All job descriptions must be approved by the Township of Ocean Committee. The Municipal Clerk will make copies available upon request.
Reference Code of Township of Ocean § 57-23. All employees are expected to be at work and ready to assume their duties at the beginning of the scheduled workday. Lateness and absence will be tolerated only in emergencies or when the supervisor gives prior approval. All absences must be reported to the supervisor prior to the start of the normal workday.
Reference Code of Township of Ocean § 57-32. In the event of unsafe conditions, the Township of Ocean may authorize close of operations earlier than the normal working hours. If conditions exist prior to schedule openings, the Administrator/Municipal Clerk shall notify department heads of a delayed opening and a new opening time. Each Department will have a calling system in place. If the employee chooses not to report to work, a full vacation day or compensating time will be charged. Sick time will only be charged for a legitimate illness. If work is called off for the day, no time will be charged for the day. This provision does not apply to the Department of Public Works, Police, Fire, Water, Sanitation, Emergency Services or any personnel who may be required to assist in an emergency.
Reference Code of Township of Ocean § 57-24. Administrative personnel are entitled to a one-hour lunch that is to be arranged by the supervisor so that offices continue to function. Other employees are entitled to a one-hour lunch break, which will be scheduled by the supervisor. Administrative personnel must arrange breaks so that offices continue to function. The supervisor will schedule breaks for other employees.
Reference Code of Township of Ocean § 57-28. Dress, grooming and personal hygiene must be appropriate for the position. Uniforms are required for certain jobs and are to be worn in accordance with applicable departmental standards. All other employees are required to dress in a manner that is normally acceptable in similar business establishments and consistent with applicable safety standards. Employees shall not wear suggestive attire, jeans, athletic clothing, shorts, T-shirts, novelty buttons, baseball hats and similar items of casual attire that do not present a businesslike appearance. Hair, sideburns, moustaches and beards must be clean, combed and neatly trimmed. Shaggy, unkempt hair is not permissible regardless of length. Tattoos may not be visible. With the advance approval of the Township of Ocean Committee the Township of Ocean will make reasonable religious accommodations that do not violate safety standards. Employees violating this policy shall be required to take corrective action or will be sent home without pay.
Reference Code of Township of Ocean § 57-26. The New Jersey Legislature has declared that in all governmental buildings the rights of non-smokers to breathe clean air supersedes the rights of smokers. In accordance with state law, the Township of Ocean has adopted a smoke-free policy for all buildings. Township of Ocean facilities shall be smoke-free and no employee or visitor will be permitted to smoke anywhere in Township of Ocean buildings. Employees are permitted to smoke only outside Township of Ocean buildings and such locations as not to allow the re-entry of smoke into building entrances. Smoking inside vehicles owned by the Township of Ocean and near equipment that may be sensitive to smoke is also prohibited. This policy shall be strictly enforced and any employee found in violation will be subject to disciplinary action.
Reference Code of Township of Ocean § 57-25.
A. 
Unless an employee receives permission from the Township of Ocean Committee, Township-owned vehicles shall be used only on official business and all passengers must be on Township of Ocean business.
B. 
Vehicles may be taken home only with the advance approval of the Township Committee or Administrator except a department head may also grant temporary approval to facilitate responses to after-hours emergency calls. When an employee takes home a Township of Ocean vehicle, it is to be used only for official Township of Ocean business; any other use is not permitted. At no time shall children be in the Township of Ocean vehicle when responding to an emergency. Any violation of this policy constitutes cause for disciplinary action.
Township of Ocean telephones are for official business and employees may make a personal call only to inform their family of unexpected overtime. Charges for all other personal calls must be reimbursed to the Township of Ocean. The use of hand-held cell phones while driving Township of Ocean vehicles or while driving on Township of Ocean business is prohibited.
A. 
The Township of Ocean communication media are the property of the Township of Ocean and, as such, are to be used for legitimate business purposes only. For purposes of this communication media policy, "communication media" includes all electronic media forms provided by the Township of Ocean, such as cell phones, smart phones, computers, electronic tablets, access to the Internet, voicemail, email, and fax.
B. 
All data stored on and/or transmitted through communication media is the property of the Township of Ocean. For purposes of this policy, "Data" includes "electronically stored files, programs, tables, databases, audio and video objects, spreadsheets, reports and printed or microfiche materials which serve a Township of Ocean business purpose, regardless of who creates, processes or maintains the data, or whether the data is processed manually or through any of the Township of Ocean's mainframe, midrange or workstations; servers, routers, gateways, bridges, hubs, switches and other hardware components of the Township of Ocean local or wide-area networks."
C. 
The Township of Ocean respects the individual privacy of its employees. However, employee communications transmitted by the Township of Ocean's communication media are not private to the individual. All communication media and all communications and stored information transmitted, received, or contained in or through such media may be monitored by the Township of Ocean. The Township of Ocean reserves the absolute right to access, review, audit and disclose all matters entered into, sent over, placed in storage in the Township of Ocean's communication media. By using the Township of Ocean's equipment and/or communication media, employees consent to have such use monitored at any time, with or without notice, by Township of Ocean personnel. The existence of passwords does not restrict or eliminate the Township of Ocean's ability or right to access electronic communications. However, the Township of Ocean cannot require the employee to provide its password to his/her personal account.
D. 
All email, voicemail and Internet messages (including any technology-based messaging) are official documents subject to the provisions of the Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1). Employees of the Township of Ocean are required to use the assigned municipal email account for ALL Township of Ocean business and correspondence. The use of private email accounts for ANY Township of Ocean business or during business hours is strictly prohibited.
E. 
Employees can only use the Township of Ocean's communication media for legitimate business purposes. Employees may not use Township of Ocean's communication media in any way that is defamatory, obscene, or harassing or in violation of any Township of Ocean rules or policy. Examples of forbidden transmissions or downloads include sexually explicit messages; unwelcome propositions; ethnic or racial slurs; or any other message that can be construed to be harassment or disparaging to others based on their actual or perceived age, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship, marital status or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances.
F. 
All employees, who have been granted access to electronically stored data must use a logon ID assigned by Township of Ocean. Certain data, or applications that process data, may require additional security measures as determined by the Township of Ocean. Employees must not share their passwords; and each employee is responsible for all activity that occurs in connection with their passwords.
G. 
All employees may access only data for which the Township of Ocean has given permission. All employees must take appropriate actions to ensure that Township of Ocean data is protected from unauthorized access, use or distribution consistent with these policies. Employees may not access or retrieve any information technology resource and store information other than where authorized.
H. 
Employees must not disable anti-virus and other implemented security software for any reason, in order to minimize the risk of introducing computer viruses into the Township of Ocean's computing environment.
I. 
Employees may not install or modify ANY hardware device, software application, program code, either active or passive, or a portion thereof, without the express written permission from the Township of Ocean. Employees may not upload, download, or otherwise transmit commercial software or any copyrighted materials belonging to parties outside of the Township of Ocean, or licensed to the Township of Ocean. Employees shall observe the copyright and licensing restrictions of all software applications and shall not copy software from internal or external sources unless legally authorized.
J. 
Social media and its uses in government and daily life are expanding each year, however, information posted on a website is available to the public; therefore, employees must adhere to the following guidelines for their participation in social media. Only those employees directly authorized by Township Committee and/or Administrator may engage in social media activity during work time through the use of the Township of Ocean's communication media, as it directly relates to their work and it is in compliance with this policy.
K. 
Employees must not reveal or publicize confidential Township of Ocean information. Confidential, proprietary or sensitive information may be disseminated only to individuals with a need and a right to know, and where there is sufficient assurance that appropriate security of such information will be maintained. Such information includes, but is not limited to, the transmittal of personnel information such as medical records or related information. In law enforcement operations, confidential, proprietary or sensitive information also includes criminal history information, confidential informant identification, and intelligence and tactical operations files.
L. 
No Township of Ocean employee shall post internal working documents to social media sites. This includes, but is not limited to, screenshots of computer stations, pictures of monitors and/or actual documents themselves without the prior approval of the Township of Ocean Committee. In addition employees are prohibited from releasing or disclosing any photographs, pictures, digital images of any crime scenes, traffic crashes, arrestees, detainees, people or job related incident or occurrence taken with the Township of Ocean's communication media to any person, entity, business or media or Internet outlet whether on or off duty without the express written permission of the Township Committee and/or Administrator/Municipal Clerk. Except in "emergency situations," employees are prohibited from taking digital images or photographs with media equipment not owned by the Township of Ocean. For purposes of this section, an "emergency situation" involves a sudden and unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action, assistance or relief, and may include accidents, crimes and flights from accidents or crimes and the employee does not have access to the Township of Ocean's communication media. If such situation occurs, employee agrees that any images belong to the Township of Ocean and agree to release the image to the Township of Ocean and ensure its permanent deletion from media device upon direction from the Township of Ocean.
M. 
No media advertisement, electronic bulletin board posting, or any other communication accessible via the Internet about the Township of Ocean or on behalf of the Township of Ocean, whether through the use of the Township of Ocean's communication media or otherwise, may be issued unless it has first been approved by the Township Committee and/or Administrator/Municipal Clerk of the Township of Ocean. Under no circumstances may information of a confidential, sensitive or otherwise proprietary nature be placed or posted on the Internet or otherwise disclosed to anyone outside the Township of Ocean. Such unauthorized communications may result in disciplinary action.
N. 
Because (authorized) postings placed on the Internet through use of the Township of Ocean's communication media will display on the Township of Ocean's return address, any information posted on the Internet must reflect and adhere to all of the Township of Ocean's standards and policies.
O. 
All users are personally accountable for messages that they originate or forward using the Township of Ocean communication media. Misrepresenting, obscuring, suppressing, or replacing a user's identity on any communication media is prohibited. "Spoofing" (constructing electronic communications so that it appears to be from someone else) without a legitimate authorized purpose and authorized by the Township of Ocean is prohibited.
P. 
Employees must respect the laws regarding copyrights, trademarks, rights of public Township of Ocean and other third-party rights. Any use of the Township of Ocean's name, logos, service marks or trademarks outside the course of the employee's employment, without the express consent of the Township of Ocean, is strictly prohibited. To minimize the risk of a copyright violation, employees should provide references to the source(s) of information used and cite copyrighted works identified in online communications.
Q. 
If employees choose to identify themselves as a Township of Ocean employee on their personal social media accounts and even those that do not should be aware that he or she may be viewed as acting on behalf of the Township of Ocean, as such no employee shall knowingly represent themselves as a spokesperson of the Township of Ocean, post any comment, text, photo, audio, video or other multimedia file that negatively reflects upon the Township of Ocean, expresses views that are detrimental to the Township of Ocean's mission or undermines the public trust or is insulting or offensive to other individuals or to the public in regard to religion, sex, race or national origin. Township of Ocean employees are encouraged to exercise extreme caution posting photographs of themselves in uniform or in situations where they can be readily identified as Township employees.
R. 
Nothing in these policies is designed to interfere with, restrain or prevent employee communications regarding wages, hours or other terms and conditions of employment. Township of Ocean employees have the right to engage in or refrain from such activities.
A. 
The Township of Ocean may install video surveillance camera systems within public buildings and throughout public areas within the Township of Ocean, primarily as visual deterrents of criminal behavior and for the protection of employees and municipal assets. In implementing these video camera systems, the Township of Ocean will ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws governing such usage.
B. 
The Township of Ocean's video surveillance camera systems are a significant tool to which the employees of the Township of Ocean will avail themselves in order to complete the goals and objectives of the Township of Ocean. Employees are only permitted to use the video surveillance camera systems for a legitimate purpose and with proper authorization. The Township of Ocean's designee will be responsible for authorization of users. The improper use of these systems can result in discipline up to and including termination.
C. 
No employee is permitted to view, continually watch, search, copy or otherwise use one of the Township of Ocean's video surveillance camera systems or tamper with, access, archive, alter, add to, or make copies of any data that has been recorded and stored within any of these systems without: 1) a specific legitimate purpose; and 2) permission for the designee of the Township of Ocean.
D. 
The Township of Ocean shall designate a person to be responsible for the maintenance and administration of the video surveillance camera system. Such designee will be responsible for maintaining a user access log detailing the date and name of individuals who view/access a stored recording.
E. 
Any employee who becomes aware of any unauthorized disclosure of a video record in a contravention of this policy and/or a potential privacy breach has the responsibility to ensure that the Administrator/Municipal Clerk is immediately informed of such breach.
The bulletin boards located in the Township of Ocean administrative building and other facilities are intended for official notices regarding policies, procedures, meetings and special events. Only personnel authorized by the Township of Ocean may post, remove, or alter any notice.