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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 08-19-2010 - 3ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: August 19, 2010 Action Agenda Item No. SUBJECT: Senior Orange County Staff Ethics Policy DEPARTMENT: County Attorney PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Draft Ethics Policy Personnel Ordinance (Relevant Sec#ions) Employee Handbook (Relevant Sections) INFORMATION CONTACT: John Roberts, 245-2318 PURPOSE: To discuss the need for and requirements of an ethics policy for senior level staff of Orange County. BACKGROUND: In 2009 the General Assembly enacted and Governor Beverly Perdue signed legislation requiring an ethics code for all local government elected officials. The Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted an ethics code pursuant to this legislation earlier this year. As part of the discussions involving Commissioner ethics, the subject of Senior Staff ethics was raised. Attached to this agenda abstract are a draft Senior Staff Ethics Policy and sections of the personnel ordinance and employee handbook relevant to employee ethics. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no direct financial impact. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board discuss the need for and content of a senior staff ethics policy. 2 Orange County Ethics and Conduct for Senior Staff Policy Article 1. General Provisions. Section 1. Title. This policy shall be known as the "Orange County Ethics and Conduct for Senior Staff Policy". Section 2. Purpose. It is the policy of Orange County to carry out its mission in accordance with the strictest ethical guidelines and to ensure that its Senior Staff conduct themselves in a manner that fosters public confidence in the integrity of Orange County, its processes and its accomplishments. In accordance with this objective, .Orange County Senior Staff must conduct themselves, at all times, in a manner that. avoids favoritism, bias, and the appearance of impropriety. Section 3. Definitions. The following definitions apply in this Policy: 1) Business- Any for-profit company, however organized. 2) Business with which associated- A business in which the Senior Staff Member or any family member does any of the following: (a.) Is an employee; or (b.)Holds a position as director, officer, partner, proprietor, or Member or mana~er~°of a limited liability company, irrespective of the amount of compensation received or the amount of the interest owned; or (c.) Owns a legal, equitable,-or-beneficial interest often percent (10%) or more of the business; and (d.) Said business is currently or has within the past twelve (12) months solicited the award of a bid or any required approval from Orange County. 3) Compensation- Money, items of value or economic benefit conferred on or received by a person in return for services rendered or to be rendered by that person. 4) Confidential Information- Information defined as confidential by the law 5) Economic interest- Matters involving a business with which associated or a non- profit corporation or organization with which associated. 6) Family member- The spouse or domestic partner of the Senior Staff Member. 7) Gift- Any item of monetary value given or received without valuable consideration by or from a lobbyist, lobbyist principal, or a person or business doing or seeking to do business with Orange County. The following shall not be considered gifts under this Policy: (a.) Anything for which fair market value, or face value if shown, is paid by the Senior Staff Member; and (b.)Anything having a negligible or insignificant value. 3 8) Honorarium- Payment for services for which fees are not legally or traditionally required. 9) Senior Staff (Member)- (a.)Employees of Orange County holding the position of County Manager, County Clerk, County Attorney, Assistant County Manager, Department Director, any senior supervisor who serves as Department Director in the Department Director's absence or anyone holding a position which reports directly to the County Manager. (b.) Senior Staff does not include the Orange County Sheriff or Orange County Register of Deeds. Article 2. General Standards of Ethical Conduct Section 1. Solicitation. A general summary of the restraints upon the conduct of all Senior Staff includes, but is not limited to, those listed below. No Senior Staff Member shall: 1) Solicit anything of value from anyone doing business with Orange County. 2) Solicit or accept employment from anyone doing business with Orange County, unless the Senior Staff completely withdraws from Orange County activity regarding the party offering employment, and Orange County approves the withdrawal in writing. 3) Use his or her public position to obtain benefits for the Senior Staff Member, a family member, or anyone with whom the official or employee has a business or employment relationship; Section 2. Other Compensation. A Senior Staff Member shall not solicit or receive personal financial gain or compensation, other than that received by the Senior Staff Member from Orange County, or with the approval of the County, for acting in the Senior Staff Member's official capacity, or far' advice or assistance given in the course of carrying out the Senior Staff Member's duties. Section 3.Official Action. No Senior Staff Member authorized to perform an official action requiring the exercise of discretion shall knowingly: 1) Participate in an official action by Orange County if the Senior Staff Member, a family member, or a business with which the Senior Staff Member is associated, has an economic interest in, or a reasonably foreseeable benefit from, the matter under consideration. 4 2) Authorize, recommend, or in any other way use his or her position to secure approval of an Orange County contract (including employment or personal services) in which the Senior Staff Member has a business or employment relationship or interest. Section 4. Gifts and Honoraria. 1) A Senior Staff Member of Orange County shall not knowingly, directly or indirectly ask, accept, demand, exact, solicit, seek, assign, receive, or agree to receive any gift or honorarium for the Senior Staff Member, or for another person, in return for being influenced in the discharge of the Senior Staff Member's official responsibilities, other than that which is received by the Senior Staff Member's official capacity. 2) A Senior Staff Member may not solicit for a charitable purpose any gift from any subordinate County employee. This section shall not apply to generic written solicitations to all Members of a class of subordinates. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a Senior Staff Member from ser~•ing as the honorary head of a charitable solicitation for a nonprofit business tntity_qualifying under 26 U.S.C. § 501 (c) (3). 3) It is acknowledged that departments occasionally solicit for charitable purposes with County Manager approval. Such occasions shall not fall within the purview of this policy when the County Manager has authorized; in writing, such activity. Section 5. Disclosure of confidential information. Senior Staff Members shall nc~t use or disclose confidential information protected by law, unless appropriatelyauthc>1-i~.e~. Section 6. Use of information for private gain. A Senior Staff Member shall not kno~yingly use their public position or title in an official action or legislative action that will. result in financial benefit, direct or indirect, to the Senior Staff Member, a family member, or business with which the Senior Staff Member is associated. Section 7. Ethics Education. All Senior Staff Members shall receive a minimum of one clock hour of ethics education every calendar year with the first applicable calendar year beginning the first full calendar year after the adoption of this policy. New Senior Staff Members who are hired before June 30a' of any given year must complete one clock hour of ethics training prior to the end date of the calendar year of their employment and each year thereafter according to this Section. Those employed July 1St or after must begin receiving ethics training the first full calendar year of employment and each year thereafter according to this Section. This training may be received by the Senior Staff Member through live instruction, video, webcast, or any other form of media so long as the training is approved by an appropriate entity such as the LTNC School of Government or a professional organization by or of which the Senior Staff Member is licensed, certified or a member. The training may also be received from the Orange County Human Resources Department. Article 3. Violation Consequences Section 1. Violation Consequences. Willful failure by a Senior Staff Member serving as an Orange County employee to comply with this Policy is a violation of a written work order, thereby permitting, to the extent permitted by North Carolina law, disciplinary action as allowed by North Carolina law and the Orange County Personnel Ordinance including, but not limited to, termination from employment. Article 4, Miscellaneous Section 1. Severability. If any Section or provision of this Policy is declared unlawful or invalid by the courts, that declaration does not affect the validity of this policy as a whole or any part other than the part so declared unlawful'or invalid. Section 2. Effecti~~c date. This Policy becomes effective upon-its adoption by the Orange County Board of Commissioners. 6 PERSONNEL ORDINANCE Relevant Ethics Provisions Section 5.0 - Outside/Dual Employment The work of the County will take precedence over other occupational interests of employees. Other employment shall not be so demanding in time and energy that the employee is unable to maintain an acceptable level of performance in the County's service. 5.1 All outside employment for salaries, wages, or commission, and all self- employment must be reported to the employee's supervisor. The County Manger will review such employment to determine the County's liability to conflict of interest. 5.1.1 Abuses such as leaving work early, the use of County equipment to conduct personal business, being sluggish or sleeping on the job due to outside employment will not be tolerated. 5.1.2 Employment with firms, offices, businesses, and agencies, including self- employment, that clearly present a conflict of interest with an employee's public service position will be grounds for punitive action including termination. 5.2 An employee cannot be additionally "employed" by another County department without advance review and approval by the County Manager. 5.2.1 An employee's work in another department without advance review and approval by the County Manager is prohibited by the County's Pay Plan and State and Federal Tax regulations. 5.3 Solicitation of County employees during work hours shall be prohibited unless expressly authorized in advance by the Manager. 5.3.1 Collection and solicitation by County employees is prohibited. County employees engaging in this activity, receiving salaries, wages, or commissions will be subject to the provisions of outside employment as outlined in Section 5.1. 5.3.2 The annual United Fund/United Way campaign will be the exception to this rule. Monies generated from the campaign fund non-profit organizations and do not constitute a conflict of interest. 5.3.3 Any violation of this section shall subject such employee to dismissal or other disciplinary action. Section 6.0 Political Activity All employees are free to engage in political activity to the widest extent consistent with the restrictions imposed by law. An employee may participate in all political activity not specifically restricted by law; including candidacy for office in nonpartisan election and candidacy for political party office. However, no employee shall: z -Use official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for office; -Directly or indirectly coerce, attempt to command or advise any other employee of the governmental unit to pay, lend or contribute anything of value to a political party, committee, organization, agency or person for political purposes; -Use any supplies or equipment of the governmental unit for political purposes. 6.S Any violation of this section shall be deemed improper conduct and the employee shall be subject to disciplinary action or dismissal by the appointed authority. Section 7.0 Gifts and Gratuities 7.1 Any employee shall not accept gifts, gratuities or loans, whether in the form of service, or promise from organizations, business concerns, or individuals while on official business of the County. 7.1.1 An employee, County Manager, Clerk to the Board, or Board of Commissioners member, shall not accept any gift, favor, or thing of value that may tend to influence the discharge of duties. 7.1.2 An official or employee of the County shall not grant in the discharge of duties any improper favor, service, or thing of value. 7.2 These limitations are not intended to prohibit the acceptance of articles of negligible value which are distributed generally, not to prohibit employees from accepting social courtesies which promote good public relations, nor to prohibit employees from obtaining loans from regular lending institutions. 7.3 Inspectors, contracting officers, enforcement officers, and other employees should guard against contacts which might be construed as evidence of favoritism, coercion, unfair advantage or collusion. Appendix 2 Article IX -Guides for Work Performance and Personal Conduct 1. General -Orange County expects performance and personal conduct on the job to be governed by good judgment and consideration of others. It is important that each employee's performance and conduct support and advance the goals of the department and the County. 2. Examples Of Work Performance And Personal Conduct Which Interfere With County Goals -The following acts comprise a representative, but not exclusive, list of unsatisfactory work performance and unacceptable personal conduct which may be the basis for a disciplinary action. b. Personal Conduct (1) Fraud and/or dishonesty (2) Fighting or causing a fight (3) Unauthorized possession of a firearm or other weapon on County property (4) Using abusive, profane, obscene or derogatory language (5) Gambling during work time 8 (6) Sleeping during work time (7) Reporting to work or performing work while under the influence of any intoxicant, drug or chemical which interferes with the employee's work performance or which might adversely affect safety (8) Possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages while on County property during worktime (9) Illegally using, possessing, dispensing, distributing, manufacturing or selling controlled substances at the worksite, during work time or while on duty, on stand-by duty or official County business (10) Engaging in acts during or outside duty hours which negatively impact on the image of Orange County and which interfere with the working relationship between the employee and co-workers or between the employee and the public that employee serves (11) Falsifying an official record (12) Sexual or racial harassment (13) Misusing or directing the misuse of County work time, funds, equipment or property (14) Accepting any gift, favor or thing of value which may tend to influence the discharge of duties or granting without authority any favor, service or thing of value (15) Operating a County vehicle or County equipment in an unsafe or unlawful manner (16) Taking without permission, destruction or abuse of County property, including unauthorized use of a County vehicle for non-County business (17) Absence without authorized leave and/or notice (18) Willful refusal to carry out the reasonable and lawful instructions of a supervisor (19) Engaging in incompatible employment or serving a conflicting interest (20) Serious, willful discourtesy to citizens or employees (21) Failing to maintain legally required confidentiality of records such as medical records or personnel records (22) Engaging in prohibited political activity 9 Employee Handbook Relevant Ethics Provisions Outside/Dual Employment Employees must report all outside employment for salaries, wages, or commission and all self- employment to their supervisor. The County Manager will review such employment, as appropriate, to deternvne whether their outside job conflicts with the County's interest Employees may not be additionally "employed" by another County department without advance review and approval by the County Manager. Gifts and Gratuities County employees may not: • Accept a gift, gratuity, loan, or anything of value, whether in the form of service, or promise from organizations or individuals, while on official business of the County. • Grant any improper favor, service or flung of value in the discharge of their duties. These limitations are not intended to prohibit employees from accepting articles of negligible value which are distributed generally, accepting social courtesies which promote good public relations, or obtaining loans from regular lending institutions. Solicitation Solicitation of County employees during work hours is prohibited unless otherwise approved by the County Manager. This includes solicitation of employees by other County employees. The annual United Fund/United Way campaign will be the exception to this rule. Monies generated from this campaign fund non-profit organizations and do not constitute a conflict of interest Political Activi~ The Orange County Personnel Ordinance provides that employees may not: • Use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of an election or nomination for office. • Coerce, attempt to command, or advise any other employee to pap, lend or contribute anything of value to a party, organization, agency, or person for political purposes, whether directly or indirectly. • Be a candidate for elective public office in a partisan election while on active pay status. • Be required to contribute funds for political or partisan purposes. 10 • Post or be responsible for the posting of politically oriented signs, notices, or materials on property leased, owned, ox used by the County fox business. • Wear ox display badges, buttons, or other emblems relaxed to a political party or candidate while on duty or during the performance of services fox the County. • Use any supplies ox equipment belonging to the County fox political purposes. Work PerFormance and Personal Conduct Orange County employees are expected to exercise good judgment and consideration of others in both their work performance and their personal conduct. It is important that employees' performance and conduct support and advance the goals of the department and the County. The following acts are a representative, but not exclusive, list of unsatisfactory work performance and unacceptable personal conduct which may be the basis for disciplinary action. Work Performance: • An overall perforniance rating of "Unsatisfactory" under the Work Plaiuiing and Performance Review program • Failure to perform critical tasks • Failure to meet established deadlines • Excessive absences or late reporting • Failure to meet established standards of customer service • Failure to follow established departmental policies and procedures Personal Conduct: • Fraud and/or dishonesty • Fighting or causing a fight • Unauthorized possession of a firearm or other weapon on County property • Using abusive, profane, obscene, or derogatory language, gambling, or sleeping during work time • Reporting to work or performing work while under the influence of any intoxicant, drug, or chemical which interferes with an employee's work performance or which might adversely affect safety • Possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages while on County property during work time • Illegally using, possessing, dispensing, distributing, manufacturing, or selling controlled substances at the worksite, during work time or while on duty, standby duty, or official County business • Engaging in acts during or outside duty hours which negatively impact on the image of Orange County and which interfere with an employee's working relationship with his or her co-workers or the public that the employee serves • Falsifying an official record • Sexual harassment • Misusing or directing the misuse of County work time, funds, equipment, or property 11 • Accepting any gift, favor, or thing of value which may tend to influence the discharge of an employee's duties or granting without authority any favor, service, or thing of value • C-perating a County vehicle or County equipment in an unsafe or unlawful manner • Taking without permission, destruction, or abuse of County property, including unauthorized use of a County vehicle for non-County business • Absence without authorized leave or notice • Willfiil refusal to carry out the reasonable and lawful instructions of a supervisor • Engaging in incompatible employment or serving a conflicting interest • Serious, willful discourtesy to citizens or other employees • Failing to maintain legally required confidentiality of records • Engaging in prohibited political activity