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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-02-2012 - 5g 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 2, 2012 Action Agenda Item No. 5-g SUBJECT: Amendment to the Orange County Personnel Ordinance Regarding the Employee Performance Evaluation Process DEPARTMENT: Human Resources PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: A. Proposed Revision to Article VII, §§ Nicole Clark, Human Resources 28-82 through 28-84 Director, (919) 245-2552 B. Proposed Administrative Rules and Annette Moore, Staff Attorney, (919) Regluations 245-2317 PURPOSE: To consider an amendment to the Orange Code of Ordinances Chapter 28 Personnel, Article VII, §§ 28-82 through 28-84 as provided in Attachment A, which would remove the operational aspects of the Employee Performance Evaluation Process from the Personnel Ordinance and to the Administrative Rules and Regulations promulgated by the County Manager and to allow an employee's performance evaluation date to remain the anniversary of the original date of appointment or the most recent promotion date. BACKGROUND: In January 2008, the Board of County Commissioners adopted an Ordinance authorizing the County Manager to adopt Administrative Rules and Regulations to carry out the operational aspects of the Personnel Ordinance. This authority was granted to ensure that operational aspects of the Ordinance were maintained consistent with best practices and changes to the law. Although the Board has made some changes to the Personnel Ordinance to move operational issues out of the Ordinance, some operational items still remain within the Ordinance. The substantive portion of Chapter 28, Article VII of the Orange Code of Ordinances contains the Employee Performance Evaluation Process adopted in 1977. Since its adoption, not only have laws affecting the rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers changed significantly, but also best practices have changed. This section provides a procedure for employee performance evaluations. The positions of twenty-three Permanent employees were reclassified to a higher salary grade effective July 1, 2012, either by action of the Board with approval of the FY 2012-13 Annual Operating Budget or by action of the County Manager with approval of the results of the FY 2011-12 Annual Classification Study. Due to the reclassification to a higher salary grade, the Work Planning & Performance (WPPR) review dates for these twenty-three employees were updated to July 1, 2013. In accordance with the Ordinance as written, these employees will not have an annual performance evaluation completed during FY 2012-13 and would 2 subsequently be ineligible to receive the Board-approved employee performance award of $500 or $1,000. Article VII provides, "Each employee should be evaluated on the employee's anniversary date of their original appointment or date of last promotion." Furthermore, the Ordinance defines a "promotion" as "the reassignment of an employee to a position or classification having a higher salary range than the position from which the reassignment is made." Best practices would allow employees to have annual performance evaluations in accordance with the anniversary date of their original appointment, or the date of their last promotion. Staff believes that these procedures, or operational issues, are best contained in the Administrative Rules and Regulations. All of the procedures contained within the current Ordinance would be moved to the Administrative Rules and Regulations (see Attachment B) with a change that would allow the above mentioned employees to be evaluated in accordance with their original appointment date or the date of their last promotion, if applicable. With Board approval, the employees would be eligible to receive the employee performance award based upon the performance rating assigned for the evaluation period. Employees who have completed a WPPR cycle will maintain their existing review date. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Funds have been budgeted in FY 2012-13 to potentially provide an employee performance award of $500 or $1,000 to the twenty-three employees whose positions were reclassified effective July 1, 2012. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board approve the amendment to Article VII, §§ 28-82 through 28-84 and authorize the County Manager to make eligible for FY 2012-13 employee performance awards those employees who were promoted through reclassifications effective July 1, 2012. 3 ORD-2012-041 Attachment A Orange County Personnel Ordinance Effective Date: October 3, 2012 Amend Orange County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 28, Personnel, Article VII Employee Performance Evaluation Program as follows: Article VII. — EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROGRAM Sec. 28-82. - ' . (a) Orange County provides an employee performance evaluation program for the purpose of improving employee work performance and operating department effectiveness,through employee: (1) Understanding of and identification with department purposes and goals, (2) Commitment to doing what needs to be done in his or her position to meet the department goals, and (3) Knowledge of where he or she stands, that is,where performance is acceptable,where it is not and what needs to be changed or improved. (b) The performance evaluation program facilitates a department's personnel decisions such as identification of employee development needs,promotions, disciplinary action and salary administration, as provided by the pay plan. The County Manager prepares a system for evaluating the work performance of all employees. (Ord. of 06-07-1976, eff. 08-01-1976; 03-05-1990, Art. VII § 1.0, eff. 03-05-1990; Amend. of 07-01-1999, eff. 07-01-1999) Sec. 28-83. - ' : ' r. Repealed.A (a) The County Manager 1 prepares a system for evaluating the work performance of all employees. The current system is known as Work Planning and Performance and Performance Reviews. (1) In the work planning phase, the supervisor and employee together plan work objectives for the coming year and the performance level at which these will be accomplished. (2) - - _ ' _ - ' : -- . . . . - _ . .- -- • •and the employee discuss progress against the work plan, how well the peFfetTaane (3) With the formal performance review at the end of the annual work planning work during the past year. The performance evaluation may be used in determining salary increments; as a factor in determining order of layoffs; as a Page 1 4 ORD-2012-041 Attachment A Orange County Personnel Ordinance Effective Date: October 3, 2012 purposes as set forth in these regulations. Scc. 28 84. Proccdurc. Repealed All permanent employees must be evaluated at the end of six months of service, and at the end of 12 months of service upon original appointment. Thereafter, each employee should be evaluated on the employee's anniversary date of their original appointment. (a) An employee is not eligible for an In Range Salary Increase until the performance evaluation form has been completely processed by the Personnel Department. (b) Each employee and supervisor will meet to develop the employee's work plan for the month, quarter, or year. The work plan will include work objectives and performance standards. A performance rating will be assigned to the employee based on work plan performance. Performance ratings will be in one of the following areas: (1) Performance Rating Definitions a. Exceptional * Performs at levels that consistently and significantly exceed job standards. Work goes far beyond job expectations in most functional areas. Accomplishments are made in unexpected areas as well. *Requires the County Manager's advance approval. b. Proficient Performance meets and frequently exceeds the defined job standards. Accomplishes all major objectives and demonstrates a high standard of knowledge and skill in completing tasks. Note: Proficient with Superior Accomplishments For an employee whose work performance includes Superior accomplishments as written recommendation for a Superior Meritorious Service Award outlining the specific accomplishments. This award requires the Manager's advance approval. c. Needs Improvement Performance meets some job standards but does not fully meet all job standards. The job is being accomplished at a minimal level. Improvement is needed to fully meet the job expectations. d. Unsatisfactory Performance does not meet the defined job standards in most functional areas. Important objectives are not met even with close supervision and Page 2 5 ORD-2012-041 Attachment A Orange County Personnel Ordinance Effective Date: October 3, 2012 _uidance. Disciplinary action based on job performance may be initiated. e. Extended No rating is given for this employee. An extension of 90 days is necessary in order to determine with accuracy the appropriate performance level. Supervisors must have the advance approval of the Personnel Department prior to granting this rating. This rating should be used sparingly and only in cases when the supervisor is generally unsure of the rating that should be assigned and an extension of 90 days would benefit both the County and the employee. The rating should not be used by the supervisor to avoid the responsibility of informing an employee of unsatisfactory performance. (c) The immediate supervisor prepares the performance evaluation of each employee reporting to him or her and reviews it with the department head. An employee in a supervisory position who is leaving the position is required to submit performance evaluation information to the department head on each employee under his or her supervision who has not been evaluated within the previous six month period. (d) The supervisor is required to hold an annual performance evaluation conference with each employee. If an employee disagrees with any statement in an evaluation, the employee should submit statements or comments of disagreement. Both the employee and supervisor sign the performance evaluation form. (e) For an employee whose work performance rating is Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory, the WPPR Review must include a development plan with structured follow up. When an employee receives more than one consecutive Needs Improvement rating or an Unsatisfactory rating, the Manager reviews the rating and, as appropriate, makes recommendations for follow up action. (f) Performance evaluation forms are confidential and are made available only to: The employee evaluated or the employee's authorized representative; supervisor; department head; Personnel Director; County Manager, County Attorney or the Governing Boards. (Ord. of 06-07-1976, eff. 08-01-1976; Amend. of 07-01-1999, Art. VII § 3.0, eff. 07-01-1999) Page 3 6 Attachment B Orange County Personnel Rules and Regulations Manual Issue Date: October_, 2012 Administrative Rules and Regulations Article VII. —EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROGRAM L ORDINANCE Sec. 28-82. Orange County provides an employee performance evaluation program for the purpose of improving employee work performance and operating department effectiveness. The performance evaluation program facilitates a department's personnel decisions such as identification of employee development needs, promotions, disciplinary action and salary administration, as provided by the pay plan. The County Manager prepares a system for evaluating the work performance of all employees. II. AUTHORITY The Orange County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 28 Personnel, § 28-7 provides that the County Manager will promulgate any rules or regulations necessary to carry out the provision of this the Personnel Ordinance. III. PURPOSE A. Orange County provides an employee performance evaluation program for the purpose of improving employee work performance and operating department effectiveness through employee: (1) Understanding of and identification with department purposes and goals, (2) Commitment to doing what needs to be done in his or her position to meet the department goals, and (3) Knowledge of where he or she stands, that is, where performance is acceptable, where it is not and what needs to be changed or improved. B. The performance evaluation program facilitates a department's personnel decisions such as identification of employee development needs,promotions, disciplinary action and salary administration, as provided by the pay plan. IV. ADMINISTRATIVE RULES AND REGULATIONS A. In General. The current system is known as Work Planning and Performance Review (WPPR). WPPR includes three phases: Work Planning, Progress Reviews and Performance Reviews. (1) In the work planning phase, the supervisor and employee together plan work objectives for the coming year and the performance level at which these will be accomplished. Page 1 7 Attachment B Orange County Personnel Rules and Regulations Manual Issue Date: October 2012 (2) Through Progress Reviews during the work planning period, the supervisor and the employee discuss progress against the work plan, how well the employee is performing the work and any needed changes in work performance. (3) With the formal performance review at the end of the annual work planning period, the supervisor completes the performance evaluation of the employee's work during the past year. The performance evaluation may be used in determining salary increments; as a factor in determining order of layoffs; as a basis for training; promotion; transfer or dismissal; and for such other purposes as set forth in these regulations. B. Procedure. All permanent employees must be evaluated at the end of six months of service, and at the end of 12 months of service upon original appointment. Thereafter, each employee should be evaluated on the employee's anniversary date of their original appointment. (1) An employee is not eligible for an In Range Salary Increase until the performance evaluation form has been completely processed by the Personnel Department. (2) Each employee and supervisor will meet to develop the employee's work plan for the month, quarter, or year. The work plan will include work objectives and performance standards. A performance rating will be assigned to the employee based on work plan performance. Performance ratings will be in one of the following areas: a.Exceptional. Performs at levels that consistently and significantly exceed job standards. Work goes far beyond job expectations in most functional areas. Accomplishments are made in unexpected areas as well. Requires the County Manager's advance approval. b. Proficient. Performance meets and frequently exceeds the defined job standards. Accomplishes all major objectives and demonstrates a high standard of knowledge and skill in completing tasks. i. Proficient with Superior Accomplishments. For an employee whose work performance includes Superior accomplishments as defined in the Meritorious Service Award program, the department head may submit a written recommendation for a Superior Meritorious Service Award outlining the specific accomplishments. ii. This award requires the Manager's advance approval. c. Needs Improvement. Performance meets some job standards but does not fully meet all job standards. The job is being accomplished at a minimal level. Improvement is needed to fully meet the job expectations. Page 2 8 Attachment B Orange County Personnel Rules and Regulations Manual Issue Date: October 2012 d. Unsatisfactory. Performance does not meet the defined job standards in most functional areas. Important objectives are not met even with close supervision and guidance. Disciplinary action based on job performance may be initiated. e. Extended. No rating is given for this employee. An extension of 90 days is necessary in order to determine with accuracy the appropriate performance level. Supervisors must have the advance approval of the Human Resources Department prior to granting this rating. This rating should be used sparingly and only in cases when the supervisor is generally unsure of the rating that should be assigned and an extension of 90 days would benefit both the County and the employee. The rating should not be used by the supervisor to avoid the responsibility of informing an employee of unsatisfactory performance. (3) The immediate supervisor prepares the performance evaluation of each employee reporting to him or her and reviews it with the department head. An employee in a supervisory position who is leaving the position is required to submit performance evaluation information to the department head on each employee under his or her supervision who has not been evaluated within the previous six month period. (4) The supervisor is required to hold an annual performance evaluation conference with each employee. If an employee disagrees with any statement in an evaluation, the employee should submit statements or comments of disagreement. Both the employee and supervisor sign the performance evaluation form. (5) For an employee whose work performance rating is Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory, the WPPR Review must include a development plan with structured follow up. When an employee receives more than one consecutive Needs Improvement rating or an Unsatisfactory rating, the Manager reviews the rating and, as appropriate, makes recommendations for follow up action. (6) Performance evaluation forms are confidential and are made available only to: The employee evaluated or the employee's authorized representative; supervisor; department head; Human Resources Director; County Manager, County Attorney or the Governing Boards. This Section of the Rules and Regulations will become effective upon signing of this document. Adopted this the day of October 2012. Frank W. Clifton, Jr., County Manager AMENDMENTS: Page 3