Ordinance Number 194329
ORDINANCE NO. 194
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING A
PERSONNEL SYSTEM AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 70
AND NO. 71
The City Council of the City of San Juan Capistrano does
ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. ADOPTION OF PERSONNEL SYSTEM
A personnel management system is hereby adopted for the pur-
pose of achieving effective selection, development, utiliza-
tion, and treatment of the employees covered by the system.
._ Principles of merit, provision of reasonable degree of
security for competent employees, and promotion of efficiency
and effectiveness in the services provided by the City shall
form the foundation for the personnel management system.
SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS: (As used in this ordinance, the following
terms shall be defined as indicated:)
A. "Appointing Power": The City Council, the City Manager,
or other individuals or boards or commissions author-
ized by law or ordinance to make the appointment to the
position to be filled.
B. "Class": All positions sufficiently similar in duties,
authority, and responsibility to permit grouping under
a common title and to permit the application, with equity,
of common standards of selection, assignment, and compen-
sation.
C. "Classified Service": All positions of employment in
the service of the City except those specifically ex-
cluded by this ordinance.
D. "Days": Meanscalendardays unless otherwise stated.
E. "Demotion": The movement of an employee from one class
to another class having a lower maximum rate of pay.
F. "Employment List": A list of names of persons who may
be considered for employment with the City under speci-
fied conditions.
G. "Layoff": The separation of employees from the active
work force owing to lack of work or funds or the aboli-
tion of positions by the City Council for the above
reasons, or owing to organizational changes.
H. "Position": A group of duties and responsibilities re-
quiring the full-time or part-time employment of one
person.
I. "Probationary Period": A working test period during
which an employee is required to demonstrate his fitness
for the position to which he is appointed by actual
performance of the duties of the position.
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J. "Probationary Employee": An employee serving a proba-
tionary period.
K. "Promotion": The movement of an employee from one class
to another class having a higher maximum rate of pay.
L. "Provisional Appointment": An appointment of a person
in the absence of available eligibles from employment
lists. Such person shall possess the qualifications es-
tablished for the class.
M. "Regular Employee": An employee who has successfully
completed his original probationary period and has been
retained as provided in the Personnel Rules.
N. "Reinstatement": The re-employment, without further
examination, of a former regular or probationary em-
ployee in accordance with the provisions of this Or-
dinance or the rules adopted under the Ordinance.
0. "Selection Process": The process and techniques used
to measure the relative capacities of the persons ap-
plying for positions within the classified service.
P. "Suspension": The temporary separation from the service
of an employee for disciplinary purposes.
Q. "Transfer": A change of an employee from one position
to another position in the same class or in a comparable
class.
SECTION 3. PERSONNEL OFFICER
The City Manager shall serve as Personnel Officer. The
Manager may delegate any of the powers and duties conferred
upon him as Personnel Officer under this Ordinance to any
other officer or employee of the City or may recommend that
such powers or duties be performed under contract as pro-
vided in Section 18 of this Ordinance. The Personnel Officer
shall:
a) Administer any provisions of this Ordinance and of the
Personnel Rules not specifically reserved to the City
Council or to any separate Personnel Board the Council
may establish.
b) Preparerand recommend to the City Council, personnel
•rules and necessary revisions and amendments to such rules.
c) Prepare or cause to be prepared a position classification
plan and compensation plan, including._revisions of either
or both of the plans. The plans and any revisions thereof
shall become effective upon approval by the City Council.
d) The Personnel Officer shall attend all meetings of the
Personnel Board and serve as its Executive Secretary.
SECTION 4. PERSONNEL BOARD:
The City Council shall serve as the Personnel Board.
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The Personnel Board shall have the right to subpoena, the
power .to examine witnesses under oath, the power to compel
the attendance of witnesses, and the power to require the
production of evidence by subpoena. Subpoenas shall be
issued in the name of the City and attested by the City
Clerk. Each member of the Personnel Board shall have the
power to administer oaths to witnesses.
SECTION 5. DUTIES OF THE PERSONNEL BOARD:
The Personnel Board shall determine the order of business
and the conduct of its meetings, and shall meet regularly
on call of the Chairman or a majority of the embers of the
Board. A majority of the members of the Board shall con-
stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
The Board, as provided by this Ordinance and by the rules es-
tablished thereunder, shall hear appeals submitted by any
person in the classified service, excluding department heads,
relative to any disciplinary action, dismissal, demotion,
charge of discrimination, or alleged violation of this Ordi-
nance and shall certify its findings and recommendations as
provided in this Ordinance and the personnel rules.
SECTION 6. CLASSIFIED SERVICE:
The provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to all offices,
positions, and employments in the service of the City, ex-
cept the following, unless otherwise indicated in this Ordi-
nance or in the Personnel Rules:
a) The City Manager and the Manager's direct administrative
assistants.
b) Elective officers.
c) Members of appointive boards, commissions, and committees.
d) Persons engaged in a contract to supply expert profes-
sional, technical, or other services.
Volunteer personnel, such as volunteer firemen.
The City Attorney.
The City Treasurer.
Emergency employees who are hired to meet the immediate
requirements of emergency conditions such as an extra-
ordinary fire, flood, or earthquake which threatens life
e)
f)
g)
h)
or property.
SECTION 7. ADOPTION OF RULES
Personnel Rules shall be prepared, or caused to be prepared,
by the City Manager, subject to the provisions of this Or-
dinance. Such Rules shall be adopted or amended by resolution
of the City Council after notice of such action has been duly
published at least 10 days prior to City Council consideration.
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Also, any related provisions of any current council approved
employer-employee relations resolution shall be observed.
The Personnel Rules shall establish regulations governing the
personnel system including:
a) Preparation, installation, revision and maintenance of a
position classification plan covering all positions in
the classified service, including employment standards
and qualifications for each class.
b) Preparation, revision, and administration of a plan of
compensation related to the position classification plan
and providing a single rate or range of pay for each
class.
c) The process and techniques of recruitment and selection
of personnel to fill positions in the classified service.
They shall include reasonable and adequate announcement
of existing vacancies and shall utilize such selection
methods as may be appropriate to the class in ascertain-
ing the relative qualifications of applicants. All pro-
visions of law, ordinance, and rules relating to equal
opportunity for employment with the City service shall
be followed.
d) Certification and appointment of persons from employment
lists and the making of provisional, part-time and extra
help appointments.
e) Establishment of probationary periods.
f) Evaluation of employees during the probationary period and
subsequently.
g) Transfer, promotion, demotion, reinstatment, disciplinary
action, and layoff of employees in the classified service.
h) Separation of employees from the City's service.
i) The establishment of adequate personnel records.
j) The establishment of appeal procedures concerning the inter-
pretation or application of this Ordinance and any Rules
adopted hereunder.
k) The establishment of hours of work, attendance and leave
regulations, and working conditions.
1) The development of the potential knowledges and abilities
of employees.
SECTION 8. APPOINTMENTS
Appointments to vacant positions in the classified service
shall be made by the appropriate appointing power in accordance
with the Personnel Rules. When an appointment is to be made
to a vacancy in the classified service, the Personnel Officer
shall transmit to the appointing power the names of all per-
sons on the appropriate employment list in the order in which
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they appear on the list. In the absence of an appropriate
employment list, a provisional appointment may be made in
accordance with the Personnel Rules.
SECTION 9. PROBATIONARY PERIOD
All regular appointments, including promotional appointments,
shall be for a probationary period of not less than six months.
The probationary period may be extended in special cases in
accordance with the provisions of the Personnel Rules. Dur-
ing the probationary period, the employee may be rejected
at any time without the right of appeal or hearing. An em-
ployee rejected during the probationary period from a position
t
to which he has been promoted shall be reinstated to a posi-
tion in .the class from which he was promoted, unless he was
discharged from the City's service as provided in this Ordi-
nance and the Rules.
SECTION 10. STATUS OF PRESENT EMPLOYEES
Any person holding a position in the classified service with
permanent status on the effective date of this Ordinance, shall
continue to have such permanent status. If, on the effec-
tive date of this Ordinance, he has not held a position in
the classified service for six months, he shall not have
permanent status until he has completed six consecutive months
of satisfactory performance. During this period, he shall
be regarded as a probationer.
SECTION 11. APPLICABILITY OF RULES TO CERTAIN EXEMPT POSITIONS
The provisions of the Personnel Rules relating to attendance
and leaves shall apply to the incumbents of full-time exempt
positions.
SECTION 12. DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS:
Any appointing power shall have the right, for due cause,
to demote, discharge, reduce in pay, or suspend with or
without pay for 30 calendar days, any employee in the clas-
sified service working under his direction. Notice of such
action must be in writing and served personally on such em-
ployee, except where an emergency situation exists, in which
case the notice shall be served within three working days
of the action taken. Such notice shall specify the penalty
and contain a statement of the reason or reasons therefore.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to reductions
in pay which are part of a general plan to reduce salaries
and wages or to eliminate positions.
SECTION 13. RIGHT OF APPEAL
Any employee in the classified service shall have the right
to appeal to the Personnel Board any disciplinary action or
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alleged violation of this Ordinance or the Rules adopted there-
under, except in those instances where the right of appeal is
specifically prohibited by this Ordinance or the Rules. All
appeals shall be concluded as expenditiously as possible and
in accordance with the requirements and procedures as set
forth in the Personnel Rules adopted under this Ordinance.
SECTION 14. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
A. Purpose of Rule:
1. To promote improved employer-employee relationships -
by establishing grievance procedures on matters for
which appeal is not provided by other regulations.
2. To afford employees a systematic means of obtaining
further considerations of problems after every
reasonable effort has failed to resolve them through
discussions.
3. To provide that grievances shall be settled as near
as possible to the point of origin.
4. To provide that the grievance procedure shall be as
informal as possible.
B. Matters Subject to Grievance Procedure: For the purposes
of this rule, a grievance shall be considered as any
matter for which means of appeal is not provided, or pro-
hibited, in the Personnel Ordinance concerning:
1. A dispute about the interpretation or application of
any ordinance, rule, or regulation governing person-
nel practices or working conditions.
2. A dispute about the practical consequences of a City
decision on wages, hours, and other terms and conditions
of employment.
3. A decision affecting the employment of any permanent
or probationary employee over which his appointing
power has partial or complete jurisdiction.
C. Informal Grievance Prodedure: An employee who has a pro-
blem or complaint should first try to get it settled
through discussion with his immediate supervisor without
undue delay. If, after this discussion, he does not
believe the problem has been satisfactorily resolved, he
shall have therightto discuss it with his supervisor's
immediate supervisor, if any, in the administrative
service. Every effort should be made to find an accept-
able solution by informal means at the most immediate
level of supervision. If the employee is not in -agree-
ment with the decision reached by discussion, he shall
then have the right to file a formal grievance in writing
within ten (10) calendar days after receiving the informal
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decision of his immediate superior. The grievance shall
be as specific as possible and shall include all facts
deemed pertinent to its resolution. An informal griev-
ance -shall not be taken above the department head.
D. Formal Grievance Procedure:
1. First level of review: A grievance shall be pre-
sented in writing to the employee's immediate super-
visor, who shall render his decision and comments
in writing and return them to the employee within
five (5) working days after receiving the grievance.
If the employee doe's not agree with the supervisor's
decision, or if no answer has been received within
five (5) working days, the employee may present the
appeal in writing to the next level of review.
Failure of the employee to take further action within
five (5) working days after receipt of the written
decision of his supervisor, or within a total of ten
(10) working days if no decision is rendered, will
constitute a withdrawal of the grievance.
2. Second level of review: If the employee is dissat-
isfied with the decision of the first review level,
or if no decision has been rendered, the employee
may, within the time limits previously stated, pre-
sent this grievance in writing to the head of his
department. The department head shall render his
decision and comments in writing and return them to
the employee within five (5) working days after
receiving the grievance. If the employee does not
agree with the department head's decision, or if no
answer has been received within five (5) working
days, the employee may present the appeal, in writ-
ing, to the final level of review. Failure of the
employee to take action within five (5) working days
after the receipt of the written decision of the
department head, or within a total of ten (10) work-
ing days if no decision is rendered,will constitute
a withdrawal of the grievance.
3. Final level of review: The final level of review
shall be the appointing power. Upon receipt of
the grievance, the appointing power shall discuss
the grievance with the employee, his representative,
if any, and with other appropriate persons. The
appointing power may designate a fact-finding com-
mittee, officer not in the normal line of super-
-vision, or the Personnel Board to advise him con-
cerning the appeal. The appointing power shall
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render a decision in writing to the employee within
ten (10) working days after receiving the grievance.
E. Conduct of Grievance Procedure:
1. The time limits specified above may be extended to a
definite date by mutual agreement of the employee
and reviewer concerned.
2. The employee may request the assistance of another
person of his own choosing in preparing and presenting
his appeal at any level of review.
3. The employee and his representative may be privileged
to use a reasonable amount of work time as deter-
mined by the appointing power in conferring about and
presenting the appeal.
4. Employees shall be assured freedom from reprisal for
using the grievance procedures.
SECTION 15. LAYOFF AND RE-EMPLOYMENT
Whenever, in the judgment of the City Council, it becomes
necessary in the interest of economy or because the necessity
for a position no longer exists, the City Council may abolish
any position or employment in the classified service. An
employee holding such position or employment may be laid off
without the appointing power taking disciplinary action and
without the right of appeal by the employee, if the action
was taken in good faith.
The order of layoff of employees shall be based upon seniority
in the class in the City service provided that no regular or
probationary employee shall be laid off from his position in
any department while any emergency, extra help, or provisional
employee is serving in the same class in the City service.
Employees to be laid off shall be given at least ten working
days prior notice.
The names of permanent and probationary employees laid off
or demoted in lieu of layoff shall be placed upon re-employment
lists for one year for those classes requiring basically the
same qualifications, duties, and responsibilities as the class
from which layoff or demotion in lieu of layoff was made.
The order of names shall be in reverse order of the layoff.
SECTION 16. POLITICAL ACTIVITY:
Political activities of City employees shall conform to the
pertinent provisions of State Law.
SECTION 17. DISCRIMINATION:
No person in the classified service, or seeking admission
thereto, shall be employed, promoted, demoted, or discharged
or in any way favored or discriminated against because of
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political affiliations or opinions or race, color, ancestry
national origin, religious creed, sex or because of the
exercise of his right under Section 3502 of the Government
Code.
SECTION 18. THE RIGHT TO CONTRACT FOR SPECIAL SERVICE:
The City Manager may consider and make recommendations to
the City Council regarding the extent to which the City
should contract for the performance of technical services
in connection with the establishment or operation of the
personnel system. The City Council may contract with any
qualified person or public or private agency fpr the per-
formance of all or any of the following responsibilities
and duties imposed by this Ordinance:
a) The preparation of personnel rules and subsequent re-
visions and amendments thereof.
b) The preparation of a position classification or compen-
sation plan and subsequent revisions and amendments
thereof.
c) The preparation, conduct, and grading of any form of
selection device deemed appropriate for the purpose of
determining the relative qualifications of applicants
for the positions in the City's service.
d) The conduct of employee development.or training pro-
grams.
e) Special and technical services of an advisory or in-
formational character on matters relating to personnel
administration.
SECTION 19. SEVERABILITY
If any section, subsection subdivision, sentence, clause,
or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be
unconstitutional, such decisions shall not affect the valid-
ity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The Coun-
cil hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordi-
nance, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence,
clause, or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that
any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sen-
tences, clauses, or phrases be declared unconstitutional.
SECTION 20. EFFECTIVE DATE. PUBLICATION
This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the
date of its adoption and prior to the expiration of fifteen
(15) days from the passage thereof shall be published at
least once in the Coastline Dispatch; a weekly newspaper
of general circulation, published and circulated in the
City of San Juan Capistrano and thenceforth and thereafter
the same shall be in full force and effect.
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PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 24th day of April, 1972,
by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEN: WEATHERS, BYRNES, CHERMAK, GAMMELL
and THORPE
NOES: COUNCILMEN: NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEN: NONE
ATTEST:
/!y Clerk �or
ity�erk�t e city or
San Juan Capistrano
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE - ) ss.
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO )
I, DONALD G. WEIDNER, City Clerk of the City of San Juan
Capistrano, California, hereby certify that the foregoing Ordi-
nance No. 194 is a true and correct copy of an ordinance of the
City Council of said City, adopted by the City Council on the 24th
day of April, 1972.
ity Cler
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