AN ORDINANCE amending Seattle Municipal Code Section 4.04.230, Progressive Discipline, to provide for the Personnel Director to promulgate rules for a system of progressive discipline and to clarify the Civil Service Commission notification and appeal requirements.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Seattle Municipal Code Section 4.04.230, Progressive Discipline, Ordinance 107790 as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:

A. The Personnel Director shall promulgate rules for the implementation and administration of a process of progressive discipline for the purpose of addressing acts of employee misconduct and, until such time as a performance management system is adopted, inappropriate job performance. The Personnel Director shall inform the City Council in writing of proposed changes to the Personnel Rules regarding Progressive Discipline before the changes are finalized and implemented.

B. In order of increasing severity, the disciplinary actions which his/her supervisor the appointing authority or a designated management representative may take against an employee for inappropriate behavior or performance include:

1. A verbal warning, which shall be accompanied by a notation in the employee's personnel file; and

2. A written reprimand, a copy of which must be placed in the employee's file; .

C. In order of increasing severity, the disciplinary actions which a supervisor may recommend and the appointing authority may approve against an employee include:

3 1. Suspension up to thirty (30) calendar days; 4 2. Demotion; and 5 3. Discharge.

B. Which disciplinary action is taken depends upon the seriousness of the affected employee's conduct; except, in the absence of mitigating circumstances, a verbal warning or a written reprimand shall not be given for a major disciplinary offense. When the appointing authority determines in accordance with personnel rules to impose a C.S suspension, demotion or dischargein response to an act of employee misconduct or inappropriate job performance, he or she shall provide such determination be approved by the employee's department head in writing to the employee. An hourly employee may be suspended up to one (1) day without the department head's appointing authority's approval for emergency situations, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Director. Suspensions of non-represented salaried employees shall be in increments of no less than one (1) week; provided, that when discipline is administered for major safety violations, suspensions of at least one (1) day but less than one (1) week may be approved.

D. Disciplinary actions shall be reported by the department head appointing authority to the Personnel Director for records purposes and the Personnel Director's use in compiling guidelines for like treatment of like behavior from department to department.

E. The Personnel Director may establish rules for application of discipline which that are consistent for like behavior from department to department. A department may , by rule, be permitted to impose a more severe penalty than is otherwise sanctioned where misconduct which may be of minimal significance to other departments has a substantial impact on the operations, costs, or safety within that department.

F. The following is a nonexclusive list of major disciplinary actions where a erbalwarning or written reprimand will not be appropriate in the absence of mitigating circumstances:

1. Assault or threat toward another person;

2. Being impaired or affected by and/or testing positive for alcohol or a controlled substance during working hours or using or possessing alcohol or a controlled substance at the workplace;

3. Use of City time, equipment or facilities for private gain or other non-City purpose;

4. Falsifying or destroying the business records of the employer at any tie or place, without authorization;

5. Knowingly making a false statement on an application for employment or falsifying an employment-related examination score;

6. Intentional damage to or theft of the property of the City, another employee, or others;

7. Carrying or otherwise possessing firearms or any type of weapon in the course of employment, except as authorized by the appointing authority;

8. Unauthorized absence;

9. Endangering the safety of, or causing injury to, the person or property of another through negligence or intentional failure to follow policies or procedures;

10. Making a bribe, accepting a bribe, or soliciting a bribe;

11. A knowing or intentional violation of the City Code of Ethics;

12. Conviction of any felony or misdemeanor crime that is or may be work-related, or may impair the employee's ability to perform his/her job duties, whether committed at or away from the worksite or during or outside working hours;

13. Acts of racial/sexual harassment and/or acts of discrimination that are prohibited by federal, state, or local laws, or a failure to fulfill a responsibility to report incidents of harassment and/or discrimination to an appropriate City manager or Human Resources employee; or

14. Other offenses of parallel gravity.

G. Where an employee is accused of any action which, if proven, would be grounds for removal of that employee from his/her position of employment, the appointing authority may suspend the employee pending investigation of the matter. An employee who is suspended without pay and who is finally exonerated, shall be reinstated and awarded back pay and benefits.

H. Conviction of a crime shall not disqualify a person from City employment, except where the conviction is for conduct reasonably related to the work the applicant would be performing for the City, and the conviction is less than five (5) years old.

I F. An appointing authority who department which takes a disciplinary action that is subject to appeal to the Civil Service Commission shall inform the employee in writing that:

1. He or she has the right to appeal to the Civil Service Commission;

2. To appeal, the employee must file a statement with the Civil Service Commission within twenty (20) calendar days; and

3. The twenty (20) calendar days begin to run on the date of delivery if the notice of the right to appealis given to the employee personally or delivered to his or her most recent address shown on departmental records; and on the third calendarday after the date of mailing if the notice is mailed.

Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days from and after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten (10) days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.

Passed by the City Council the ____ day of _________, 2003, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of __________, 2003. _________________________________ President __________of the City Council

Approved by me this ____ day of _________, 2003. _________________________________ Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor

Filed by me this ____ day of _________, 2003. ____________________________________ City Clerk

July 16,2003 version #7 t