Borough of Wallington, NJ Chapter 100 Personnel Policies

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Wallington 5-13-1970 as Ch. III of the 1970 Revised General Ordinances (Ch. 77 of the 1992 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Code of Ethics — See Ch. 40.

Officers and employees — See Ch. 90.

Police Department — See Ch. 107.

Residency requirements — See Ch. 130.

Retirement program — See Ch. 135.

§ 100-1 Employment practices and considerations.

A. Employment in the Borough shall be based on merit and fitness, free of personal and political considerations.

B. Appointments, promotions and other personnel actions shall be on a merit basis.

C. Qualified Borough personnel shall be given first consideration for vacancies and new positions.

§ 100-2 Abolition or modification of offices.

The Council may, by ordinance, abolish, increase, decrease or modify the terms and compensation of any office of the Borough, except that no office shall be abolished where such office has been or is created by general law. Except where an office is abolished, no increase, decrease or modification of its terms and compensation shall affect any incumbent holding such office for the duration of the term for which he was appointed.

§ 100-3 Appointments.

A.[1] Qualifications. Original appointments to fill vacancies or for new positions shall be limited to qualified persons who have been interviewed or tested concerning such factors as education, experience, aptitude, knowledge, character and physical and mental fitness.

A. Preference to Borough employees and residents. Provided that they are qualified for the positions for which they have applied, preference shall be given in appointments to vacancies and new positions first to employees of the Borough and secondly to persons who are residents of the Borough at the time of their appointment. The Council may, by ordinance, provide that all officers and employees shall be residents of the Borough.[2]

[2] Editor's Note: See also Ch. 130, Residency Requirements.

B. Application for appointment. Applicants for Borough employment shall apply on forms provided by the Clerk and which have been designed to obtain pertinent information concerning the applicant's education, training, experience, character and other factors necessary to determine his fitness and qualification for service to the Borough. All applications shall be filed with the Clerk.

C. Processing. The Clerk shall be charged with processing all applications for appointment to vacancies or new positions and reporting thereon to the Council. Where it appears that an applicant is otherwise qualified for Borough employment, the Clerk shall require that the applicant furnish evidence that he is physically fit for the position for which he seeks employment.

D. Grounds for rejection of an applicant. An applicant for Borough employment may be rejected where he:

(1) Is not qualified for appointment to the position for which he has applied.

(2) Is physically unfit to perform the duties of the position for which he has applied.

(3) Is addicted to the habitual or excessive use of drugs or intoxicants.

(4) Has been convicted of any crime or offense, including disorderly persons offenses involving moral turpitude.

(5) Has received other than an honorable discharge from the Armed Services of the United States.

(6) Has been dismissed from previous employment for delinquency, insubordination or misconduct.

(7) Has practiced or attempted to practice any deception or fraud in his application or in furnishing other evidence of eligibility for appointment.

(8) Is not within age limits that have been established for the position for which he seeks appointment.

[1] Editor's Note: Original Sec. 3-2.1, Power of appointment, which immediately preceded this subsection, was repealed 3-26-1992 by Ord. No. 92-6.

§ 100-4 Probation.

Every person appointed to a new position shall be deemed to be on probation in the position to which he has been appointed for a period of six months, but such probation shall not affect permanent status of any other Borough employment that such person may have achieved. Prior to completion of the probationary period, such employee or officer shall be evaluated by the Council to determine whether he shall be granted permanent status or dismissed. The Council may require reports and recommendations from immediate superiors and department heads for this purpose.

§ 100-5 Personnel file.

The Clerk shall initiate a personnel file for each new employee of the Borough, and all records of such employee concerning qualification, permanent status, work history, accumulated vacation and sick leave, leave time and the like shall be maintained in this file. The Clerk shall make such files available for inspection by the employee on a reasonable basis.

§ 100-6 Rules and regulations. [1]

All employees shall be subject to the rules and regulations set forth in the current edition of the Borough's Policies and Procedures Manual.[2]

[1] Editor's Note: Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I); this ordinance also repealed original §§ 77-6 through 77-14.

[2] Editor's Note: The Policies and Procedures Manual is on file in the Borough's offices.

§ 100-7 Meritorious actions.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Borough to recognize and encourage meritorious actions on the part of its officers and employees. To this end, letters of commendation concerning Borough employees from their superiors and from members of the public with whom they deal shall be directed to the attention of the Council and then recorded in the employee's personnel file. In addition, the Council may, of its own motion, commend the work of particular officers and employees and cause such commendation to be inserted in their personnel files.

§ 100-8 Bonding of officers and employees.

A. Each officer or employee of the Borough who, by virtue of his office or position, is entrusted with the receipt, custody or expenditure of public moneys or funds and any other officer or employee who may be required so to do by the Council shall, before entering upon the duties of his office or position, execute and deliver a surety bond, in such amount as may be fixed by the Council, binding him to the Borough in its corporate name and conditioned upon the true and faithful performance of his duty. Each officer or employee required by law to give bond shall execute such bond with sufficient surety and deliver the same to the Clerk, except that the Clerk shall deliver his bond to the Treasurer before he enters upon the discharge of the duties of his office or employment.

B. If any officer or employee neglects to execute and deliver his bond within 30 days after due notification of his election or appointment, his office or position may be declared vacant.

C. Whenever a person is required by the laws of the state or by any ordinance of the Borough to give a bond for the faithful performance of his duties, the bond shall be secured by a corporate surety authorized to do business in this state, and the premium therefor shall be paid by the Borough. Each bond shall be approved by the Borough Attorney as to form and sufficiency, and nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the use of one or more blanket bonds when so approved.

§ 100-9 Exemption for persons under contract.

[Added 12-20-1993 by Ord. No. 93-19]

All persons under contract shall be exempt from this chapter.

§ 100-10 Medical benefits for retirees.

[Added 1-23-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-04]

A. Any and all employees shall be entitled to medical benefits upon retirement, provided that the employee shall have been employed by the Borough of Wallington for a period of twenty-five-year service.

B. Employment for any other governmental body, other than the Borough of Wallington, shall not count toward the twenty-five-year service required for the Borough of Wallington.