State of Califoirnia Supervisor Handbook

1 State of California Supervisor s Handbook A Guide to Employee Conduct and Discipline PREPARED BY Department of Personnel Administration 1515 S Street, North Bldg., Suite 400 Sacramento, CA 95814 June 2004 Additional copies available by download at Send e-mail inquiries to TABLE OF CONTENTS Supervisor s Handbook A Guide to Employee Conduct and Discipline I. EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE IN CALIFORNIA State GOVERNMENT A. LEGAL BASIS FOR B. PREVENTIVE, CORRECTIVE, AND ADVERSE ACTIONS.

2 4 C. OTHER PERSONNEL II. PREVENTIVE ACTIONS ..6 A. BEFORE HIRING AN EMPLOYEE ..6 EMPLOYEE CONDUCT ..6 C. WORK DUTIES AND D. WORK ENVIRONMENT ..7 E. F. FEEDBACK ON JOB G. TRAINING AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT ..8 H. FAIR AND IMPARTIAL SUPERVISION ..8 I. EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ..8 III. CORRECTIVE A. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION ..9 B. FACT GATHERING ..10 C. INFORMAL CORRECTIVE ACTION D. FORMAL CORRECTIVE IV.

3 ADVERSE A. BEFORE TAKING ADVERSE ACTION ..16 B. ACTUAL CAUSE FOR DISCIPLINE ..19 C. DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE PENALTY ..23 D. TYPES OF ACTIONS ..24 E. PREPARING THE WRITTEN ADVERSE F. REMOVING EMPLOYEE FROM THE JOB WHILE INVESTIGATION IS V. OTHER PERSONNEL ACTIONS ..32 A. REJECTION DURING PROBATIONARY B. DENIAL OF SALARY ADJUSTMENT OR RANGE C. MEDICAL ACTIONS ..35 D. FAILURE TO MEET MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR E. AUTOMATIC RESIGNATION FOR ABSENCE WITHOUT F.

4 AUTOMATIC RESIGNATION BY INTERMITTENT EMPLOYEES ..39 G. SEPARATION OF NONPERMANENT 1 Supervisor s Handbook June 2004 H. drug AND ALCOHOL 41 I. INFORMAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE (DOCK).. 41 VI. EMPLOYEE RIGHTS IN MATTERS RELATING TO ADVERSE 43 A. RIGHTS RELATIVE TO PERSONNEL 43 B. RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION .. 44 C. RIGHT TO RESPOND TO PROPOSED 47 D. RIGHT TO DISCOVERY .. 50 E. RIGHT TO APPEAL .. 51 F. RIGHT TO PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE OR FILE CIVIL 51 G.

5 RIGHT TO VOLUNTARILY 51 VII. PROCEDURES FOR SERVING AND FILING ADVERSE ACTIONS .. 52 A. SERVICE OF NOTICE .. 52 B. DECLARATION OF SERVICE .. 52 C. INCOMPLETE SERVICE OF 53 D. FILING OF NOTICE .. 53 VIII. AFTER THE ACTION IS FILED WITH 54 A. CHANGES TO FILED ACTION .. 54 B. SPB APPEAL PROCESS .. 56 C. FOLLOW-UP CASE 56 IX. MANAGERIAL 57 A. RELEVANT SECTIONS of the CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE B. RELEVANT SECTIONS of the CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS C.

6 SECTIONS 3300 to 3312 of the CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE D. SAMPLE FORMATS APPENDIX D-01: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR CORRECTIVE INTERVIEW APPENDIX D-02: SAMPLE CORRECTIVE COUNSELING MEMORANDUM APPENDIX D-03: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF ADVERSE ACTION APPENDIX D-04: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE APPENDIX D-05: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF REJECTION DURING PROBATIONARY PERIOD APPENDIX D-6A: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR DENIAL OF SISA APPENDIX D-6B: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR DENIAL OF MSA APPENDIX D-07: SAMPLE FORMAT MEDICAL OPTIONS AND DISCUSSION CHECKLIST APPENDIX D-08.

7 SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF MEDICAL ACTION APPENDIX D-09: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF NONPUNITIVE ACTION 2 Supervisor s Handbook June 2004 APPENDIX D-10: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE (AWOL) SEPARATION APPENDIX D-11: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF TERMINATION WITH FAULT (TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES) APPENDIX D-12: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN A PERSONNEL MATTER APPENDIX D-13: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR DECLARATION OF SERVICE APPENDIX D-14: SAMPLE FORMAT FOR NOTICE OF AMENDED ADVERSE ACTION E.

8 RELEVANT STANDARD State FORMS F. RELEVANT SECTIONS of the CALIFORNIA CODE of CIVIL PROCEDURE G. ACRONYMS USED IN THIS DOCUMENT 3 Supervisor s Handbook June 2004 I. EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE IN CALIFORNIA State GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT A. LEGAL BASIS FOR DISCIPLINE Civil Service employment for the State of California is administered by two agencies. The Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) manages the nonmerit aspects of State employment ( , labor contract negotiations, statutory appeals,1 salaries and benefits, and grievance administration).

9 The State Personnel Board (SPB) manages the merit aspects of State employment ( , exams, administrative appeals,2 appointments, and disciplinary hearings). These agencies ensure the personnel programs of the State government are administered in accordance with the California Government Code and other State and federal labor laws and regulations. Government Code (GC) Title II, Division 5, Part 2, Chapter 7, Articles 1 and 2, Sections 19570-195933 contain the California State law regarding State employee discipline and tenure of managerial employees.

10 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA)4 contain the terms and conditions of employment for represented employees. If an employee is subject to the terms of a CBA, the CBA should always be consulted. If the GC and the CBA have different processes, the process identified in the CBA is controlling and should be used in lieu of the process identified by the GC. These and other laws and rules of DPA and SPB will be addressed in the relevant sections of this Handbook . In addition to the laws and rules developed by DPA and SPB, most departments have policies to guide and assist supervisors and employees.