Minutes - Council - 10/28/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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make employees aware that there are circumstances where their off-duty conduct effects the City. She noted that even when an employee is off-duty, they could lose credibility as a professional. Councilmember Dehen asked that, for instance, if someone committed a theft, off-duty, whether the City was able to terminate that employee under our current policy. Human Resources Manager Kone stated that every situation is going to be different so the details must be looked at and legal counsel consulted to see what level of discipline is warranted. She stated that they do not want to give the impression that everything results in termination. Councilmember Dehen asked if this policy gives the City more authority to terminate if the Council and Administrator think it affects the job. City Administrator Ulrich stated that the biggest challenge, as an employer, is to prove the relationship between off duty behavior and their job. He stated that there is a Code of Conduct that attempts to get at that and this would just be more specific and would give a stronger case for any disciplinary action they can take, but it does not necessarily give more authority. Councilmember Dehen stated that in any type of theft, assuming it is off duty, the seriousness of the theft is defined by how much somebody takes, petty or felony, he still does not understand if City can terminate or if they have to go through a grievance process to terminate. City Administrator Ulrich stated that the City can take the action, but the question is whether it will be upheld by the courts. He stated that it is true that each individual case is different. He stated that it could be argued that there are certain jobs where this would have more of an impact because of trust levels with the public. Councilmember Look stated that he sees this as a policy that builds awareness and educates employees. He stated that he thinks it is a good resolution because it sends a good message to the community that the City does hold them to a high level of professionalism because they represent the City. He stated that he feels it is a reasonable amendment. Councilmember Jeffrey noted that if this amendment is approved, he assumes there will be mandatory training so everyone is aware ofthe new policy. Human Resources Manager Kone stated that there would be an educational process for staff. Councilmember Dehen stated that the thing that concerns him is the only tool the City has in findi~g out this information, is ifthese activities are actually occurring in Ramsey. He stated that he does not know if the City has any policies of periodically checking outside of the City to see if any employees are involved in these kinds of actions. He reiterated that if it happens outside of Ramsey, the City would not know about these activities. City Council October 28,2008 Page 18 of20