[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Township
Council of the Township of Dover (now Toms River) 6-22-2004 by Ord. No.
3884-04. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The municipal government of the Township of
Toms River shall be organized into the following departments, municipal
offices, boards, commissions and committees, as applicable:
A.
Departments.
[Amended 1-24-2017 by Ord. No. 4524-17; 3-10-2020 by Ord. No. 4661-20]
Each department shall be headed by a Director,
whom shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of
the Council.
The term of a department head shall be for the
term of the office of the Mayor appointing him or her and until the
appointment and qualification of his or her successor.
[Amended 5-27-2008 by Ord. No. 4137-08]
A.
Appointment. Department heads shall appoint subordinate
officers and employees within their respective departments and may,
with approval of the Mayor, remove such officers and employees subject
to the provisions of Title 11 of the New Jersey Statutes or other
general law.
B.
Promotion and transfer. No promotion or transfer of
existing employees shall be effectuated unless recommended by the
appropriate department head to the Township Business Administrator
for presentment and approval by the Mayor.
A department head may request a leave of absence
from his or her position for up to one year. Council, in its sole
discretion, may grant or deny the request. Failure to seek an extension
of the leave or failure to return to work at the conclusion of the
leave granted by Council shall be deemed an abandonment of office
of the position. Whenever a leave of absence is taken, the Mayor,
with the advice and consent of Council, may appoint an acting department
head from amongst the existing employees from within that department.
[Amended 5-13-2008 by Ord. No. 4136-08; 4-14-2020 by Ord. No. 4666-20]
All department heads shall be full-time employees.
A "full-time employee" shall be defined as an employee who regularly
works a minimum of 35 hours per week. Department heads shall be exempt
employees for purposes of the Federal Labor Standards Act. A full-time
employee, except for a department head, may not be employed outside
the Township without prior written permission of the Mayor and resolution
of the Township Council. All employees full-time and part-time, with
the exception of elected officials, shall punch their own individual
time card every day on the Township time clock, or on another Township-approved
device, once said device is made available, or shall utilize a time-keeping
procedure approved by resolution of the Township Council. If an employee
leaves work for any reason, he or she shall punch out and punch in
upon return, if applicable. All department heads shall be responsible
for maintaining the time cards of their department employees. Misuse
of the time clock by any employee, which shall include, but not be
limited to, punching another person's time card and failing to punch
out upon leaving work, shall be grounds for immediate termination
and may result in prosecution by the Township for theft of services,
subject to any provisions of any collective bargaining agreements.
This provision shall not apply to the Township Attorney or any part-time
employees of the Township's Law Department.
[Amended 4-14-2020 by Ord. No. 4666-20]
No department head shall have any interest in
any partnership, sole proprietorship, company, corporation or any
other form of business organization which has a current contractual
relationship with the Township. A department head shall not enter
into any contract individually with the Township. A violation of this
section shall be deemed sufficient cause to seek removal under N.J.S.A.
40:69A-37. This provision shall not apply to the Township Attorney
if that position is filled by someone who is not an employee of the
municipality.
The internal operation of each department shall
be determined by the Director of the department subject to the applicable
provisions of the Code. Whenever an activity or functional duty shall,
by ordinance, be transferred from one department to another department
of the Township, all the functions, powers and duties thereof shall
be and are transferred as of the effective date of the ordinance.
Vacancies in the office of any department head due to resignation, removal, death or otherwise shall be filled in accordance with the procedures delineated within § 5-16 of the Township Code.
Except in the case of police, fire and first
aid emergencies, no Township vehicle shall be driven, operated or
used outside of the geographical boundaries of the Township except
as necessary to efficiently travel between Township locales on the
barrier island and the rest of the Township and for official business.
Traveling to and from work shall not be considered official business.
"Official business" shall be further defined for the purposes of this
section as the policy promulgated by the Mayor and adopted by the
Council by separate resolution. As applied to the Department of Law
Enforcement, the Mayor shall establish a written policy which shall
be approved by Township Council by resolution within 60 days subsequent
to the effective date of this Code.
In the appointing of any employee, officer or
department head, preference shall be given to residents of the Township
of Toms River.
Any additional or amended qualifications for
offices or positions, including department heads, shall be prospective
only as applied to filling vacancies after the effective date of this
Code.
[Added 3-11-2008 by Ord. No. 4130-08; amended 1-24-2017 by Ord. No.
4526-17]
A.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
Definitions. As used in this section, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Spouse, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, brother, stepbrother,
sister, stepsister, grandparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law,
brother-in-law, half-brother, half-sister, nephew or niece.
B.
Prohibited actions. The Township shall not hire to
any permanent, nonseasonal position any immediate family members of
the Mayor or Township Council. If, in the opinion of the Mayor, or
any member of Council, extenuating circumstances necessitate the waiver
of the policy within this section, a written recommendation delineating
the extenuating circumstances shall be submitted to the Mayor and
Township Council. If the Mayor and Township Council concur that there
are extenuating circumstances, this policy may be waived by resolution
adopted by an affirmative vote of at least 2/3 of the majority of
the full Township Council as to the particular hiring at issue only.
C.
Relatives of department heads. The hiring restrictions set forth in Subsection B apply to immediate family members of any department head for positions within or assigned to that department or supervised by that department head.
D.
Positions covered by testing requirements; exception. The restrictions
imposed by this section do not apply to positions in which employment
is conditioned upon obtaining a passing score on an oral, written,
physical, or other examination prepared, evaluated, or graded by an
independent agency not affiliated with the Township.
