[Amended by Ord. No. 17-1970]
A. General policy.
(1) Employment in the Township, promotions, and other personnel actions
shall be based on merit and fitness, free of personal and political
considerations.
(2) Qualified Township personnel shall be given first consideration for
vacancies and new positions.
B. Abolition or modification of offices. The Township Committee may
by ordinance abolish, increase, decrease or modify the terms and compensation
of any office of the Township, except that it may not abolish or alter
the terms of an office created by general law. Except where an office
is abolished, no decrease in compensation or modification of its terms
shall affect any incumbent for the duration of the term for which
he/she was appointed.
[Amended by Ord. No. 17-1970]
A. Power of appointment. All employees, officers and department heads
of the Township shall be appointed by the Township Committee, except
as may be otherwise provided by general law.
B. 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.
C. Preference to Township employees and residents. Provided 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 Township and secondly, to persons who are residents
of the Township at the time of their appointment. The Township Committee
may by ordinance provide that all officers and employees shall be
residents of the Township.
D. Application for appointment. Applicants for employment shall apply
on forms provided by the Township Clerk, designed to obtain pertinent
information concerning the applicant's education, training, experience,
character and other factors necessary to determine his fitness and
qualification for the Township service. All applications shall be
filed with the Township Clerk.
E. Processing. The Township Clerk shall be charged with processing all
applications for appointment to vacancies or new positions, and reporting
thereon to the Township Committee. Where it appears that an applicant
is otherwise qualified for employment, the Township Clerk shall require
that the applicant furnish evidence that he/she is physically fit
for the position for which he/she seeks employment.
F. Grounds for rejection of an applicant. An applicant for employment
may be rejected where he/she:
(1) Is not qualified for appointment to the position for which he/she
has applied;
(2) Is physically unfit to perform the duties of the positions for which
he/she 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/her application or in furnishing other evidence of eligibility
for appointment;
(8) Is not within age limits that have been established for the positions
for which he/she seeks appointment.
[Amended by Ord. No. 17-1970]
A. Probation. Except when provided by law, every person appointed to
a new position shall be deemed to be on probation in the position
to which he/she shall have been appointed for a period of three months,
but such probation shall not affect permanent status of any other
Township employment that such person may have achieved. Prior to his/her
completion of the probationary period, the employee or officer shall
be evaluated by the Township Committee to determine whether he/she
shall be granted permanent status or dismissed. The Township Committee
may require reports and recommendations from immediate superiors and
department heads for this purpose. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 52:17B-69,
a probationary or temporary appointment as a police officer may be
made for a total period not exceeding one year for the purpose of
enabling a person seeking permanent appointment to take a police training
course as required by law.
B. Personnel file. The Township Clerk shall initiate a personnel file
for each new employee 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 for such
employee in such file. The Township Clerk shall make such files available
for inspection by the employee on a reasonable basis.
[Amended by Ord. No. 17-1970]
A. Disciplinary actions enumerated. An employee may be disciplined in
accordance with general law and this chapter by any of the following
actions, which are stated in order of severity, for the causes stated
in this section by a department head or the Township Committee, except
that no employee shall be suspended or dismissed without the approval
of the Township Committee:
(1) Informal, verbal reproof.
B. Causes of disciplinary action. The causes for which disciplinary
action may be invoked are the following:
(2) Absence without leave or failure to report after authorized leave
has expired, or after such leave has been disapproved or revoked;
provided, however, that any regular member of Officer of the Police
Department who shall be absent from duty without just cause for a
term of five days continuously and without permission shall, at the
expiration of such five days, cease to be a member of the Police Department
as provided by N.J.S.A. 40A:14-122, as amended.
(3) Incompetency or inefficiency or incapacity due to mental or physical
disability.
(4) Insubordination or serious breach of discipline.
(5) Intoxication while on duty.
(6) Commission of a criminal act.
(7) Disobedience of a rule or regulation of the Township.
(8) Conduct unbecoming a public employee.
C. Hearing. Any employee disciplined under the provisions of this section
shall, upon request, be granted a hearing. A reasonable opportunity
for such hearing shall be granted before the imposition of disciplinary
action, except that an employee may be summarily suspended if it is
deed that the circumstances so warrant. In such case if, after hearing,
it appears that the suspension was not proper, the Township Committee
may order reinstatement with pay.
[Amended by Ord. No. 17-1970]
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Township to recognize
and encourage meritorious actions on the part of its officers and
employees. To this end, letters of commendation concerning Township
employees from their superiors and from members of the public with
whom they deal shall be directed to the attention of the Township
Committee, and then recorded in the employee's personnel file.
In addition, the Township Committee may, on its own motion, commend
the work of particular officers and employees and cause such commendation
to be inserted in their personnel files.
[Amended by Ord. No. 17-1970]
A. Every officer or employee of the Township who, by virtue of his/her
office or position, is entrusted with the receipt, custody or expenditure
of public monies or funds, and any other officer or employee who may
be required so to do by the Township Committee shall, before entering
upon the duties of his/her office or position, execute and deliver
a surety bond in such amount as may be fixed by the Township Committee,
binding him/her to the Township in its corporate name and conditioned
upon the true and faithful performance of his/her duty. Each officer
or employee required by law to give bond shall execute such bond with
sufficient surety and deliver the same to the Township Clerk, except
that the Township Clerk shall deliver his/her bond to the Treasurer,
before he/she enters upon the discharge of his/her duties of the officer
or employment,
B. If any officer or employee shall neglect to execute and deliver his/her
bond as herein required within 30 days after due notification of his/her
election or appointment, his/her office or position may be declared
vacant.
C. In every case in which any person is required by the laws of the
state or by any ordinance of the Township to give a bond for the faithful
performance of his/her duties, such bond shall be secured by a corporate
surety authorized to do business in this state and the premium therefore
shall be paid by the Township. Each bond shall be approved by the
Township 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.
[Amended by Ord. No. 17-1970]
A. Conflicts of interest. No elected or appointed official, officer
or employee of the Township shall engage in any business transaction,
professional activity, or have a financial or other private interest,
either direct or indirect, which is in substantial conflict with the
proper discharge of his/her official duties, unless full disclosure
is made as to such interest in writing to the Township Committee.
B. Employment or investments affecting duties. No elected or appointed
official, officer or employee of the Township shall accept employment,
engage in any business transaction or make any investment which will
be detrimental to the Township in the exercise of his/her official
duties or which will interfere with the Township in the exercise of
his/her official duties or which will interfere in any manner whatsoever
with the discharge of his/her official duties.
C. Representation of private interests before Township agencies, departments
or Municipal Court. No elected or appointed official, officer or employee
of the Township shall represent any private interests to the detriment
of the Township or for the purpose of unwarranted personal gain before
any Township agency or department, or the municipal court, or in any
litigation to which the Township is a party.
D. Disclosure of interest in litigation. In the event that any elected
or appointed official, officer or employee has a direct or indirect
financial or personal interest in any proposed legislation, he/she
shall publicly disclose on the official records of the Township the
nature and extend of such interest.
E. Improper use of official position. No elected or appointed official,
officer or employee of the Township shall improperly use his/her official
position in order to obtain a personal discount or other benefit from
any person whatsoever.