Columbus, Georgia

Georgia's First Consolidated Government

Post Office Box 1340
Columbus, Georgia, 31902-1340
(706) 653-4013
fax (706) 653-4016

Council Members

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.

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.



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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