(a) Political activity. Political activity among village employees and officers is governed by federal and state legislation. Generally, no village officer or employee shall solicit any money, influence, service or other thing of value or otherwise aid or promote any political committee or the nomination or election of any person to public office while on the job or during working hours. However, nothing in this section is intended to restrict the right of a public employee to express his or her personal political views.
(b) Workplace violence.
(1) The village does not tolerate violence within the workplaces. No person employed with the village shall be the instigator of, or participant in, any of the following:
A. Obscenities, ethnic slurs, or epithets directed toward individuals.
B. Threats of bodily harm or damage to one’s property.
C. Actual bodily harm or damage to one’s property.
D. Callous or intentional disregard for the physical safety or well-being of others.
E. Possession of any weapon or the brandishing of any object that could reasonably be perceived as a weapon (police officers and other authorized personnel are exceptions).
F. Any other conduct that a reasonable person would perceive as constituting a threat of violence.
(2) Any such behavior, comments, and/or weapon possession shall be reported immediately to one’s supervisor. Supervisors shall be required to take appropriate, immediate action to curtail any such behavior or comments. Any known weapon possession or potential serious violent situations shall be reported immediately to the Police Department by the supervisor.
(3) Violations of this policy will lead to immediate disciplinary action up to, and including, termination and any appropriate legal action.
(4) Supervisors may require an evaluation of the offending employee by outside experts and/or progressive discipline, depending upon the severity of the offense.
(c) Possession and use of municipal property. No employee or elected official shall have in his or her control or possession any equipment, tools, implements, cell phones or other property belonging to the village without being authorized by the Mayor, the employee’s immediate supervisor or, Village Council. Personal use of equipment assigned to an employee, of a minor, casual, or subordinate nature, with no financial gain to the employee may be allowed provided that the user reimburses the village for any cost to the village created by that such personal use.
(d) Use of the time clock.
(1) Required. All hourly employees of the village are required to utilize the time clock facility daily when reporting to and from work, except in circumstances where the use of the time clock would be grossly inconvenient and impractical. Deviation from the use of the time clock for any employee or group of employees shall only be granted by a resolution duly enacted by Council. Failure to utilize the time clock shall be grounds for dismissal of any employee from village employment, as shall falsification or the punching of a time card of another employee.
(2) Employees granted deviations. Employees granted a deviation from using a time clock shall record time worked, vacations, holidays, sick leave and other leaves and absences on a time card or time slip. Such time card or time slip shall be approved by the department head, the Mayor, the Village Administrator prior to payment of wages or salary covered on the time card or time slip.
(3) Grace period. There shall be a six- minute grace period when reporting at the start of an employee’s shift. Employees reporting within the grace period will not be considered late for purposes of disciplinary action.
(4) Docking of wages. Employee starting and stopping times shall be set by each department supervisor and posted for all employees to see. Employees reporting to work after their established start time shall have their wages docked for the actual time lost.
(5) Tardiness.
A. Tardiness will not be tolerated and may subject an employee to disciplinary action up to and including discharge from employment.
B. Employees reporting late to duty within a three-month period shall be subject to the following disciplinary actions:
1. First time - Verbal warning;
2. Second time - Written reprimand;
3. Third time - Three-day suspension; and
4. Fourth time - Dismissal.
C. Verbal and written reprimands for tardiness will be disregarded at the end of each calendar year.
D. Suspensions shall be included in the employee’s permanent personnel folder and shall be used in determining additional disciplinary action.
E. Excused tardiness will not be considered as reporting late for duty. Employees must request permission to report late prior to the beginning of their shift. The department head or supervisor retains the sole discretion in granting or denying an employee’s request. Employees shall have their wages docked as provided for under division (d) hereof.
F. If an employee anticipates that he or she will report late for duty, and tardiness has not previously been excused pursuant to paragraph (e)(5)E. hereof, he or she shall call the village and advise his or her supervisor of that fact and the circumstances attendant thereto. If an employee calls his or her supervisor, in compliance with this paragraph, his or her tardiness shall be excused and shall not be subject to the provisions of divisions (e)(5)A. through C. hereof, except that his or her wages shall be docked pursuant to division (e)(4) hereof.
(6) Prohibitions.
A. No employee is permitted to punch another employee’s time card.
B. No employee is permitted to mutilate or otherwise tamper with his or her own or another employee’s time card nor is an employee permitted to remove a time card from the immediate vicinity of the time clock without the approval of the supervisor.
C. Employees in violation of this subsection may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including discharge from employment.
D. No employee shall punch in earlier than five minutes prior to the normal starting time or later than five minutes after the normal quitting time without supervisor approval.
E. No employee is allowed to punch out early at the end of his or her shift. There is NO grace period granted before the normal quitting time.
(7) Maintenance of time cards and payroll records.
A. Department supervisors shall be responsible for maintaining the time cards of employees under their supervision in a secure area.
B. Department supervisors shall be responsible for supervising the preparation of biweekly payroll records from employee time cards and both the employee and supervisor shall sign the standard attendance form prior to submitting it to the Clerk-Treasurer.
(e) Sexual harassment.
(1) Adoption and implementation of policy. The policy against sexual harassment in the workplace, as set forth in this section, is hereby adopted and shall be implemented.
(2) Policy.
A. It is imperative that all village employees be afforded a work atmosphere that is free from unwanted sexual harassment. The village will not tolerate sexual harassment.
B. As used in this section, SEXUAL HARASSMENT means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment when:
1. Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term of condition of an individual’s employment;
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; and/or
3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
C. Sexual harassment may involve pressure from a person of either sex against a person of the opposite or the same sex and may occur in any relationship.
D. Each department head shall be responsible for taking immediate and appropriate corrective action when there is an act of sexual harassment in the workplace by:
1. Investigating and fully documenting any alleged act of sexual harassment, including the nature of the sexual advances and the context in which the incident occurred;
2. Documenting the corrective action taken based on the facts resulting from the investigation; and
3. Providing the above documentation to the Village Administrator.
(Ord. 2844, passed 12-20-10)