HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESO 4136RESOLUTION NO. 4136
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO
ADOPTING MERIT SYSTEM RULES AND REGULATIONS AND
RESCINDING RESOLUTION 3830
WHEREAS, purs uant to authority contain ed in Article III,
Se ction 18 of the Charter of the City of P al o Alt o a nd S ectio n
2.36.010 of :.he Palo Alt o Municip al Code, the Cou ncil of the
City of Palo Alto previously adopted Merit System Rules and
Regulations on June 28, 1965 by R es oluti on N o. 3830; a nd
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Palo Alt o d esires to
contin ue equitable an d uniform pro cedures for dealing with
perso nnel matte rs, a nd continue to pl ac e municipal employment
on a mer it basis so that the most qualified available people
may be brought into the municipa l service, while adopting
necessary chan ges and modifications to such Merit System Rul es
and Regulations.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Counc il of the City of Palo Alto do es
RESOLVE as follows:
SECTION 1. Tha t the Merit Syste m Ru les an d Regulations
atta ched he re to as EXHIBIT A and by reference made a part
hereof are hereby a do pted.
SECTION 2. Re so lution No. 3830, a dopted June 28, 1965,
is hereby rescin ded.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED: July 1, 1968
AYES: A rnold, Bea hrs, Berwald, Clark, C omstoc k, Dia s, Ga llaghe r, Gullixson,
NOES : Pearson, Spae th
No ne
ABS +� : Wheatley
A t'ST: APPROVED:
e rk
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APP
nt ty Attor. * C
r
•
•
ERIT SYSTEM
MERIT SYSTEM
RULES AND REGULATIONS
CITY OF PALO ALTO
CHAPTER 1 GENERAL
CHAPTER 2 DEFINITIONS
CHAPTER 3 EMPLOY MENT
CHAPTER 4 TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT
CHAPTER 5 HOURS AND COMPENSATION
CHAPTER 6 SICK LEAVE
CHAPTER 7 VACATION LEAVE
CHAPTER 8 OTHER LEAVES OF ABSENCE
CHAP TER 9 PROBATIONARY STATUS
CHAPTER 10 DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
CHAPTER 11 GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
CHAPTER 12 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
AND EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES
CHAPTER 13 MISCELLANEOUS
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
Adopte d by Resolu tio n 3830
June 28, 1965; Amended by
Resolu tion No. 4136
adopted July 1,' 1968
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MERIT SYSTEM RULES AND REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 1 -- GENERAL Page
•
Section 101 Adoption of Rules and Reg ulations1
102 Pow ers of th e City Man ager 1
103 Administr ati on of th e Merit Syst em1
104 P urpos e and Poli cy 1
105 Personnel Policy 1
106 Merit System Appli cation; Exceptions2
107 Empl oyment Constitutes A cceptanc e
of Rules 2
108 Conflicv with Charter 2
CHAPTER 2 -- DEFINITIONS
Sec tio n 201 De finition of Te rms 3-4
CHAPTER 3 -- EMPLOYMENT
Sec tion, 301 Citiz enship 5
302 Recr uitment 5
303 Application...... 5
304 Selec tion Pr ocess 5
305 Ineligibility or Disqualification6
306 Classes of Appo intment 7
307 Rea ppointments 7
308 Con tinue d Employmen t 7
309 Tra nsfe r 7
310 Promo tion 7
311 Demotion 8
Reinstatement 8
3I3
CHAPTER 4 -- TERM INATION OF EMPLOYMENT
Se ction 401
402
403
404
405
406
407
Resigna tion
Termination
Termin ation
Ac tion.;.,.
Ter mination
Retiremen t;
Retirement;
Retire men t;
..................... ....
; Unauthorized Leave 9
; Lack of Work or Fun ds• 9
; No n -disciplina ry
• 9
Disc iplinary Action 9
Applicable Regulations9
Miscellaneous Employees9.10
Public Safety Employees10
CHAPTER 5 -- HOURS AND COMPENSATION
Section 501 Co mpensation Plan and
Classifica tion Plan 11
502 Administration of Classification
Plan and Co mpensatio n Plan 11
503 Merit Advancement 11
i
Table of Contents (Continu ed)
P ag e
Section 504 Special Pe nalty D ecr eas e 12
505 Salary D ec reases 12
506 Standard Work Periods 12
507 Ex ceptions to Norm al Wo rking H ours 12
508 Att end ance 12
509 Pay Periods 12
510 Computation of Sal ary 13
511 Ov ertime Poli cy; Definition 13
512 Ov ertim e Compensation and Computati on. 13-14
513 Standby Comp ens ati on 14
514 Overtim e; Eligibility 14
515 Overtim e N ot Applicable 14
516 Overtime C ompensation Excepti on;
Select ed Supervisory P ositions 14
517 Overtime Compe nsati on Ex ceptio n;
Policy Se rvic e 14
518 Overtime Comp ens ation
Fire Service 15-16
519 Ove rtime; Conditions of Local =aril
or Disaster 16
520 De duc tions 16
521 Pa id Holida ys 16-17
522 Compe nsation for Work on Paid H olid ays17
Excepti on;
CHAPTER 6 -- SICK LEAVE
Se ction 601 Sta te ment of Policy 18
602 Eligibility 18
603 Ac crual 18
604 Ac cumula tion 18
605 Use 18
606 Depletion of Sick Le ave Bene fits 18
607 Persona l Business Leave Char geable
To Sic k Leave 18
608 For feiture Upon Termina tio n 19
609 Pa yment For Acc umulate d Sick Le ave 19
610 Sick Leave Proc edure s 19
CHAPTER 7 -- VACATION LEAVE
Section 701 Eligibility 20
702 Va cation Acc rua l 20
703 Cessation of Accrua l 20
704 holidays Fa lling During Vacatio n 20
705 Use of Va cation 21
706 Vacation at Termination 21
707 Vacation Benefits for Dec ea sed Emplo yees.21
708 Effec t of Extended Military Leave 21
CHAPTER 8 -- OTHER LEAVES OF ABSENCE
Section 801 Leave of Absence Without Pay 22
802 Military Leave of Absence 22
ii
Table of Co ntents (Continued) Page
Section 803 Leave of Abse nce; Death in
Immediat e Family 22
804 Leave of Abs en ce; Death Outside
the Immedi ate Family 22
805 Milita ry Leave of Absence 22
806 Employee's Time Off to 'Vote 23
807 Jury Duty; Leave of Absence 23
808 Le ave of Absence With Pay;23
809 Subpoenas; Leave of
Absen ce 23
CHAPTER 9 -- PROBATIONARY STATUS
Section 901 Prob ati on ary Period 24
902 Objective of arobationary Period 24
903 Employee Perf ormance Reports 24
904 Rejection of Probati oner 24
CHAPTER 10 -- DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
Se ctio n 1001 Disciplinary Action; D efinition 25
1002 Cause s for Disciplinary Acti on 25
1003 Per so ns By Whom Disciplin ary A ction
May Be Taken; Notice; Se rvic e;
Contents 26
1004 Right of Appeal; Form.. 26
1005 Hear ing 27
1006 Representation 27
1007 No tice s to Witnesses; Cost 27
1008 Failure of Emplo yee to Appear at
Hear ing 27
1009 Dec isions 27
1010 Effec t of Certain Disc iplinary
Actions 27-28
CHAPTER 11 -- GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
Section 1101 Pur pose of Chapter 29
1102 Matter s Subject to Grievanc e
Procedure 29
1103 Informal Grievance Proc edure 29
1104 Forma l Grievance Proce dure 29
1105 Conduct of Grievance Pro cedure 30
CHAPTER 12
IMMO
EMPLOYER AND EM PLOYEE RELATIONS
AND EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES
Section 1201 Right to Jo in or Abstain 31
1202 Right to Pre sent Gr ievances a nd
Recommendations 31
iii
Table of Cont ents (C ontinued) p ale
Section 1203 Verification of St atus
of Organiz ation 31
1204 Conferen ces 32
1205 Rules fo r Presenting R equ ests
Re Benefits 32
1206 Access of Organizations to
Work Locations 32
1207 Rules No Abrogation of Rights 32
1208 City Manager Designated as "Gove rning
Body" and R epresentative of th e City
Under Labor Code and Gove rnment C od e
Provisions 32
1209 Grieva nce Pr ocedure Under L abor and
Government Cod es 33
1210 City M anager Autho rized to Adopt
Rules and R egulations 33
CHAPTER 13 -- MISCELLANEOUS
Section 1301 Reports of Change of Status 34
1302 Damage -Claims 34
1303 Gra tuities 34
1304 Outside Emplo yment 34
1305 Uniform Allowance 34
1306 Political Activity 34
1307 Conflicts of Interest 35
MERIT SYSTEM RULES AND REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 1 -- GENERAL
SEC. 101 ADOPTION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS
The following Rules and R egulatio ns h ave been appr oved
by the City Council by resoluti on pur,4u ant to th e authority
granted in Article III, Secti on 18, of th e Ch art er of th e
City of Palo Alto and Section 2.36.010 of the Pal o Alt o
Municipal Code in ord er to establish an equitable and uniform
pro ce dure fo r dealing with p ers onn el matt ers, and to pl ace
municipal employment on a merit basis so th at the m ost quali-
fied available people may be brought into the muni cip al se rvic e.
SEC. 102 POWERS OF THE CITY MANAGER
In accordance with the provisio ns of Section 6(c) of
Article IV of the Charter of the City of Palo Alto, and except
as provide d in Cha pter 2.08 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code,
the po wer to appoint all office rs, h eads of depa rtm ents, and
the employe es of all City departments, and to rem ove the s am e
for cause, the general contro l and supervision over the s am e
is veste d exclusively in the City Manager, subj ect to th ese
Rules and Regulations. The City ?Ma na ger may delegat e to de-
partment he ads the authority to appo int persons to the
municipa l service.
SEC. 103 ADMINISTRATION OF THE MERIT SYSTEM
The Me rit System esta blishe d by the City Council und er
the provisio ns of Section 2.36.010 of the Palo Alto Municipal
Code and these Rule s a nd Re gulations sha ll be a dministered by
the City M anager.
SEC. 104 PURPOSE AND POLICY
The o bjective of these Rules and Regula tions is to
facilitate effective and e conomical ser vices to the public and
to provide for a fair and e quitable system of perso nne l ma nage-
ment in the municipal se rvice. These ru le s se t forth in detail
those proce dures which insure similar trea tment for e mplo yees,
and define the obligatio ns, rights, privilege s, bene fits and
pr ohibitions placed upo n all emplo ye es in the ser vice of this
City.
SEC. 105 PERSONNEL POLICY
It is her eby the declar ed perso nnel po licy of the City
of Palo Alto that:
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a. Employment and promoti on by the City of Palo Alto
sh all be b ased on m erit and fitness, free of per-
s onal and political consider ations, and in no way
sh all be affe cted or influenced by ra ce, r eligious
cr eed, color, national origin or ancestry.
b. The Californi a F air Employment Pra ctice Act shall
govern all City employm ent and employment pr actices.
c. Ten ure of employ ees covered by these rules shall be
subjec t to good behavio r, satisf actory work perform-
anc e, ne cessity fo r th e performance of w ork and the
availability of funds .
SEC. 106 M ERIT SYSTEM APPLICATION; EXCEPTIONS
The M erit System and these Rules and Regul ations shall
apply to a ll office s, po sitions and employments in the servi ce
of the City exce pt:
a. e lective offic es;
b. po siticns on appo intive bo ards, c ommissi ons and
co mmittees;
c. persons under co ntrac t to supply expert, professional
or tec hnical services; and
d. volunteer personnel who rec eive no regular compensa-
tion from the City.
SEC. 107 EMPLOYMENT CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF RULES
In a cc epting employment with the City of Palo Alto, each
employee agree s to be govern ed by a nd to comply with the Merit
System Rules and Regula tions, administrative rules a nd pro-
ce dur es e stablishe d by the City Mana ger pur sua nt thereto and
rule s, regulations and dir ectives of the departme nt in which
he is employe d.
SEC. 108 CONFLICT W ITH CHARTER
None of the M erit Syste m Rules and Regulations, adminis-
tra tive rules and proce dur es e stablished by the City Manage r
or departmental rules, regula tion s or dire ctives shall con-
flict with nor super sede any pr ovisions of the Char te r of the
City of Palo Alto , and in the e vent of any co nflict it shall
be reso lve d in favor of the Charter.
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CHAPTER 2 -- DEFINITIONS
SEC. 201
The
shall be
DEFINITION OF TERMS
foll owing terms, whenever used in these Rules,
defined as follows:
Appointing Auth ority sh all mean the City Manager. Th e
City Manager may del egate his power to appoi nt and
re move employe es for ca use to any or all department
heads.
Classificatio n Plan shall me an a list of titles of the
classe s of all regul ar and part-tim e p ositions in the
municipal service and a written sp ecifi cation d efin-
in g ea ch cla ss. The cl ass specification shall include
the class title and gen eral desc ription of th e work,
a summar y stateme nt of duties and r esponsibilities,
a nd minimum or desirable qualifications for appoint-
me nt, and ma y inc lude such other p ertinent inf ormation
as the Personnel Officer riay d eem desirable .
Continuo us Ser vice shall mean employm ent on a regular or
par t-time basis which is not interrupted by t ermina-
tion, or le aves of a bse nce without pay f or a period
in exc ess of o ne year , o ther than milit ary le ave .
Disc harge shall mean disciplina ry termination.
Disc iplinar y Probation sha ll mea n a form of disciplinary
ac tion, as distin guishe d from probatio n for new em-
ploye es as se t forth in Sectio n 901, for a specifi ed
pe riod of time not to e xceed one year. Pe rsons pla ced
on disciplinary probatio n ma y be ter minated for f ailure
to meet requireme nts. Rights, bene fits and privileges
sha ll be r educ ed in conforma nce with Section 1010.
Demotion shall mean the movement of an employee fro m one
----7117s to another c lass ha ving a lower ma ximum ra te of
pay.
Interrupted Se rv ice shall me an regular or part-time em-
ployme nt in a non -pay status which is grea te r tha n
thirty (30) continuous calenda r days but less than
o ne (1) yea r in dur ation.
Non -Pa y Status shall mea n the pe riod in whic h an employee
is not at wo rk and has been grante d a leave of a bsenc e
witho ut pa y.
fa Sta tus shall mean the pe riod in which an e mplo yee is
at wo rk, on vacation, sic k leave, co mpensation leave
as the re sult of an industrial accide nt, leave with
full pay in lieu of t emp or ary dis ability b enefits,
compensatory time off, paid tempor ary military le ave
of absen ce, or on an appr oved l eave of abs enc e with
p ay .
Promoti on sh all me an the movement of an employee from
one class to anoth er class having a highe r maximum
rate of pay.
Salary Range sh all mea n a sched ul e of prog ressive minimum
and ma ximum s al aries.
Sa lary Schedule shall me an a schedule of salari es assigned
to speciffc positions in th e municipal service.
Shift Per sonnel shall mean personnel of th e Fir e D epa rt-
men t whose du ty assignment is for twe nty-four (24)
consecutive hours with the f ollowing twenty-f our (24)
or more hours being scheduled for off -duty before
a no ther assignment is comm enc ed .
Suspension shall mean the tempora ry r emoval of an employ ee
from a pay status for rea sons of pending disciplin ary
a ction, fo r disciplinary action, f or disciplinary
reasons, or for other just cause.
Swor n Personne l shall mean Po lice Se rvice pers onnel
authorfzed to car ry out police powers.
Ter mination sha ll me an the separation of an employee fr om
municipal service. Termina tion may be by death, dis-
cha rge , lay o ff, resignation, re tireme nt, work com-
ple tio n, lack of work or funds, or for no n -disciplinary
re asons as specifie d in Sec tion 403.
CHAPTER 3 -- EMPLOYMENT
SEC. 301 CITIZENSHIP
Employment is open to qualified men and w omen who are
citizens of th e United States .
SEC. 302 RECRUITMENT
Rec ruitment for qualified applicants will be a c ontinuing
process in orde r that, wher e possibl e, the City will have
available a pplications of inter ested, qualified persons for
possible employme nt. Notic es of empl oyment opportunities may
be placed in newspapers, magazines, announcements, or given to
reputable agencies offering those se rvices which it is felt
will bring response from qualified p ers ons. The City, however,
shall not pay a ny fee or servic e charge for any appli cant wh o
is referre d to it by any e mployment agency.
SEC. 303 APPLICATION
All candidates for employme nt shall file a City of P al o
Alto Applica tion Fo rm with the Pe rsonnel Division.
SEC. 304 SELECTION PROCESS
The se lection proc ess may consist of such r ecognized
technique s as ac hie vemen t tests, a ptitude tests, evalu ati on of
personality and bac kground through personal interviews, p er-
forman ce te sts, e valuation of work pe rformance, work sampl es,
physical agility tests, re view and investigatio n of p ers onal
backgr ound a nd re fere nces, medical e xaminatio ns, or any combina-
tion thereof, and in no way shall be affe cted or influen ced by
rac e, religious cr eed, co lor, nationa l origin or ancestry.
In the event wr itte n exa minations are given, a candidate
sha ll ha ve the right to inspect his own examination pa per.
W ritten examinations a re only qua lifying in nature unless
o therwise specified.
Se lec tio n techniques will be impartial an d shall relate
to tho se are as which, in the opinio n of the appo in ting authority,
will ade quately and fairly indicate the relative ability a nd
quality of c andidate s under c onsider atio n to execute the duties
and re spo nsibilities of the po sition to whic h they seek to be
appointe d.
Upon co mpletion of the se lectio n pr ocess, the appointing
author ity shall make appo intments from those ca ndidates who ,
IMF
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on the basis of their perf ormance in the selecti on p rocess,
appe ar m ost qualifi ed fo r th e positi on unde r consid eration
and notify th e Pers onnel Division imm ediately of the appoi nt-
ment. Th e appointment shall become effe ctive when the
selected appli cant h as signed all offi cial p ape rs required
by the City, and those papers bear the appropriate sig natures
confirming the appoi ntm ent.
SEC. 305 INELIGIBILITY OR DISQUALIFICATION
The appointing authority or the P ersonnel Division may .
withdr aw a nyone from considerati on whose appointment will be
de eme d contrar y to the best int erests of the City. Re as ons
for disqua lification may includ e but shall not be limited to
the following deficiencies:
a. Lack of any of the requir ements est ablished for the
exa mination or position for which he applies.
b. Physical or mental disability such as to r ender the
applica nt unfit to perform the duti es of th e position
to which appointme nt is sought.
c. Addiction to the use of intoxic ating beve rages to
excess.
d. Addiction to the use of habit-forming drugs.
e. Conviction of a fe lo ny, or conviction of a misd e-
me anor involving mo ral turpitude .
f. Infamo us or noto riously disgra ceful conduct.
g. Dismissal from a ny positio n for any c ause which
would be cause fo r dismissal by the City.
h. Resignation from any positio n to avo id dis-
missal.
i. Dece ption or fraud in making the a pplicatio n.
j. Request by applic ant that his name be withdrawn fro m
con side ra tion.
k. Failure to r eply within a reasona ble time, as spec i-
fie d by the Pe rsonn el Division, to communic ations
co ncerning availability for employment.
1. Disqualificatio n or unsuitability for e mployment as
specified in any City or pertinen t department rule
or regulation.
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alb
SEC. 306 CLASSES OF APPOINTMENT
Employment in the municipal service is divided into the
following class es: -
a. R egul ar. App ointment on a full-time basis in an
authoriz ed p osition. P ers ons app ointed to the posi-
tions of City Attorney, City Clerk, City Controller
and City Manager shall be consid er ed as regular
appointments and shall be s ubject to all of the
pro-yisio.:s of these Rul es and Regulations except
Chapters 9, 10 and 11.
b. Part-time. Appoi ntment on a part-tim e b asis in an
a utho rized position.
c. S ec ial. Appointment to a temporary positi on f or a
pe r not exceeding on e (1) year.
d. Casual. Appo intment on an "as needed" basis for wo rk
wTieh is anticipated to be of a t emporary or int er-
mitte nt nature either on a f ull-time or p art-time
basis. The status of those empl oyees in this employ-
ment class shall be reviewed after six months to
de termine whether or not continuation of empl oyment
is de sir ed.
SEC. 307 REAPPOINTMENTS
Reappo intment after te rmination will be consid er ed as
new emplo yment.
SEC. 308 CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT
Continued e mployment of e mplo yee s with the City of Palo
Alto shall be subje ct to goo d behavior , sa tisfac tory work p er-
formance, nec essity for the perfo rmanc e of wo rk a nd the
availability of funds.
SEC. 309
Any
division
TRANSFER
employee may be transferred fro m one depar tme nt or
to anothe r.
SEC. 310 PROMOTION
Beca use it is the po licy of the City of Palo Alto to
encourage the a dvancement of personnel within the organiza-
ticn, pro mo tion se le ctio n for vacancie s will be conduc ted as
the needs of the City require . Pr omotio na l opportunities in
which interde par tmental tra nsfers are po ssible will be posted
on bulletin boa rds selec te d by the Per sonne l Division at least
five (5) wor king days before the selec tion is made . Pro-
motio nal examinatio ns ma y be conducted as the need ar ises.
SEC. 311 DEMOTION
The appoi nting authority may d emote an employee whose
ability to perform his requir'd duties f alls below accept abl e
standarc.a, f or disciplin ary r eas ons s et fo rth in Section 1002,
whe n the need for a p osition which an employee fills no
longer exists, or when an employee requests such demotion .
No employee shall be d emot ed to a cl assification for which he
doe s n ot possess th e minimum qu alifications. When th e action
is initiate d by the app ointing auth ority, writt en notic e of
demo tion shall be given an employee at least five (5) days
before the effec tive date of the d emotion. An employ ee may
appeal such action in the manner pr ovided in Section 1004,
et seq.
SEC. 312 SUSPENSION
a. By City Ma na ge r. The City Manager may suspend an
e mployee u nder his control from his position at any
time for rea sons of p{;ding disciplinary acti on, for
disciplinar y re asons sat forth in S ecti on 1002, or
for other just c ause, including b vt n ot limi ,ad to
ine fficiency, incompetency, physical disability or
mental inc apacity.
b. By Department Hea d. Department heads may suspend an
emplo ye e for not more than three (3) days at any on e -
time without the approval of the City Manager.
Written notice of suspe nsio n shall be giv en an em-
plo yee within seventy-two (72) hours after such a ction.
An emplo yee ma y appeal such action in the manner p ro-
vided in Section 1004, et seq.
SEC. 313 REINSTATEMENT
The City Manager may re instate any suspende d employee for
good,cause , a nd may upo n suc h reinstatement c ompe nsate, in
whole or in part, suc h emplo ye e for the time lo st.
CHAPTER 4 -- TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT
SEC. 401 RESIGNATION; UNAUTHORIZED LEAVE
An empl oyee wishing to leave the servi ce of the City in
good standing either by resignation or retirement shall giv e
the department concerned at least two (2) weeks notice . Un-
autho riz ed leav e of abs en ce for m ore than three (3) co nsecutive
days shall be deem ed to be a resign ati on and shall result in
a utomatic termination of employment .
SEC. 402 TERMINATION; LACK OF WOR K OR FUNDS
An employee may be terminated by th e app ointing authority
because of changes in duties or organizati on, ab olition of
position, shor tage of work or funds, or completion of work for
which employme nt was made. In cases involvi ng regular or pa rt-
time appointments only, notice of such te rmin ati on will be given
to the employee at least two (2) waeks prio r to the effe ctive
date of termination. Such terminations shall not be subject to
a ppe al.
SEC. 403 TERMINATION; NON -DISCIPLINARY ACTION
An°. mnployee may be terminated by the appointing autho rity
at any time, with or without notice , for cause or f or the con-
venience of the City. Such cause shall be othe r than cause for
disciplinary action, set forth in Sec tion 1002, et seq ., and
sha ll include but not be limited to inefficiency, inc omp etency,
physica l disability or mental incapacity. Regular and p art-
time employees shall be given a written statement of the r eas ons
for such te rmination and may appea l such a ctio n in the mann er
pr ovided in Section 1004 et seq.
SEC. 404 TERMINATION; DISCIPLINARY ACTION
An emplo ye e ma y be terminated at any time as disciplinary
action as pro vided in Chapter 10 of these Rules.
SEC. 405 RETIREMENT; APPLICABLE REGULATIONS
Re tir ement from the municipal service shall, except as
otherwise provided in the se Regula tions, be subject to the
te rms and c onditions of the City's contra ct with the Public
Emplo yee s' Retirement System.
SEC. 406 RETIREMENT; MISCELLANEOUS EMP LOYEES
All employees who are classified as "Misce llaneous
Members" by the Ca lifornia Public Employe es' Retirement Syste m
shall be go verned by the follo wing re tire ment policy:
a. Empl oy ees attaining the age of sixty-fiv e (65) ye ars
shall r eti re from th e municipal service .
b. The City Manager, when he deems it to be in the b est
inter est of the municipal s ervice, m ay ret ain a mis-
cellaneous employ ee who has att ained the age of sixty-
five (65); h oweve r, such empl oyee may not be retained
after attaining ag e seventy (70) .
c. Office rs appoint ed by the City Coun cil may, by specific
authorization of that body, be permitted to serv e b e-
yond age sixty-five (65), but und er no circumst ances
beyo nd age seventy (70).
SEC. 407 RETIREMENT; PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES
All employees who are classified as "Public Saf ety Members"
by the Ca lifornia Public Employees' Retirement System shall be
go ve rn ed by the following r etirement p olicy:
a. Emplo yee s attaining the age of fifty-five (55) years
shall r etire from the municipal service.
b. The City Ma nager, when he deems it to be in the best
intere sts of the municipal service, may retain a publi c
safety member who has atta ined the age of fifty-five
(55) years; howeve r, such emplo yee may n ot be r etained
after he has attained a ge sixty-five (65).
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CHAPTER 5 -- HOURS AND COMPENSATION
SEC. 501 COMPENSATION PLAN AND CLASSIFICATION PLAN
The Comp ensation Pl an shall provide fo r s al ary s ch edules,
salary rates, salary ranges and steps and time int ervals for
sala ry review.
Each position within the municipal se rvic e shall be al-
locate d to its appropriate class in the Classification Plan on
the ba sis of duties and responsibilities. Each class shall be
assigned a sala ry range or a r ate est ablish ed in the Compensa-
tion Plan. All pe rsons entering the municip al se vice shall
be compensated in accordance with th e Compe nsation Plan then
in effect.
SEC. 502 ADMINISTRATION OF CLASSIFICATION PLAN
AND CO}4PR ATION PLAN
The City Council sha ll administer th e Comp ensation Plan
for the City Attorne y, City Clerk, City C ontr oller and City
Manage r. The City Ma nager shall administ er the Compensation
Plan for a ll other e mployees.
All initial employmen t shall be at the first step of the
sala ry range , provided that the City Ma nager may make an
a ppo intment to a po sitio n at an a ppropr iate higher salary when
in his o pinion it is difficult to obta in qualified p ersonnel
at the starting salary or when it appe ars that the education
or e xper ie nce of a pr oposed employee is substa ntially superior
to that re quired of the c lass and justifiers a beginning sal ary
in excess of the first step.
SEC. 503 MERIT ADVANCEMENT
An employee ma y be considere d for me rit salary advance-
ment in acco rdance with the time in tervals e stablishe d in the
Compe nsatio n Pla n. Advanc eme nt to a highe r sala ry within a
salary range ma y be granted for continued improveme nt and
e fficient and effe ctive service by the employe e in the pe r-
formance of his duties.
Advanceme nts shall be made o nly upon recommendatio n of
the department co ncerned, a nd with the a pprova l of the City
Manager. For purposes of determining time require ments,
time will comme nce on the first day of the month coinciding
with or fo llo wing, entrance into a classification or o nto a
sa lary step. The salary increa se, ho wever, will be effective
on the first day of the payroll period in which the time re-
quire me nt ha s bee n me t.
SEC. 504 SPECIAL PENALTY DECREASE
The sal ary of any employ ee may be dec reased at any tim e
to a lowe r salary within the salary rang e by the City Manag er
upon the recommendatio n of the department he ad that the
quantity, quality or mann er of pe rf ormance of s ervices do not
justify the sala ry being rec eived.
SEC. 505 SALARY DECREASES
In try.: event an employ ee is reclassified to a lower
paying classification or is reduced in salary because of in-
a bility to mee t the sta nd ards for a curr ent salary step, the
same time inter vals as indicat ed in th e Comp ensation Plan sh all
apply unle ss special review c onsider ations are established.
SEC. 506 STANDARD WORK PERIODS
The standard wo rk day for employees shall be eight (8)
hours and the sta ndard wor k week shall be f orty (40) h ou rs to
be worked within five (5) co nsecutiv e d ays, except that for
e mployee s assigne d to duty in the Fire service on a shift basis
the standa rd on -duty shift shall be twenty-fou r (24) consecu-
tive hours. The stan da rd duty we ek for such Fir e service
shift perso nnel sha ll be sixty-thr ee (63) on -duty shift h ours
when average d over a one (1) year period. The work day for
part-time employee s shall be suc h as is established and
direc te d by the appointing authority.
SEC. 507 EXCEPTIONS TO NORMAL WORKING HOURS
The City Ma nager is her eby a uthorized to designate other
working ho urs for employee s when, in his opinion , the best
interests of the City may be served by such rea djustment of
standar d work ho urs.
SEC. 508 ATTENDANCE
Employe es shall be in attendance at their wo rk or
a ssigned duties at the time and place prescribe d by the de -
partment to which they ar e assigned.
Each department shall kee p attendanc e re co rds of all em-
ployee s, a nd make r epor ts of the same to the City Co ntroller
in the form and on the dates he shall prescribe.
SEC. 509 PAY PERIODS
The pa y per iod for a ll employees sha ll be bi-weekly •and
shall be based on three handred sixty-fo ur (364) days per year.
Sa lar ies will no rmally be paid on the fir st Friday follo wing
completion of a pay period. When a holida y falls on a pay
day the pa y day will be tra nsferred to the following wo rk day
unless the Contro lle r's Office is able to complete the pay-
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roll by the previous workday. There will be no p ayment of
salari es to employees exc ept on regul ar pay days. Employees
leaving the municipal service shall be paid within seventy-tw o
(72) hou rs of th e dat e of t erminati on and upo n written clea r-
ance of the dep artment c once rned that said employee has r eturned
a ll city -owned t ools and equipment .
The method of distributing payroll warrants sh all be
established by the City Man ager.
SEC. 510 COMPUTATION OF SALARY
When not specified in th e compens ation pla n, the b asic
biwee kly salary shall be computed by multiplying the monthly
sa la ry stated in the Compensation :'lsn by twelve (12) and
dividing the re sulting produ ct by tw enty-six (26).
The ba sic ho urly rate for e ach bi-weekly sal ary shall be
compute d by dividing the bi-weekly salary by eighty (80),
exc ept for personnel assigned to shift d uty in the Fire servi ce
where the ba sic hourly sa lary rate sh all be computed by divid-
ing the bi-weekly sa lary by 'ne hundred twe nty-six (126).
SEC. 511 OVERTIME POLICY; DEFINITION
It is the policy of the City that overtime work is to
be ke pt to the minimum, c onsiste nt with prote ction of th e lives
and prope rty of the Palo Alto citize ns a nd the efficient ope ra-
tion of the sever al departments and activities of the City, and
shall be a uthor ize d only under such adm-uistrative r ules and
procedures as the City Mana ger may prescribe.
Overtime work for all employees except as otherwise pro-
vide d shall be define d as any time wo rked beyond an eight (8)
hour day or be yond five (5) co nsec utive e ight (8) hour days.
Time worked in excess of five (5) c onsec utive e ight (8) hour
days be cause of a c ha nge in days o ff or shift shall not be
considered as ove rtime. Overtime shall commence at the time
an e mployee reac he s the place whe re he is directed to report
and shall co ntinue until he is r eleased or the wor k is co m
ple ted, whicheve r is the ea rlier.
•
•
SEC. 512 OV ERTIME COMPENSATION AND COMPUTATION
At the disc retion of the department hea d, over time may
be compensate d fo r either by equ ivalent time off, or: by pay-
ment at the rate of on e and one-half (1-1/2) times the
emplo yee's basic hourly salar y, exce pt as o therw ise pro vided
in these rules.
In the event compensatory time off is use d as the method
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of compens ating fo r ov ertim e, th e tim e off will be taken
within the qu arte r following th e qu arter of the y ear in whi ch
the overtime has been worked . In the event the employ ee is
denied this pr ovisi on, he will be c ompensated in pay for su ch
time at the app ropriat e rate specified by these sections.
Exceptions to this pr ocedur e will be made only upon
wr itten authori zation of the City Man age r.
SEC. 513 STANDBY COMPENS ATION
Compensation for regul arly established eme rgency st andby
service shall be in an am ount set forth in the Compens ati on
Pla n.
SEC. 514 OVERTIMELELIGIBILITY
Emplo yee s who ho ld casual or p art-tim e appointm ents will
no t be eligible for o ver time compensation, but will be c ompen-
sated for all wor k pe rforme d at their established rat e of pay.
Under conditionswhich he may consider appropriate, the City
Ma nager ma y author ize overtime compensation for employe es
holding spe cial appointments.
SEC. 515 OVERTIME NOT APPLICABLE
Overtime compensation prov isions shall n ot apply to C ouncil -
a ppoin ted officers, department or divisio ns heads, nor ce rtain
o ther positions designate d by the City Ma nager. Such pers onnel
ar e co mpensated on the basis of respo nsibilities and ch aract eris-
tics of duties performed a nd are c onsidered to work th e minimum
established wor k week. In the event de partment or divisi on
operations r equ ir e e xtr aordinary wo rk a ssignme nts for an empl oyee
so de signated, he may be a uthorized time off with pay by his
department head, not exce eding two (2) wo rking days in any one(1)
pay period. Compensatory time o ff in excess of two (2) days
unde r the se c ircumsta nces must be authorized and a ppro ved in
advance i s riting by the City M ana ger .
SEC. 516 OVERTIM E COM PENSA TION EXCEPTIONS;
SELECTED SUPERVISORY POSITIONS
Certain super viso ry positio ns as designated by the City
M anager sha ll be co mpensated for o ver time either by equivalent
time off or by payment at the ra te of one (1) times the emplo ye e's
basic ho urly salary.
SEC. 517 OVERTIME COMPENSATION EXCEPTION; POLICE
SERVICE -
Overtime c ompe nsation for the Polic e service sha ll be
pa id as follows, except as otherwise provided in these rules:
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a. Sw orn regular pe rsonnel directed to rem ain on d uty
in addition to a regularly scheduled shift for a
period of two (2) hours or less sh all be compen-
sated by equival ent tim e off, except as otherwise
provided in Section 515. In the event the overtime
requirement is beyond two (2) hours, th e employee
shall be compens ated as pr ovided in Section 512 for
the complete period of the ove rtime. Pers onnel hold-
ing the rank of s erg eant or above shall be compensated
as provided in S ection 516.
b. Police personnel who may be ordered to report
during off -duty time, except as otherwise provided,
for an assignment du e to emergen cy conditio ns or
other immediate ma np ow er n eeds, sh all be c ompensated
as provided in Secti on 512, except that pers onnel
holding the ra nk of serge ant and above shall be
compe nsated as pr ovided in S ection 516.
c. Any polic e officer appearing in court fo r the People
dur ing off -duty hour s shall r eceive additi onal com-
pensation at the ra te set forth in the Comp ensation
Plan. An y po lice officer subpoena ed to app ea r in
court shall be co mpensated in acco rd an ce with State
la w.
SEC. 518 OVERTIME COMPENSATION EXCEPTION; FIRE SERVICE
Overtime compensation for the Fire service sh all be paid
as follows, e xce pt as o ther wise provided in these rul es:
a. Shift pe rsonnel assigne d to relief duty in addition
to a regular shift schedule sha ll receive overtime
compensatio n on the following basis:
(1) For all duty ho ur s between 8:00 a. m. and
8:00 p.m., as pro vided in Sec tion 512.
(2) For all duty hours be twee n 8:00 p.m. and
8:00 a.m. of the following day or until the
next duty schedule begins, whe n over time will
cease, at the rate of o ne (1) times the
employee's basic hourly salar y, or compensatory
time ocf.
b. Shift personnel called and or dere d to report for
fire e me rgency duty during off -duty time shall be
co mpensa ted at the rate of o ne a nd one-half (1-1/2)
times the employee's basic hourly sala ry, or
compensatory time off for the first eight (8)
continuous du ty hours and at the ra te of one (1)
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tim es the employ ee's basic hourly sal ary, or
compensat ory time off, for all duty in excess of
eight (8) h ours or until next duty schedule begins
wh en overtime compens ation will c ease.
c. Shift pers onnel actively e ng aged in fir e fighting
oper ations when a scheduled change in shift occu rs
shall r eceiv e a c ompens ation f or duty performed in
excess of no rmal duty schedule when such duty is in
excess of one (1) continu ous hour after the normal
duty schedule h as been compl et ed. If such an
occa sion arises, all continuous overtime duty after
the o ne (1) hou r period shall be compensated as
provide d in parag raph "a" above .
d. Shift personnel holdi ng th e rank of fire captain
a nd abo ve shall be compens at ed f or ov ertime duty as
pr ovided in Section 516, exc ept as otherwise provided.
SEA. 519 OVERTIME; CONDITIONS OF LOCAL PERIL OR DISASTER
In c ase of disaster , sta te of extreme emerg ency or local
pe ril, the ove-time pro cedures herein established shall n ot
be in effe ct and compensa tion pro cedures will be determin ed at
tha t time fo r such conditions.
SEC. 520 DEDUCTIONS
De duc tions fr om emplo yee 's pay s ha ll be mad e in ac cordan ce
with preva iling laws, con tracts and admin istrative rules and
pro ce dure s establishe d by the City Ma nager.
SEC. 521 PAID HOLIDAYS
a. Regular Holida s for Pa Pur oses. The following holi-
as n c pa ays are re cogn ze muolidays for pay pur-
pcses, and regula r, part-time, and spe cial employees
sha ll have these days off with pay, exce pt as otherwise
pr ovided in these Rules:
January 1st September 9th
February 22nd November llth
May 30th Thanksgiving Da y and the
July 4th Day Fo llowing
Labor Day Dec ember 25th
In the event that any of the a forementioned days falls on
a Sunda y, the following M onday shall be c onsider ed a holiday for
pay purposes. In the e vent that any of the afo rementione d da ys
fa lls on a Saturday, the prec eding Frida y sha ll be c onsidered
a holiday for pay purpo ses.
b. Othe r Special Days.
Whenever the Mayor suspends municipal busine ss pursuant
to Section 2.08. 100(1) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, the
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City Manag er shall be autho ri zed to ex cuse personnel wh os e
duties permit them to be absent, with pay. The City Man ager
may auth orize p ersonn el who cannot be excused during such
periods of suspension to be excused f or an equ al pe riod on
other dat es convenient to the dep artm ent concerned . Such
period of suspension shall not be deemed a holiday for pay .
purposes, unless th e M ay or's pr oclam atio n so states.
c. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The City Man ag er
is authorized to excuse pers onnel whose duti es p ermit
them to be absent, with pay, for on e-half wo rk d ay on
the after noon of December 24 or December 31 of e ach year.
SEC. 522 COMPENSATION FOR WORK ON PAID HOLIDAYS
a. Employee s Not N ormally R equired to Work on Paid
holidays. A regul ar, part-time or special employee
who se duties do not normally require him to w ork on
paid holidays enumerat ed in Se ction 521(a) sh all be
co mpensated at the rate of one and on e-half tim es his
ba sic sa lary fo r the hours worked, or sh all re ceive
compensa tor y time off at the r ate of one times th e
hours worked, in addition to his regul ar salary .
b. Emplo yees Whose Work Schedules No rm ally Requir e
Holiday Work. A re gular , p,.rt-time or special employ ee
who se duties no rmally require him to work on paid holi-
days enume rated in Sec tion 521 shall be compens ated
for all suc h ho lida ys and shall receive additi onal com-
pensation equal to an additiona l day's sal ary, or
equivalent compensa tory time off. In the ev ent such
an employe e is exc used fro m work in observance of th e
holiday, no additional compensation shall be given.
Employee s on c ompensation leave, or leave of absenc e
"in lieu" of compe nsation leave, or military leav e
shall not receive any additio na l compensa tion f or
holidays occurr ing during such leave. Any employee
on leave of absence without pay shall not re ceive any
c ompen sa tion for holidays o ccurring during suc h leave.
c. Casual Employees Required to Perfo rm Work on Ho lidays.
Casual employees r equir ed to perform wor k on holidays
shall be compensated at the ir regular rate of pay for
wo rk performed.
d. Regular, Part-time and Spe cial Employees. Re gular ,
par t-time and special employees must be in a pay status
on the work day prec eding a holiday to be eligible to
be c ompensated for the holiday under Sec tion 521.
e. Employe es Assigned Days Off Other Tha n Saturday and
Sunda . An employe r`w ho se work sche dule re quir es that
s regular days o ff be other tha n Satur da y a nd/or
Sunday shall be grante d an a dditional day off, at the
co nvenience of the department conce rne d, in the eve nt
a holida y falls during his re gularly sc heduled day -Off.
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CHAPTER 6 -- SICK LEAVE
SEC. 601 STATEMENT OF POLICY
Sick l eave shall be allowed and used only in case of
actual personal sickness or disability, medical or dental
treatment, or as autho ri zed in S ection 607 .
SEC. 602 ELIGIBILITY
Re gular and pa rt-time employ ees sh all be eligibl e to
acc rue a nd use sick l eave.
SEC. 603 ACCRUAL
Sick le ave shall be accrued bi-w eekly provided the empl oyee
has been in a pay status for 50% or more of a bi-w eekly"pay
perio d. Sick le ave shall be ac crued at the rat e of 3.7 hours
pe r bi- 3ekly pa y period for th ose employees working a forty
(40) ho ur duty sche dule. Those assign ed work sch edules which
are grea ter or le sser than forty (40) hours will accrue si ck
le ave at the ra tio of their wo rk schedule to forty (40) hours.
SEC. 604 ACCUM ULATION
Ac crue d sick leave may be acc umulated with out limit. -
SEC. 605 USE
Sic k leave ma y be use d as needed and approved,
point of depletion, at which time the employee will
rec eive pay fo r sick lea ve. Sic k leave will not be
illne ss occurr ing during any le ave of a bsence other
leave.
to the
no longer
granted for
than si ck
SEC. 606 DEPLETION OF SICK LEAVE BENEFITS
Upon depletion of acc umulated sick le ave an employee will
be dee med to be on medica l leave of absen ce without pay for a
period not exc eeding sixty (60) days. If the employee is un-
able to return to wo rk at the end of this period, he must r e-
que st furthe r me dic al leave which will be subject to the approval
of the City M ana ger. If furthe r lea ve is granted, the employee
must notify the City of his intent to re tur n to wor k e ve ry
thirty (30) days. If fur ther leave is not granted, the em-
ployee's se rvice with the City shall be considere d terminate d.
SEC. 607 PERSONAL BUSINESS LEAVE CHARGEABLE TO SICK LEAVE
Department heads shall ha ve authority to grant, at their
discretion, the use of sic k leave for personal business. This
privile ge is for needs of short duration and during any cal-
e ndar perio d of on e year sha ll not exceed twelve (12) hours
pe r employee .
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SEC. 608 FORFEITURE UPON TERMINATION
Employ ees l eaving the municipal s ervi ce shall forfeit
all a ccumulated sick leave, exc ept as oth erwise provided by
la w a nd by S ecti on 609. In the event th at noti ce of resigna-
tio n is given, sick l eave m ay be used o nly through th e day
whic h was designated as the final day of work by su ch noti ce.
SEC. 609 PAYMENT FOR ACCUMULATED SICK LEAVE
Eligible employees who le ave the mu nicip al service in
goo d standing, or who die whil e empl oyed in good standing by
the City, and who have fifteen (15) or more years of contin-
uo us service shall receive c ompensati on for un us ed sick leave
hours in a sum e qual to two and one h alf p er cent (2-1/2%) of
the ir unuse d sic k leave hours m}iltipli ed by th eir years of
continuous ser vice a nd their basic , h ou rly rate of pay at
termination.
SEC. 610 SICK LEAVE PROCEDURES
The City Ma na ger shall e stablish c ontr ols and p rocedures
for the administratio n of sic k leave use.
CHAPTER 7 -- VACATION LEAVE
SEC. 701 ELIGIBILITY
a. Regular Employees. R egular employees shall be eli-
gible for vacation le ave in confo rmance with the
provisions of Section 702.
b. Part-tim e Employees. Part-tim e employees shall be
eligible f or vacation l eav e in confo rm an ce with the
provisions of Se ction 702, with comp ensati on comput ed
on the basis of pa rt-tim e/full-time ratio.
c. Casual a nd Special Employees. Casual and sp ecial em-
ployees shall not be eligible fo r va cation le av e.
SEC. 702 VACATION ACCRUAL
Vacation will be accrued when an employee is in p ay st atus
a nd will be c redited on a bi-weekly b asis. Such accru al and
cre dit may not ex ceed twice the annual rate of accru al. Each
e ligible e mploye e shall accrue vacation at th e f oll owing rate
fo r continuo us service performed in pay status:
a. Le ss Tha n Five (5) Years. For employees completing
less than five 5years continuous service: two (2)
calendar weeks vac ation leave per year.
b. Five (5), But Le ss Than Fiftee n (15) Years, F or em-
ployees comple ting five (5) but not mor: Than fifteen
(15) yea rs co ntinuous service: three (3) cal endar
weeks vaca tion lea ve per year.
c. Fifteen (15) or More Years. For employe es completing
fifteen (15or more year s year co ntinuous service:
four (4) calendar weeks vacation leave per year .
SEC. 703 CESSATION OF ACCRUAL
In the event an employee .fa ils to use his vaca tion as
provided in the se Rules, vac ation a ccr ua l beyon d the limits
e stablishe d in these Rule s shall be prohibited and no o ther
c ompe nsation or re cognitio n of such pr ohibite d accrual will be
made except that the City M anager ma y ex tend acc rual limits
when va cation is not permitted for the conven ien ce of the City.
SEC. 704 HOLIDAYS FALLING DURING VACATION
In the event a City ho lida y falls within an employee's
vac ation perio d which would have e xcused the employe e fro m
work and fo r which no other compe nsatio n is made (see Section
522) an addition al work day tor each such holiday shall be
added to the vac ation lea ve .
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SEC . 705 USE OF VACATION
a. Whe n to be Taken. Th e tim e at which an employ ee
may us e his ac crued vacation l eave and the amount to be taken
at any one time shall be determined by his d epartment head
with particular regard fo r th e n eeds of th e City, but also
inso far as p ossible, c onsidering the wishes of the employ ee.
b. Limitatio n on Use . Employees may n ot us e more than
their annual rate of accrual in any calendar year
period, without prior app roval of the Office of the
City Manager .
c. Waitin g Period. Employees sh all complete six (6)
months c ontinu ous s ervi ce befo re using accrued
vacation leave.
d. Double Compensation P rohibit ed . Empl oyees sh all
not w or k for tie City during th eir va cation.
e. Vacation Splittng. It is the intenti on of the City
that vacation 'be taken in units of one (1) week; .
ho we ver, with a pproval of his departm ent h ead, an
employee may use one (1) week of his acc rued vacation
in any cale ndar ye ar in units of less than one (1)
wE:k, but in no instance in units l ess th an one-half
(1/2) day. (Four hours). Requests for exception to
this procedure must be approved by the City Manager .
'SEC. 706 VACATION AT TERMINATION
Employee s leaving the municipal ser vice with ac crued
vacation lea ve and who give at least two (2) weeks noti ce of
their intention to te rminate shall be pa id the amounts of
a ccrued va cation to the date of te rmina tion. An ei:.ployee
whose service is ter minated fo r the co nvenien ce of the City,
o ther than as the result of disciplinar y action, sha ll alao
be paid fo r his accr ue d vaca tion. Payments fo r a cc rued vaca-
tio n sha ll be at the employee's curren t ra te of pay.
Employees who terminate e mployme nt with the City a nd have
less than six (6) months' co ntinuous service shall not be
compensated for acc rued vaca tion.
SEC. 707 VACATION BENEFITS FOR DECEASED EMPLOYEES
An emplo yee who is eligible for vacatio n le ave an d who
dieswhile in the mun icipal service shall have the a mo unt of
any accr ue d vacatio n paid to his estate within thirty (30)
days. This pro ration will be compute d at his last basic rate
of pay.
SEC. 708 EFFECT OF EXTENDED M ILITARY LEAVE
An e _mr.'ovee who in terrupts his service because of e xte nded
military leave sha ll be compensated for a ccrued vacation at the
time the leave becomes effective.
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CHAPTER 8 OTHER LEAVES OF ABSENCE
SEC. 801 LEAVE OF ABSENCE WITHOUT PAY
Leav e of absence with out pay may be grant ed in cases
of emergency or wh ere such absence w ould not be contr ary to
the best interests of the City. Such leave is not a right but
a privilege. Employ ees on auth orized l eave of absence with out
pay may not ::-xtend such le ave without express approval of the
City Ma na ge r. No v acation or sick leav e benefits shall be
used for illness occuring during such l eave.
a. Appr oval of Department Head . Leave of absenc e
witho ut pay for one (1) week or l ess may be
gran te d by the department head, depe nding on
the merit of the individual case .
b. Approval by City Manager. Leave of abse nce with out
pay in excess of one (1) week's duration may be
granted by the City Manager on the merit of the
case , but such leave shall not exceed twelve (12)
month's dur atio n.
SEC. 802 ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE
Unauthorize d le ave of absence shall be considered to be
witho ut pay, a nd re ductions in the loyee's pay shall be made
acco rdingly. Un authorized le ave of absence for mor e than three
(3) c onsecutive days shall re sult in automatic termination of
e mployment. Such ter mina tion shall not be subject to appeal.
SEC. 803 LEAVE OF ABSENCE: DEATH IN IMM EDIATE FAMILY
Leave of absence with pa y of (1) da y ma y be granted an
e mployee by the head of his depa rtment inthe event of death
in the e mployee's irradia te family, which is define d for pur-
po se s of this sec tion as wife, husband, son, da ughter, father,
mother, br othe r, sister, or a c lose relative re siding in the
household of the employee. Suc h lea ve shall be at full pa y and
shall not be cb s rged against the employee's accrued vaca tion or
sic k le ave. Reque sts for lea ve in e xcess of on e (1) day shall
be subject to the approval of the City Mana ger.
SEC. 804 LEAVE OF ABSENCE: DEATH OUTSIDE THE
Lea ve without pay may be granted a regular , special, or
part-time emplo yee by his depar tment head in the e ven t of dea th
to family membe rs other than o ne of the immedia te family, such
lea ve to be granted in accordance with Section 801.
SEC. 805 MILITARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Sta te law shall gove rn the granting of milita ry leaves of
absence and the rights of e mploye es retur ning from such a bsence.
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SEC. 806 EMPLOYEE'S TIME OFF TO VOTE
Tim e off with pay to vot e at any gene ral, direct primary,
or presidential prim ary election shall be granted as pr ovided
in the State of C alifor ni a Elections Code and noti ce that an
e mployee desires such time off shall be given in accordan ce with
the pro visions of said C ode.
SEC. 807 JURY DUTY; LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Employees required to report for jury duty sh all be g ra nted
a lea ve of absence with pay fr om their assigned duties until
released by the court, provided the employee remits to the City
all fee s received for such duties other than mileage or subsis-
tence a llowance s within thirty (30) days from the termination of
his ,jury service.
SEC. 808 LEAVE OF ABSENCE WITH PAY
The City Ma na ge r may grant a regular or pa rt-time employee
unde r his contr ol a leave of absence with pay fo r a pe riod not
exceeding thirty (30) cale ndar days for reasons he d eems ad e-
quate and in the be st interests of the City.
The City Council may gr ant a re gular or part-time employee
a leave of a bsenc e with pay for a per iod not to exceed one (1)
year for reason s the Council co nside rs a dequate and in the best
inter ests of the City.
SEC. 809 SUBPOENAS; LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Regular, spec ial, or part-time employee s who are subpoenaed
to appe ar as witn esses in behalf of the State of California or
any of its a gencie s may be grante d leave s of absence with pay
fro m their assigned duties until re leased. The employee shall
remit all fees received for such appea rances to the City within
thirty (30) days fro m the termination of his services. Compen-
satio n for mile age or subsistence allowan ce shall n ot be con-
sidere d as a fe e and shah be retained by the employee.
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CHAPTER 9 -- PROBATIONARY STATUS
SEC. 901 PROBATIONARY PERIOD
All original appointme nts to r egul ar or part-time
mu nicipal servi ce positi ons shall be tent ative and subject to
a probationary peri od fixed by the app ointi ng authority at
the time of appointme nt of not less than six (6) m onths nor
more than eighteen (18) months . The probationary p eriod may
be exte nded with the appr oval of the City Manager for a period
no t to excee d six (6) additi onal months where the City Man ag er
finds that extraor dinary conditi ons justify su^.h extensi on .
SEC. 902 OBJECTIVE OF PROBATIONARY PERIOD
The probationa ry per iod shall be regarded as a part of the
testing process and shall be utilized fo r closely observing the
employee s work, for se curing the most effe ctive adjustm ent of
a new employee to his po sition, and f or rejecting a ny probation-
ary emplo yee whose performance does not -m eet th e acc eptabl e
standards of work.
SEC. 903 EMPLOYEE PERFORM ANCE REPORTS
A repo rt of performance of each probationary employee shall
be made by the de partment head at the time and in the mann er
provide d in the City M anager's ru le s and procedures.
SEC. 904 REJECTION OF PROBATIONER
During the probatio na ry period an employee may be suspended,
demoted or te rminate d at any time by the appointing authority
witho ut cause and without right of appeal or to submit a grievanc e.
CHAPTER 10 - DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
SEC. 1001 DISCIPLINARY ACTION; DEFINITION
As used in this Chapt er, "dis ciplinary action" shall mean
discharge, d emotion, reduction in salary, reprim and, disciplinary
probation or suspension.
SEC. 1002 CAUSES FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Ca uses for disciplin ary action against any employee may
include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
a. Fraud in securing appointment .
b. Inexcusa ble neglect of duty .
c. Insubordina tion.
d. Disho ne sty.
e. Drunke nne ss on duty.
f. Intempera nce.
g. A ddiction to the use of na rcotics or h abit forming d rugs.
h. Unauthor ize d abse nce without lea ve.
i. Conviction of a felony or conviction of a misdemeanor
involving moral turpitude.
J. Immorality.
k. Disco urteo us tre atment of the public or other empl oyees.
1. Improperpolitical activity.
m. Willful disobe die nce .
n. Misuse of City pro perty..
o. Vio lation of any of the provisions of these Working
Ru le s and Regulations or depa rtmental rules and
regulations.
p. Other failure of go od behavior either during or ou tside
of duty hour s which is of such a nature that it ca uses
disc re dit to the City or his employment.
q. Refusal to take or subsc ribe to a ny oath or affirmatio n
whic h is required by law in connection with his emplo y-
me nt.
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SEC . 1003 PERSONS BY WHOM DISCIPLINARY ACTION
MAY BE TAKEN; NOT/CE; SERVICE; CONTENTS
The City Manager, any department h ead autho rized by him
or any Coun cil -appointed offi cer may take disciplinary acti on
against an employee und er his control fo r on e or more of the
c auses for discipline spe cified in this Chapt er by n otifying
the e mployee of the acti on, pending the ser vi ce upon him of a
written notice.
Disciplinary action is valid only if a written notice is
se rve d on the employee and filed with th e P ersonnel Divi6ion
not later tha n fifteen (15) calendar days after the date of
such action. The notice shall be ser ved upon the employee,
either perso na lly or by mail and shall include:
a. A statement of the nat ure of the discipli nary
action .
b. The effective da te of the action.
A stateme nt of the ca uses theref or .
d. A statement in or dinar y and concis e langu age of
the act or omissions upon which the causes a re
ba sed.
e. A state ment advising the emplo yee of his right
to appeal from such actio n.
SEC. 1004 RIGHT OF APPEAL; FORM
Any e mplo yee shall ha ve the r ight of appea l to the City
Mana ger from any disciplinary ac tion take n by his department
head under Section 1003. Such a ppeal must be filed with the
City Ma nager within ten (10) wor king days after receipt of
writte n no tice of such disciplinary action; failure to file an
a ppe al within such perio d con stitutes a waiver of r ight of
appea l. The appeal must be in writing, must be verified before
a notary pu blic, or made under penalty of perjury, and must
state spe cific ally the facts upo n which it is based.
The City Manager shall cause such appeal to be investigated
a nd shall conduct a hear ing as provide d in this Chapter. Neither
the pr ovisions of this Sec tio n or this Chapter shall apply to
layoffs or reductions in pay which ar e a part of a ge ne ra l plan
to redu ce or adjust salaries an d wages.
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SEC. 1005 HEARING
The City Man ager shall conduct a h earing on an app eal
filed in acc ord ance with Secti on 1004 within thirty (30) days
afte r receipt thereof. The City Manager may continue the hearing
either for th e conv enience of th e City or upon written applica-
tion of the app ellant, f or a p eriod not to ex ce ed an additional
thirty (30) days fr om the rec eipt of the appe al . Written n otice
of the time and place of the hearing, a nd any continu ance thereof,
shall be give n to the appellant. Such hearings shall be conducted
in accordance with the provisions of Section 11513 of the Clvern-
ment Code of the State of C alifornia, except th at the appellant
an d other per sons may be ex amin ed as provided in Se ction 19580
of sa id Gover nment Code and the parti es may submit all proper
and competent evidence against or in support of th e causes, but
it shall be a presumption that the statement of c auses is tr ue.
SEC. 1006 REPRESENTATION
Any City employee shall be permitted to r epr esent an oth er
City e mploye e or group of City employe es at the hearing of the
appe al. The a ppellant may appe ar in person or be represented
by coun se l.
SEC. 1007 NOTICES TO WITNESSES; COST
The City Manager shall issue notic es for the app ea ran ce
of the a ppellant upon his writte n request and at his cost. The
City Manager ma y require such cost to be prepaid.
SEC. 1008 FAILURE OF EMPLOYEE TO APPEAR AT HEARING
Failur e of the a ppellant to appear at the hearing shall
be deeme d a withdra wal of his appeal and the ac tion of the
appointing powe r sha ll be final.
SEC. 1009 DECISIONS
The City Manage r shall render a written decision within
fifteen (15) days after concludin g the hearing. The City
M anager's decision shall be final and conc lusive. A co py of
suc h dec isio n shall be fo rwa rded to the appellant. If the
disc iplinary action taken a gainst the e mployee is reversed or
mo difie d by the City Ma nager, the employe e ma y be co mpensated,
in who le or in par t, fcr the time lost as de ter mined by the
City Manager.
SEC. 1010 EFFECT OF CERT AIN DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS
a. Di sc ip linary Probation. Employees placed on dis-
ciplinar y probation shall not accrue vacation, sick
leave or earned time for sala ry review while on such
probation .
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b. Suspension. Employees susp end ed from the municip al
service shall forfeit all rights, privileges and
salary while on such suspension.
c. Discharge. Employees te rminated pursuant to se cti on
404 of these Rules shall be paid salary accumul ated
to the effective d ate of t erminati on only and shall
not be paid fo r ac cumulat ed vacation or si ck leav e.
CHAPTER 11 - - GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
SEC. 1101 PURPOSE OF CHAPTER
a. To promote improved employer -employee relati ons by
establishing griev ance procedu res on matters for
which appeal or hearing is not pro vided by other
regulations.
b. To afford_ employees individually or through
qualified employ ee o rganizations a syst ematic m eans
of obtaining further considerations of probl ems after
eve ry other reasonable effort has failed to resolve
them through discussions.
c. To provide that grievan ces sh all be settled as n ear
as possible to the point of origin .
d. To pr ovide tha t grievan ces shall be heard and settl ed
as informa lly as possible.
SEC. 1102 MATTERS SUBJECT TO GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
Any City emplo yee sha ll have the right to pr es ent a g ri ev-
a nce regarding wa ges, salar ies, hours and working conditi ons
for which a ppeal is not provided or is not prohibited under the
pro visio ns of Chapter 10.
SEC. 1103 INFORM AL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
An e mployee should first atte mpt to re solve a g riev anc e or
c omplaint through discussio n with his immediate supervis or with-
out undue de lay. If, after suc h discussion, the employee does
not believe the pro ble m has been satisfactorily re solved, he
sha ll ha ve the right to discuss it with his supervisor's immedi-
ate superior, if any. Eve ry effor t should be made to find an
acceptable so lution by informal me ans at the mos t immediate level
of super visio n. If the e mployee is not in a greeme nt with the
de cision reached thro ugh such discussio n, he shall then have the
right to file a forma l gr ievance in wr iting within ten (10)
c alendar days after rece iving the infor mal decison of his superior
or supe riors. An informal grievanc e shall no t be taken abo ve
the de par tment hea d.
SEC. 1104 FORMAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
Formal grie vance procedur e a fter exhaustio n of the informal
grievance proce dur e shall proceed as 'ollows:
a. De pa rtme nt Re vie w. The grieva nce sr,11 be prese nted
in wr iting to tTie emplo yee's depa rtme nt head who
11
shall discuss the gr ievance with the emplo yee , his
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rep resentative, if any, a nd with other appro-
p riate persons. The department head shall render
his decision and c omments in w riting and return
them to the employee within fifteen (15) calenda r
days after receiving th e grievance. If the employee
do es not agr ee with the decision reach ed, or if no
answer has b een r eceiv ed within fifteen (15)
calendar days, he may present thegrievancein writing
to the City Manager. Failu re o the employee to t ake
further acti on within ten (10) calendar d ays afte r
receipt of the decision, or within a total of twenty-
five (25) cal enda r d ays if no d ecisio n is rende red,
will constitut e withdrawal of the grievance.
b. City Manager Review. Up on receiving the griev anc e
the City Manager or his designated representati ve
shall discuss the grievanc e with th e employee, his
representative, if any, and with all other app ro-
priate persons. The City Manager may designat e a
fact-finding committee or an officer not in the
nor mal line of su pervision to ad vise him concerning
the grievance. The City Manager shall r ender a
dec ision in writing to the employee within twenty
(20) calendar da ys after receiving the grievance.
The dec ision of the City Manager shall be final.
SEC. 1105 CONDUCT OF GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
a. The time limits specified above m ay be extended to
a -definite date by mu tua l agreement of the empl oyee
and the reviewer co ncerned.
b. The employee may request the assistanc e of anothe r
person;o f his own cho osing in preparing and pretc.nting
his gt'. evance at any leve l of re view.
c. Employe es shall be free from reprisal for using the
grievanc e pro cedure.
CHAPTER 12 - - EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
AND EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES
SEC. 1201 RIGHT TO JOIN OR ABSTAIN
Employ ee s of the City of P al o Alto, except as may be
other wise provided, sh all have the right to form, join and
participate in the activities of employee or labor o rg anizations
of the ir o wn choosing as provided in Sections 3500-3509 of the
Gov ernment Code of the State of California. Employees of the
City of Pa lo Alto sh all als o ha ve the right to r efus e to j oin
or participate in the activities of any employee or lab or or-
ga niz ations and shall have the right to represent themsel ves
individually in their employment r elations with the City.
SEC. 1202 RIGHT TO PRESENT GRIEVANCES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
All employee s shall also have the right, as p rovided in
Sections 1960-1963 of the Labor C ode of the St ate of Califo rni a
to pre sent grievance s and recommendations r egarding wages,
salar ies, hours a nd working c onditio ns to the City Man ager and
to discuss the same with the City Manage r through employ ee or
labor o rga nizations but shall no t have the right to strike or
to re cognize a picket line of a labor organi zation while in the
co urse of the pe rforma nc e of their o fficial duties.
SEC. 1203 VERIFICATION OF STATUS OF ORGANIZATION
Each employee or labor o rganiz ation de siring to repr esent
its me mbe rs in the ir r elations with the City shall file with
the City Ma nager's office an application for certific ati on,
c ontaining the following a nd such other pertinent inf orm ation
as ma y be prescribe d:
a. Na me and addr ess of the or ganizatio n.
b. Na mes of the organization's principal offic er s and
r epre sentative s who are author ize d to speak on behalf
of the organization's me mbers.
c. Na mes of City employees, listed by depa rtment or
divisio n, who are me mbers of and being re presented by
the or ganizatio n.
Such applica tio n sha ll be execute d under penalty of per jury
by a duly a utho riz ed offic er of the o rganiza tion. Upon verifi-
c atio n of the information containe d in su ch application the City
Ma nage r shall certify the organiza tion as r epresenting the
employees listed.
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SEC. 1204 CONFERENCES
The City Manager or his duly designated rep res entative
shall meet and c onfe r upon request with both individual
employees and with duly certified representatives of employee
or labor organizations f or the purp ose of considering and
disc ussing as fully as he de ems r easonable su ch pr es entations
as are made. If d eemed necessa ry, the City Manage r will esta-
blish r ules and proc edur es for the condu ct of meetings with an
emplo ye e or labor organization and the City . Written mate rial
or do cuments to be discuss ed at su ch m eetings shall be suppli ed
to the City M anager one (1) week prior to any scheduled me eting.
SEC. 1205 RULES FOR PRESENTING REQUESTS RE BENEFITS
Any recommendation regarding salaries and wages, hours of
wo rk or other benefits shall be submitt ed in w riting and only
between. Februa ry 1 a nd March 1 of any fiscal year, in ord er .
that such r equests ma y be considered at the tune the budget is
being prepared.
SEC. 1206 ACCESS OF ORGANIZATIONS TO WORK LOCATIONS
Employee or labo r or ganizatio ns which have as their p rimary
purpose the re presentatio n of their members in their relati ons
with the City shall c onduc t the recruiting of member s, communi-
ca te with members, collect du es and ho ld all meetings at times
other than during wor king or duty hours and at locations other
tha n on City working pre mises. Emplo yee or labor organizations
ma y post o rganizational material or bulletins in a space desig-
nated by the Per sonnel Division. The City Manager res erves th e
right to disappro ve the po sting of any mate rial.
SEC. 1207 RULES NO ABROGATION OF RIGHTS
By the a doption of the provision s of this Chapter the City
sha ll not be dee me d to abrogate its r ight to establish policy
and pro ce dure a nd make wha tever changes it co nsiders ne cessary
for the go od of the City, eithe r with or without prior notifica-
tion to employees, their o rganizatio ns or the ir representatives.
SEC. 1208.
CITY MANAGER DESIGNATED AS "GOVERNING BODY"
AND REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CITY UNDER LABOR
CODE AND GOVERNMENT CODE PROVISIONS
a. Labor Co de Provisions. Fo r the purposes of Se ctio n
1962 of the Labor Code of th e State of Ca lifornia,
the City Mana ger is designated as the "governing
bo dy" to who m employees of the Fire Depar tment or
a ny other department or div isions of the City or
employee organiz ations may pr esent grievances and
recommendation s regarding wages, salaries, hours
and wor king conditions and with whom they shall
discuss the same.
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b. G ov ernment Code P rovisions . Fo r the purposes of
Sections J5J0 to -33-09- of the Go vernment C ode of
the State of Calif ornia, the City Manager is
further designated as the representative of the
City who shall meet and c onfe r with rep resentatives
of empl oy ee organizations up on requ est, and wh o
shall consid er as fully as he de ems reasonable
such present ations as are made by empl oy ee org ani-
zations on behalf of their memb ers prior to
ar riving at any determination of p olicy or course
of a ction a uthorized by the Charter,.'the'Palo Alto
Municipal Code or these Rul es and Regul ations .
SEC. 1209 GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE UNDER LABOR AND
ULVERNMENT CODES
In presenting and discussing g rievan ces or recommend ations
under Section s 1960-1963 of the Tabor Code or in presentations
made unde r Sections 3500 to 3509 of the Government Code all
employees and representatives of employ ee o rg anizations shall
first follow the grie vance proc edure s et forth in Ch apt er 11.
SEC. 1210 CITY MANAGER AUTHORIZED TO ADOPT RULES AND
REGULATIONS
The City M ana ger is a utho rize d to adopt reasonable rul es
and re gulations fo r the administra tion of employer - employee
rela tions and for the implementation or clarification of the
provisions of this Chapter . A ll such _ales a nd regulations
shall be consiste nt with the Cha rter of the City of Palo Alto,
the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and with the City's Merit Syst em
as e sta blishe d in these Rules.
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CHAPTER 13 - - MISCELLANEOUS
SEC. 1301 REPORTS OF CHANGE OF STATUS
All a ctions involving employm ent and ch ange in status of
employment shall be repo rted by the app ointing a utho rity to the
Pe rsonnel Division on forms p resc ribed f or that purpos e. Copies
of such reports shall be fur nished to the employ ee involved.
SEC. 1302 DA MAGE CLAIMS
Any e mployee of the City of P alo Alto filing suitfo r
dama ges a rising from occupational injury shall notify the
Con tro ller of the amount of d am ages c ollected f rom such suits
in or der that all expens es p aid by the City may be recovered.
SEC. 1303 GRATUITIES
No officer of e mployee of th e City shall solicit or acgept
any gr atuity for services rendered .
SEC. 1304 OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT
All regular a nd par t-time employees wishing to e ngage in
outside e mplo yment shall obta in approval to eng age in outside
employment ea ch year fro m their department head in the m anne r
a nd at the time s set by the City Mana ger in administrative rules
and pro cedure s. Such approval may be de nied if in the opini on
of the depar tment hea d such outside employment is in compatible
with the proper discharge of his official duties or w ould tend
to impair his inde pe ndenc e of judgment or ac tion in th e p erform-
ance of his o ffic ial duties. All such appr ov als shall be subject
to review by the City Manager.
SEC. 1305 UNIFORM A LLOW ANCE
Qualifie d full-time polic e, fire, a nima l shelter and Foothill
Par k per sonne l r equire d to wear dress uniforms in the pe rformance
of their duties shall receive a uniform allowance as pro vided in
the Compensatio n Plan.
Su ch allo wances are to be used to acquire and ma intain the
spec ific de partmental uniform in a neat and gro per manner.
The City Manager shall establish administrative ru le s and
procedur es for the administra tion of the u niform allo wance
pr ogr am.
SEC. 1306 POLITICAL ACTIVITY
The political activity of City employee s shall comply with
pe rtine nt provisions of State law.
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SEC. 1307 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No empl oy ee, whether paid or unpaid, shall eng age in any
business transaction or shall have a financial i nter est, direct
or indirect, which is inc omp atibl e with th e p rope r disch arge
of his official duties in the public inter est or would tend to
impair his independence of j udg ment or actio n in th e pe rformanc e
of his official duties.
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