The City Council hereby declares that, as a matter of policy, the Council and its members will deal with employee organizations and their representatives solely through the City Manager, except when otherwise expressly provided by the terms of this policy.
The city retains the exclusive right to determine the methods, means and personnel by which city government operations are to be conducted, to determine the mission of each of its departments, boards and commissions, as well as to set standards of service to be offered to the public, and any and all of the following:
(a)
To administer the city personnel system.
(b)
To classify positions, add or delete positions or classes of positions to or from its staffing complement and salary resolution.
(c)
To establish standards for employment, promotion and transfer of employees.
(d)
To direct its employees.
(e)
To take disciplinary action for proper cause.
(f)
To schedule work, including scheduling planned absences so as to minimize disruptions in service to the public.
(g)
To relieve its employees from duty because of lack of work, lack of funds or other business reasons.
(h)
To take whatever action may be necessary in an emergency situation.
(i)
Any action undertaken by the City concerning the merits, necessity or organization of its services or activities.
(j)
Any other action taken by the City that reflects concerns or relates to its management rights described above.
Employees of the city shall have the right to form, join and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employee relations. Employees of the city also shall have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations; provided, however, that during meet-and-confer session with the city, an employee filling a position allocated to a specific representation unit may be represented only by the recognized employee organization certified to represent that specific unit.
Nothing in this Part shall be construed to restrict or in any way modify the right of an individual employee to present matters involving his individual employment relationship to the appropriate level of management, provided that any action taken is not inconsistent with the terms of a memorandum of understanding then in effect, and that before any action is taken which could affect the terms and conditions of other employees in the representation unit, such proposed action is communicated to the recognized employee organization for its comments on the merits and the effect of the proposed action.