is asking to advance to the next step within their classification range, you should advise the employee that they will be eligible for a merit increase at their next review period, which should be every 2080 hours (12 months if full-time). If there are special circumstances such as a special merit, consult with Human Resources.
It is unclear from the question whether the employee wants to take on new projects or the supervisor wants an employee to take on new projects. Either way, it is the right and responsibility of the supervisor to manage and prioritize the work of her/his employees so that the most important work gets done. On the other hand, if an employee is highly motivated by side projects, the supervisor may want to find ways to redistribute work within the unit to ensure that as many employees as possible get to do work that motivates them along with more routine work. If this answer is not sufficient, please consult with Employee Relations.
This is the area in which a supervisor has the most day-to-day involvement.The key to avoiding problems is to set clear expectations and to address infractions firmly and fairly. For example you can let the employee know that you expect them to request approval for any leave at least 48 hours in advance, and that anything outside of that time frame would be considered an unscheduled absence. You can set an expectation that each employee can have no more than two unscheduled absences in a three month time period.It would then be up to the the supervisor to monitor and reinforce the expectations.
You should discuss your expectations with your manager and consult with Employee Relations to ensure that your expectations are reasonable and in conformance with pertinent MOU’s.
Whether and what type of replacement you can bring on when someone goes on leave is complicated. Please consult with your manager and contact Personnel Services.
This depends on the type of leave. Please consult with Risk Management to discuss your specific situation.
Yes. Your Department Head has the discretion to approve or reject your VTO application.
If you are simply giving an employee feedback, the employee is not entitled to a union representative. If the employee believes that a meeting will include questioning that can lead to disciplinary action, they can request a representative. However, sometimes a union representative can be helpful during a difficult conversation, depending on the circumstance. Please consult your Employee Relations (ER) analyst to discuss if this might apply to your situation?
Give staff specific examples on the behavior that needs to be corrected. It is helpful to give context to explain the impact to the workforce, client, etc., as to why the behavior needs to change.
It depends on the urgency. If it has an impact on client/patient care, address it in the moment, then follow up with their supervisor. If it’s not urgent, it is proper protocol to speak to the supervisor first.
You can practice with your peers without disclosing names or details. Another option is to set up a time to talk to your ER Analyst, who can role play with you.
Be specific on what exactly the problem is, what your explicit expectations are, and the impact this problematic behavior might be having on the work environment, patients, clients, co-workers, etc.
Discuss your concerns and observations. When possible, give an example of a recent situation you have witnessed, and explain the perception or impact (such as work on being completed on time). If the employee deflects or claims it is other staff coming to them, redirect them to the behavior they can control. Engage the staff in conversation around how they think they can change the situation, or develop standard responses they can practice when trying to get out of a conversation. Be sure to end the discussion with action steps or an agreement on what needs to occur next.