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19-DIRECTION TO CITY MANAGER ON AMENDING THE CITY PERSONNEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURE MANUAL REGARDING DISCRIMINATIONCITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM BRIEFING SHEET Submittal Date: Originating Departrnent- Presented By: Agenda Item No.: 03/04/10 Council Date: Interim City Manager Gene Anderson 19. 03/14/10 RECOMMENDED MOTION: Deliberate and provide direction to the City Manager on amending the City of Paris Personnel Policies and Procedure Manual to include a revised policy regarding discrimination and/or racial harassment in the work place PoLICY IssuE(s): Personnel BACKGROUND: At the Council meeting of January 24, 2011, the City Council discussed Council Member Jason Rogers' request to adopt a zero tolerance policy regarding racial harassinent in the work place. The proposed policy by Councilman Rogers required a minimum of three weeks suspension without pay or immediate termination for violating the policy. Several Cnuncil Members expressed concern about the need to be consistent with discipline in all instances of employee misconduct. The City Manager expressed concern about the lack of progressive discipline with a zero tolerance policy, and that three weeks suspension without pay would represent a financially crippling loss of salary for most employees. The City Attorney stressed the iinportance of thoroughly investigating all claims of discrimination and harassment and the importance of establishing and following due process procedures. City Staff is providing an expanded version of its own policy as a possible option for amending the Personnel Policies and Procedure Manual. City Staff needs direction as to how the governing body wishes to proceed and will make changes according to Council wishes. BOARD/CAMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: E XHIBITS: Council Member Jason Rogers' Agenda Item Request Farm and City Staff's possible option for the olic amendment ACTION: BUDGET INFO: ❑ Financial Report ~ Minute Order Expense $ ❑ Departrnent Report ❑ Resolution Budgeted Amt $ ❑ Presentation ❑ Ordinance y rD Actual $ ❑ Public Hearing ❑ Other Acct Name Acct Number FiscAL NoTES: REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY: 0 Administration [D City Clerk ❑ EMS/IT ❑ Engineering, Plaxuung, & Community Development ❑ Finance ❑ Fire ❑ Municipal Court E Legal ❑ Library ❑ Police ❑ Public Woxks ❑ Utilities City of Paris Revised 2/04/08 ~ COUNCIL MEMBER AGENDA ITEM REQUEST Please complete this form if you wish to have an item placed on the agenda for a City Council meeting. To allow adequate time to prepare packets and to coincide with staff's deadline for items, the due date for placing an item on the agenda is noon Thursday, 12 days prior to the regular meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month (i.e. the Thursday immediately following a regular Monday meeting). In order for your fellow Council Members to fully understand your item, have productive discussion, ensure efficient council meetings, and for staff to be able to assist you as completely as possible, it is important that you describe the item with as much detail as possible and include any supporting documentation so that it may be included in the Council's meeting packets. Please return this completed form to the City Manager and contact the City Clerk at (903) 784-9248 if you have any questions. Council member making request: ❑ Will Biard ❑ Joe McCarthy ❑ Steve Brown ❑ Edwin Pickle ❑ John Wright ❑ Rhonda Rogers ~ Jason Rogers Description of Item: Deliberate and act on an amendment to the City of Paris Personnel Polim b ado_ption of a new Zero Tolerance Policv Reszarding Racism Are additional sheets or supporting materials attached? Z Yes ❑ No I request that this item be placed on the agenda for the: Z City Council meeting on this date: 1/24/2010 ❑ Sometime in the next 2 meetings ❑ No specific time in mind - just keep it on a list of pending issues Signature: Date: City of Paris Revised 06/30/2010 aN'1 - t-1 WHEREAS: No City Empioyee Shouid Have to Endure Any Form of Harassment; WHEREAS: Federal Law prohibits Racial Harassment; WHEREAS: City Employment Policy Section 2.01 declares that the CITY is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits race discrimination consistent with Title VII; WHEREAS: Respect for others generates a comfortable and productive work environment. The CITY OF PARIS hereby announces and adopts a NO TOLERANCE policy regarding Racial Harassment in the workplace. No Tolerance means there is no discretion in the City of Paris work environment, regarding the supervision of Employees, or application of policy in processing reported racial remarks, racial jokes, racial slurs or racial harassment as defined herein. Reported or discovered racial harassment must be processed and if established, the Employee will be immediately disciplined. The following is the official CITY OF PARIS definition of racial harassment: Racial harassment is any form of verbal, written, or physical conduct based on race, culture, or skin color which creates an intimidating, uncomfortable, or offensive work environment, and that may tend to interfere with an employee's work performance. Such conduct includes, but is not limited to racial "jokes", ethnic slurs, offensive and derogatory comments based on race or color, racial pictures or text messages (including emails), and or graffiti. Conduct is presumed to be offensive if the employee has been requested to stop the conduct because it is offensive under this definition, and continues or repeats the behavior; or if the employee has been previously disciplined regarding such conduct, and subsequently engages in prohibited conduct. The City, as an employer has an obligation to stop any form of racial harassment in the work place. Employees of the City WILL NOT be allowed to engage in, conduct, encourage, or conceal racial harassment in the work environment. The City has the authority to enforce this policy by any discipline including termination. Any City employee found to have committed the offensive conduct listed above or conduct that the city manager and/or city council deems grossly inappropriate will be disciplined immediately. Discipline shall include but is ao~) -6 not limited to; a minimum of 3 weeks suspension without pay and or immediate termination. City Employees are encouraged to create a comfortable and productive work atmosphere by observing simple rules of conduct: 1. Use acceptable terminology when referring to various racial, ethnic, religious and other minority groups. 2. Avoid telling jokes or making comments that key off of racial, ethnic or sexual stereotypes, even if those present don't belong to the target group. Such humor often makes people uncomfortable regardless of their backgrounds. 3. Keep e-mail, memos and other office communications professional and nonoffensive. Avoid trying to be humorous in these situations, because even the most well-intentioned jokes and remarks can be interpreted in the wrong way. 4. Be aware of your surroundings when taking personal calls. Avoid allowing yourself to become relaxed to the point where your comments may make nearby co-workers uncomfortable aC)3-~, SECTION Z- EQUAL OPPORTUNITY & HARASSMENT SECTION 2.01- Epual Opportunitv Employer In compliance with the state and federal laws including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the American with Disabilities Act of 1991, the City is an equal opportunity employer. No person shall be discriminated against because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability. Disgualification on the basis of physical requirements is prohibited unless such disqualification constitutes a bona fide occupational qualification or essential function necessary to proper and efficient administration of a job. Employees or applicants, who need reasonable accommodations due to a disability or feel they have been the subject of discrimination, should discuss these circumstances with their Department Head and/or the Human Resources Director or desigmee. Harassment of any nature, when based on race, religion, color, sex, national origrin, age or disability, will not be tolerated. SECTION 2.02 - Sexual Harassment The City of Paris is committed to maintaining a work environment free from sexual harassment for all employees. Business decisions regarding employment, transfers, promotions, discipline or terminations based on an employee's submission or refusal of sexual advances will not be tolerated. SECTION 2.021 - Definition Sexual harassment is a form of gender-based discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Aet of 1964. Sexual harassment is, as defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when submission to the conduct enters into employment decisions andlor the conduct unreasanably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment." The two most common forms of sexual harassment are "quid pro qud" and "hostile work environment." Quid pro quo harassment forces an emplayee to choose between the job and the demands being made by the harasser. Hostile work environment harassment occurs when there is a repeated pattern of verbally abusive, threatening, crude, impolite or various other types of unprofessional conduct that impairs an employee's ability to perform a job. Examples of behavior that may be considered sexual harassment are: e-mails or text messages that contain sexually explicit or vulgar demeaning information based on gender, telling sexual jokes or stories, making sexual innuendos, spreading rumors about a person's sex life, continuous staring at someone, obscene gestures, blocking a person's path, invading a person's body space, brushing up against a person, and massaging a person's neck, or other similar activity. SECTION 2.0215 Racial Harassment The City of Paris is committed to maintaining a work environment free from racial discrimination and harassment for all employees. Business decisions regarding employrnent, transfers, promotions, discipline or terminations based on race will not be tolerated. SECTION 2.0216 - Definition Racial harassment is a form of race discrimination which includes racial jokes, ethnic slurs, offensive or derogatory comments, or other verbal or physical conduct based on an individual's race or color. Such conduct may create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment, or interfere with the individual's wark performance, in violation of State and Federal law. Examples of behavior that may be considered racial harassment includes, but is not limited to, epithets, slurs and negative stereotyping; threatening, intimidating, or hostile conduct; denigrating jokes and comments; and writings or pictures, that singles out, denigrates, or shows hostility or aversion toward someone on the basis of race. Conduct, comments, or innuendoes that may be perceived by others as offensive are wholly inappropriate and are strictly prohibited. This policy also prohibits sending, showing, sharing, or distributing in any form, inappropriate jokes, pictures, comics, stories, etc., including but not limited to via electronic or digital communication such as cell phone, instant messages, text, tweets, and e-mail. SECTION 2.022 - Responsibilitv of Department Heads/Managers/Supervisors Deparhnent heads and each level of management are responsible for ensuring that the City has a work environment free of any form of harassment. Each department head or manager is to take prompt remedial action when he/she observes behavior that could be considered harassing. Employees should be counseled with immediately, directed to refrain from such behavior and provided with consequences if the behavior continues. Counseling sessions should be documented. Supervisory personnel who fail to address issues of harassment or violate the City's harassinent policies are subject to disciplinary action up to and including immediate termination. SECTION 2.023 - Responsibilitv of Emplovees The City does not tolerate any form of harassment. Employees are to refrain from harassing behavior. Employees who engage in harassment may be disciplined up to and including immediate termination. Employees who feel they are being illegally harassed should contact their Department Directar and/or the Human Resources Director or designee immediately or as soon as possible. It is not required that the employee follow the chain of command in issues related to illegal harassment. a,C>3 - E SECTTON 2.03 - Complaint Process Employees who have questions related to harassinent or other issues should contact the Human Resources Director or designee. Employees who desire to file a complaint should complete a GrievaneelComplaint form and submit to the Human Resources Director or designee (See Attachment 5 of the Personnel Policy book). Investi!ation. All reports of prohibited conduct will be investigated promptly by management in as confidential a manner as possible. The investigation may include individual interviews with the parties involved and, where necessary, with individuals who may have other relevant knowledge. All employees are required to coaperate with the investigation. Retaliation Prohibited. Retaliation against employees because they made a good faith charge or report of prohibited conduct or because they assisted in a complaint investigation is prohibited. Responsive Action. The City takes violations of its harassment policy very seriously. Misconduct will be dealt with appropriately. Discipline, up to and including dismissal, will be imposed upon any employee who is found to have violated this policy. Likewise, disciplinary action will be imposed in situations where claiins of prohibited conduct were fabricated or exaggerated or where an employee does not cooperate in an investigation. ~,0 3 - r Grievance/Complaint Form Name of Complainant: Classification: Hire Date: Basis of Complaint: Date of Incident: Name of Respondent: (Person who is being complccinecl (igainst) Provide details of your complaint: Remedial action sought: Signature of Complainant Date Signature of HR Director or Designee Date Received 2,~b '