[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of South Hackensack 12-31-1996 by Ord. No. 96-19.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
In order for a member municipality of the Municipal
Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund to obtain employment practices
liability coverage, a member municipality must formally adopt a Risk
Management/Loss Control Plan by resolution or ordinance.
Each member municipality must adopt and follow
a Risk Management/Loss Control Plan which is designed to minimize
exposure to potential liability claims and lawsuits both as to frequency
and severity. The implementation of a Risk Management/Loss Control
Plan should reduce the risk of potential liability.
A.
Personnel Officer. The Township of South Hackensack,
as part of its Risk Management/Loss Control Plan, shall designate
a specific managerial or supervisory person as its Personnel Officer
for the purpose of reporting of any potential or actual employment
practice liability complaints or claims.
B.
Labor consultation, labor attorney or Municipal Attorney.
The Township shall retain and have available on a part-time consulting
basis either a labor consultant, labor attorney or the appointed Municipal
Attorney, and the individual so retained shall be available, at the
discretion of the Personnel Officer, on a case-by-case basis, to assist
in the review, screening and investigative process with regard to
either informal or formal complaints which have been identified by
the Personnel Officer as potential or actual employment practice liability
claims.
C.
MEL general counsel. The municipal officials may also
consult with general counsel to the MEL, who shall also be available
for review of specific situations concerning potential or actual employment
practice liability claims.
The Township shall adopt and maintain a standardized
employment application form to be utilized for all job applicants.
The supervisor or department head to whom an
employee reports shall maintain a personnel file for every employee
of the Township. The designated Personnel Officer of the Township
shall also maintain a duplicate of the personnel file.
A.
Reporting.
(1)
The municipality shall inform all employees of their
right to formally or informally report any and all statements, acts
or behavior by a coemployee, supervisory personnel or elected officials
which are deemed or perceived by the affected employee to be an improper
employment practice.
(2)
Employees who may lodge a complaint should be assured
that their complaint will be taken seriously and will receive a prompt
and thorough investigation. Furthermore, employees' complaints will
be treated, to the extent possible, in a confidential manner; however,
anonymity or confidentiality cannot be guaranteed if action is to
be taken against the alleged wrongdoer since the accused may be entitled
to confront the accuser as a matter of due process.
(3)
Communication of this right to the employee shall
be by way of a clear statement in an employment/employee manual, and
said manual shall contain an informal and/or formal complaint procedure,
and this manual shall be disseminated to all employees.
B.
Identification/screening.
(1)
All complaints lodged by employees, whether written
or verbal, must be documented by the designated Personnel Officer.
If the complaint is made to a supervisor or other person in a managerial
position other than the designated Personnel Officer, the supervisory
or managerial person to whom the complaint was reported must immediately
report the complaint to the designated Personnel Officer.
(2)
Upon obtaining knowledge of a complaint, whether from
supervisory or managerial personnel, or by direct complaint by an
employee, the designated Personnel Officer shall establish a file
to document the fact that a complaint was made, the investigative
procedure which was followed and the action which was taken to appropriately
respond to the claim. The initial screening shall consist of placing
the written complaint of the employee in the file if it is a written
complaint and, if it there be no written complaint, then summarizing
the verbal allegations in the complaint of the employee with as many
specifics as possible, including the date, time and place that the
employee made the claim. If the employee is reluctant to sign a written
complaint, then the designated Personnel Officer shall document the
file with written notations of the date, time and place that the employee
made the complaint, list the specific allegations of the employee
and make a notation that everything that was written in the file was
read back to the employee and that the employee affirmed verbally
or preferably in writing, the accuracy of the information noted in
the file.
(3)
The designated Personnel Officer shall have a preliminary
discussion with the complaining employee and any supervisory personnel
to whom the employee reports in order to identify the nature of the
claim and the potential severity of the same and to ascertain an appropriate
plan of investigation.
C.
Investigation.
(1)
The designated Personnel Officer shall immediate commence
the investigation which should start with a detailed statement from
the complaining employee. This detailed statement should contain as
many specifics as possible concerning the alleged incident or incidents
and the wrongdoer or wrongdoers. The employee should be asked to indicate
the date, time and place of the alleged incident or incidents, the
name or names of the alleged wrongdoer or wrongdoers, specific details
concerning the alleged statements, conduct, behavior or other acts
which the complaining employee deemed or perceived to be violative
of his employment rights, the names of any and all persons, whether
they be employees or nonemployees, who may have witnessed all or any
portion of the alleged wrongful act or wrongful acts. The investigation
should establish the frequency and nature of the alleged objectionable
conduct and the complainant's reaction to the alleged conduct. It
should also determine whether the complainant's complaint coincides
with an event which adversely affected the complainant's employment
status, i.e., a poor performance evaluation. The investigation should
also establish the relationship between the complainant and the accused
wrongdoer, the degree of control the accused wrongdoer exercises over
the complainant and the amount of contact between the complainant
and the accused wrongdoer. Additionally, the investigation should
reveal whether the accused wrongdoer subjected any other employees
to similar misconduct. The employee should be asked to sign a statement
containing all of the aforesaid information once it has been written
down by the designated Personnel Officer, but if the employee declines
to sign, then the statement should be read to the employee and he
should be asked to affirm the accuracy of the information which was
written down and a notation should be made on the writing which indicates
that it was read to the employee and the employee affirmed the accuracy
of the allegations, or, preferably, the employee should sign an affirmation.
If the employee refused to sign the statement, the designated Personnel
Officer shall read a statement to the employee which says that successful
action against the alleged wrongdoer or wrongdoers may not be possible
in the event that the employee is unwilling to sign the statement
and ultimately testify in any hearing which may be required.
(2)
The designated Personnel Officer shall follow the
same investigative procedure as detailed above for each alleged wrongdoer
and each alleged witness. It is important to attempt to elicit the
cooperation of the alleged wrongdoer and the alleged witnesses in
signing statements, but if they are reluctant to sign statements,
the same procedure which is indicated above for the complaining employee
should be followed so that there is reasonable documentation of the
accuracy of the statements taken.
(3)
In addition to statements, the designated Personnel
Officer shall follow up as to any pertinent information which was
disclosed by those giving statements and should label and retain physical
evidence, if any, which is provided by the complaining employee, the
alleged wrongdoer or wrongdoers or any witness.
(4)
When the above investigative procedures have been
completed, the designated Personnel Officer shall review all of the
information obtained and make a determination, in consultation with
the supervisor of the complaining employee, as to whether or not the
complaint appears to be valid.
(5)
The designated Personnel Officer must exercise cautious
discretion in formulating a response to the complaint and, if the
complaint is being deemed one which could evolve into a formal claim
or litigation, then the response plan should be reviewed with the
labor consultant, labor attorney or municipal attorney to assure that
it is appropriate and adequate and shall form the basis for successful
defense of a lawsuit should one be instituted.
(6)
If the validity of the complaint cannot be established
or if a determination is made that the complaint is groundless, appropriate
notification by letter or memo should be given to the complaining
employee of that determination and the general reasons for the same.
A.
Advise complaining employee of determination.
(1)
No further action deemed necessary and reasons therefore.
If, after a thorough and objective investigation, the validity of
a complaint cannot be determined or if, in the opinion of the designated
Personnel Officer, the complaint is groundless, then the complaining
employee should be notified in writing.
(2)
The complaint is justified and substantiated. If the
investigation reveals that the complaint is justified and substantiated,
a plan for immediate and appropriate corrective action as well as
possible disciplinary action should be formulated. The complaining
employee should be notified, in writing, as promptly as possible,
that the investigation has been concluded, and, based on the information
obtained in the investigation, it appears that the complaint was justified
and substantiated and an appropriate response plan has been formulated,
including corrective action, to prevent recurrence of the wrongful
behavior, and a copy of the response plan should be attached to the
letter or memo provided to the complaining employee.
B.
Response plan.
(1)
The corrective actions and discipline, if any, provided
for in the response plan must not violate the rights of the wrongdoer
pursuant to any general employment rights, rights pursuant to a collective
bargaining agreement, rights pursuant to Civil Service Administrative
Regulations or rights pursuant to any employment contract.
(2)
The response plan should provide for immediate and
appropriate remedial action which attempts to correct the offensive
act or behavior and any damage which may have been done to the complaining
employee and be designed to eliminate a recurrence of the wrongful
act or behavior by the offending employee.
(3)
The designated Personnel Officer and/or the supervisor
of the offending employee must use cautious discretion in formulating
the response plan so that any action which may be taken against the
offending employee is deemed reasonable with regard to the severity
of the offense and whether it is a first offense for the offending
employee or the employee is a repeat offender.
(4)
Incidents deemed to be minor in nature and a first
offense should generally be handled by outlining the problem and the
harm for the offending employee, attempting to impress the offending
employee with the harm which can come to the employee and the employer
in the event that a formal claim is made and impressing the employee
with the importance of immediately ceasing the wrongful behavior in
order to avoid future complaints. This can generally be accomplished
with counseling and by eliciting the cooperation of the offending
employee in attempting to avoid a repetition of the offensive behavior.
The employee should also be made aware that more serious offenses
or repeat offenses, after warning and counseling, will be treated
more severely and will result in increasingly harsh disciplinary action
which could include suspension or, ultimately, termination. Any such
meeting or meetings should be documented in the file in writing and
acknowledged by the employee or by a confirming memo to the employee.
(5)
In the case of more serious offensive behavior, harsher
corrective and disciplinary actions must be invoked. Consideration
of immediate suspension and/or termination proceedings may be warranted
in certain circumstances. Some examples of situations where law enforcement
authorities must be notified are as follows: assault; battery; threats
of violence or bodily harm; use or sale of illegal drugs; theft; possession
of a weapon; vandalism or intentional damage to municipal property
of a supervisor, coemployee, elected official or any other person.
A.
It is the policy of the Township of South Hackensack
that all employees shall keep themselves informed and educated on
the changes in their jobs. The Township encourages and, wherever feasible,
shall support and provide an opportunity for the employees to attend
continuing education courses.
B.
Records of said attendance shall be kept in the employees'
personnel files by the Township Clerk.
The administration and governing body shall
prepare an Employment Manual. The Employment Manual shall be reviewed
and updated on at least an annual basis by the administration and
governing body of the Township after review of the same by, and consultation
with, the various individuals who prepare the manual, including the
labor consultant or labor attorney.
The Township shall continue to monitor and review
this Risk Management/Loss Control Plan on an ongoing basis. The plan
should be updated whenever it is deemed necessary or appropriate to
do so. The Risk Management/Loss Control Plan shall be reviewed by
the labor attorney or Municipal Attorney, as well as the administration
and governing body and Risk Manager of the municipality, at least
annually.
