It is the responsibility of all employees to adhere to the Town's policies and regulations, as well as to the laws of the commonwealth, and to follow the directives of their supervisors. In those instances where violations of those policies, regulations, laws or directives occur, disciplinary measures must be taken.
The Town is committed to a system of progressive discipline. The progressive discipline system uses successive levels of increasing sanctions to address most disciplinary violations. Those levels will include oral reprimand, written reprimand, suspension and discharge.
A.
Under the Town's system, disciplinary action for the less serious types of disciplinary infractions will normally be initiated by the issuance of an oral reprimand to the offending employee. In such case, the supervisor issuing the oral reprimand will make a notation in the employee's personnel file documenting the issuance of the reprimand. If additional disciplinary infractions occur, a higher level of disciplinary sanction will be imposed. If the second infraction is one that would normally warrant only an oral reprimand for a first offense, the supervisor would impose a written reprimand for that second infraction. A third infraction involving that degree of seriousness might result in an additional written reprimand and/or a suspension.
B.
While many disciplinary infractions will be processed through the successive levels of the system, more serious offenses may warrant the immediate imposition of the more serious levels of discipline. For example, there are certain infractions that could result in the immediate discharge of the employee, even if the employee had no prior disciplinary infractions. Other offenses might, because of their seriousness, require the imposition of a suspension for a first offense. It shall be within the discretion of the supervisor/department head to decide at what level of the system a particular disciplinary infraction should be processed.
Written warnings and suspension notices should include: the specific behavior and the dates of the behavior that support the discipline, and a warning of the disciplinary sanctions that the employee may expect for future disciplinary infractions. A written suspension notice will ordinarily be provided to the employee within one working day of the effective date of the suspension. All written warnings and suspension notices will be placed in the employee's personnel file.
A.
No department head or supervisor will discharge an employee or suspend an employee for more than five working days without prior consultation with the Town Administrator or, in his/her absence, the Chair of the Board of Selectmen.
B.
No department head or supervisor will discharge an employee until he/she has provided the employee with: