AN ORDINANCE
NO.
An ordinance amending Personnel Policy No. 220-505 so as to specify
that three members of the Personnel Review Board constitute a quorum for
transacting business; and for other purposes.
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THE COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
Personnel Policy No: 220-505, Procedure, is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 1.
STATEMENT OF POLICY:
To assure due process for Merit System personnel of the Columbus Consolidated
Government, and the employees of elected county officers and employees of other
commissions, boards, or bodies of the county when said county officers or
commissions or boards or bodies make written application for the inclusion of
their employees in the merit system of the Columbus Consolidated Government:
The Personnel Review Board shall make recommendations on personnel rules and
regulations; hear appeals from employees under procedures established by
ordinance of the Council pertaining to classification, reclassification and
allocation of positions within the merit service; hear appeals from
disciplinary actions; investigate conditions of employment in the service of
the consolidated government and report thereon at least annually to the
council; and perform such other functions and duties as may be required by
ordinance.
SCOPE:
This policy applies to all personnel within the merit service of the Columbus
Consolidated Government. Employees of elected officials, who have not been
placed in the Merit System, may not be included.
RESPONSIBILITY:
The Human Resources Director shall receive appeals; determine eligibility for
Personnel Review Board appeal; and coordinate the Personnel Review Board
appeals hearing process.
The Personnel Review Board shall hear employee appeals submitted by the Human
Resources Director and render a fair and impartial judgment thereon.
BOARD COMPOSITION:
The Personnel Review Board shall consist of five (5) regular members and five
(5) alternate members. Each alternate member shall be designated as the
alternate for a particular regular member. In the absence of any regular
member, the alternate so designated for his/her place shall sit as a substitute
for said absent member and shall be empowered to act as a regular member until
such time as the proceedings begun in the absence of the regular member are
concluded. Replacements will be appointed for a five (5) year term or to fill
the unexpired terms of members terminating before their term expires. No
person will be appointed to serve on the board who has been employed in another
capacity in the Consolidated Government for a period of one year immediately
prior to appointment. Nominations for membership on the Personnel Review Board
shall be made by the Columbus Chapter of the Society for Human Resources
Management and will be individuals with significant knowledge and experience in
the legal aspects of employee relations. The mayor and council of Columbus,
Georgia, will appoint all members and fill vacancies on the board as they occur
in accordance with the provision of this ordinance.
PROCEDURE:
The Personnel Review Board will conduct regular hearings on the third Wednesday
of each month in which employee appeals are available to be heard. Three (3)
members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of transacting
business pursuant to OCGA 1-3-1. Three affirmative votes shall be required for
any official action.
An employee may appeal to the Personnel Review Board, any official action of
any official of the Columbus Consolidated Government involving demotion,
suspension of more than one (1) day, fines and termination, after all Fair
Treatment Policy remedies have been exhausted, by delivering that appeal, in
writing, to the Human Resources Director. This action must take place within
ten (10) calendar days of notification of the Fair Treatment review process
final determination.
The Human Resources Director shall schedule a Personnel Review Board hearing on
the next available regular hearing date. Employees whose employment has been
terminated shall receive preference in scheduling.
The members of the Personnel Review Board should not discuss impending hearings
among themselves or with other parties prior to the actual hearing.
At a Personnel Review Board hearing, technical rules of evidence shall not
apply. All testimony shall be under oath. The appealing employee and the
official whose actions are being appealed, including their representatives or
attorneys, shall limit their presentation to thirty minutes unless the time
limit is extended by majority vote of the sitting Board. The decision of the
majority of the members of the Board shall be final, including decisions
regarding back pay after reinstatement, unless the decision overrules an
official action and is appealed by the City Manager or the Mayor to the
Council. In such instances, an affirmative vote of six (6) members of the
council shall be required to reverse the decision of the Personnel Review Board.
The employee, upon his/her request to the Human Resources Director, shall be
given assistance in writing the appeal and/or in presenting the appeal to the
Personnel Review Board.
Where the Personnel Review Board is investigating conditions of employment in
the service of the consolidated government, the report of that investigation
shall be forwarded to Council for review and/or consideration. An affirmative
vote of six (6) council members shall be required to implement any or all
recommendations. Witness lists for merit system employees shall be provided in
writing to the Human Resources Director at least ten (10) calendar days prior
to any hearing and such employees shall attend hearings as requested by the
Human Resources Director. Such attendance shall not interfere with scheduled
vacations or authorized sick leave.
LEGAL REPRESENTATION
In all disciplinary actions appealed to the Personnel Review Board where the
employee being disciplined is represented by an attorney, the department
bringing disciplinary charges shall, upon request, be represented by the City
Attorney before the Board or in any court on appeal from the decision of the
Board. The employee shall be required to give five (5) days prior notice to
the Human Resources Director of his/her intention to be represented by legal
counsel. If any employee procures counsel within this five (5) day period or
if any employee fails to give the requisite notice, the Board, upon request of
the department bringing disciplinary charges, shall be required to continue its
proceedings for at least five (5) days.
PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES:
In all disciplinary actions appealed to the Personnel Review Board where the
employee being disciplined is represented by an attorney and when said employee
prevails and the board sets aside the disciplinary action and also makes a
specific finding of fact that the disciplinary action was not taken in good
faith, application may be made to the Human Resources Director for payment of
attorney?s fees not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00), when the Human
Resources Director receives a proper bill from the attorney establishing that
services were rendered and expenses were incurred,
payment shall be made to the employee and to this attorney from appropriate
funds established by the City Manager which he may charge to the account of the
department by which the employee is employed. No member of the Columbus
Council who is also an attorney may represent a city employee before the
Personnel Review Board and receive compensation for same.
SECTION 2.
All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance
are hereby repealed.
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Introduced at a regular meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia held on the
6th day of May, 2008, introduced a second time at a regular meeting of said
Council held on the ______ day of ________, 2008, and adopted at said meeting
by the affirmative vote of ________ members of said Council.
Councilor Allen voting____________.
Councilor Anthony voting__________.
Councilor Baker voting____________.
Councilor Barnes voting___________.
Councilor Davis voting____________.
Councilor Henderson voting________.
Councilor Hunter voting___________.
Councilor McDaniel voting_________.
Councilor Pugh voting_____________.
Councilor Woodson voting__________.
______________________________ ______________________________
TINY B. WASHINGTON JIM WETHERINGTON
CLERK MAYOR
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