A.
Every employee shall give the Health Officer notice of
his intention to resign from the Department. Notice shall be commensurate
with the responsibilities of the employee. All employees shall give no less
than two weeks' notice.
B.
A resigning employee shall continue to perform his/her
duties in the usual manner up to the date of termination and shall have the
affirmative responsibility to complete all Department property and files prior
to termination.
C.
Failure to fully comply with the aforesaid shall cause
a forfeiture of the pay due to accrued vacation time and sick leave as well
as the possible reduction or total forfeiture of the employee's final
paycheck.
D.
An employee who terminates service while in good standing
shall receive termination benefits in accord with the Borough of Palisades
Park.
The Health Officer may suspend any employee without pay for any conduct
enumerated herein as being the cause of demotion or dismissal or for such
other cause as the Health Officer deems warranting such action; however, no
suspension without pay shall exceed five days in duration unless the same
conduct would be sufficient cause for demotion or dismissal. Suspension for
a period in excess of five days shall be appealable as provided below, there
being no right to appeal a suspension for five days or less. The Health Officer
shall promptly give written notice to an employee of his suspension stating
with particularity the reason for said suspension.
A.
The Health Officer may demote or dismiss an employee
for the following causes:
(1)
The employee is incompetent or inefficient in the performance
of his duties.
(2)
The employee has been careless or negligent in the performance
of his duties.
(3)
The employee has been offensive or brutal in his treatment
of his superiors, fellow employees or members of the public.
(4)
The employee has a medically certified permanent or chronic
physical or mental ailment or defect of such a nature and severity that he
is rendered unable to properly perform his duties.
(5)
The employee has violated provision of this chapter or
any rules and regulations established by the Health Officer hereunder or has
failed to obey a directive given to him by a superior when such violation
or failure amounts to insubordination or a serious breach of discipline which
may reasonably be expected to result in lowering the morale of the Department
or in loss or injury to the public.
(6)
The employee has taken, or has agreed to take, a fee,
gift or other valuable thing from any person or entity which the employee
knew, or should have known, was meant to influence his conduct as an employee
of the Department.
(7)
The employee has been convicted of a crime.
(8)
The employee has engaged in a course of conduct intended
to undermine the Department and/or the Board.
(9)
The employee has been absent without leave for five days.
B.
The Health Officer shall give prompt written notice to
any employee of his dismissal stating therein, with particularity, the reasons
for said action. A copy of said notice shall be forthwith transmitted to the
President of the Board, and the subject of the dismissal shall be placed on
the agenda for the next succeeding meeting of the Board.
C.
Said dismissal shall become final after the meeting of
the Board, unless the Board takes some affirmative action at the meeting contrary
thereto. However, notwithstanding the aforesaid, the demotion or dismissal
shall take effect immediately upon the subject employee's receiving notice
thereof, unless the notice provides for a later effective date or the President
makes a contrary determination.
A.
Any employee, other than employee on probation, who is
suspended in excess of five days or dismissed may appeal said action to the
Board by filing a written notice of appeal with the Board and serving a copy
thereof upon the Health Officer within five working days of the action. The
notice of appeal shall state the action appealed from and the basis for said
appeal.
B.
A hearing shall be held at the next regularly scheduled
meeting of the Board unless the notice of appeal is filed within 10 days of
said meeting, in which case, the President may defer consideration of the
appeal to its next meeting. The President shall preside at said hearing.
C.
The Health Officer shall present his position in support
of the action taken as well as any supporting evidence he wishes to present
to the Board, and, thereafter, the appellant shall have the same opportunity
to present his position and any evidence in support thereof.
D.
The Board may either sustain, modify or overrule the
action appealed from or take any other action with respect thereto that it
deems just and proper and shall give written notification to the appellant
and the Health Officer of its decision within 10 days of the conclusion of
the hearing.
E.
The failure of an employee to properly file and serve
a notice of appeal, as above provided, or his failure to appear at the hearing
before the Board shall constitute an abandonment of the appeal. The hearing
shall be held by the Board in closed session unless the appellant demands
in his notice of appeal that the hearing be open to the public, and no other
employee's privacy or other legitimate need for confidentiality, may
be compromised by the attendance of the public. In any event, the Board's
deliberations with respect to the appeal shall be closed to the public, and
the appellant shall not attend.
