HomeMy Public PortalAboutM 2014-05-31 - CC SPLYNWOOD CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
May 31, 2014
Item #1. CALL TO ORDER
The City Council of the City of Lynwood met in a special meeting in the Senior Center,
11329 Bullis Road, Lynwood, CA on the above date at 9:10 a.m.
Mayor Castro presiding
Item #2. CERTIFICATION OF AGENDA POSTING BY CITY CLERK
Alicia Duarte, Executive Assistant to the City Clerk announced that the agenda had
been duly posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
Item #3. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS SOLACHE, HERNANDEZ AND CASTRO
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS ALATORRE AND SANTILLAN -BEAS
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Magana - Withers and City Attorney Garcia.
Item #4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by City Attorney Garcia.
Item #5. INVOCATION
The Invocation was given by Mayor Pro Tern Hernandez.
PUBLIC ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
(Regarding Agenda Items Only)
NONE
CITY COUNCIL ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNCIATION
NONE
NEW /OLD BUSINESS
City Manager Magana - Withers introduced the workshop facilitators, Henry Garcia of
Performance Management Consulting and Rhonda Strout of Human Resources
Dynamics. She stated that the presentation will also serve as an Ethics Training session
for those that need their participation hours.
Council Member Solache stated for the record, "We are doing it reverse also because
two of us already participated like the Mayor said and I have an eleven o'clock
commitment for work related and I will be leaving at ten forty- five ".
Ms. Strout introduced herself and provided background of her career in Human
Resources. She mentioned that Human Resources responsibilities have changed very
much over the years and it's now more focused on employee and labor relations.
She began her Power point presentation and provided information on the following
topics:
Personnel Investigations
• When is an investigation needed?
• What type of issues may be involved?
• Where are employee complaints submitted /received?
• Where should the complaints go?
• Who should be involved in the investigation?
• What is the purpose of an investigation?
• What are the State and Federal Laws requiring investigations?
• How is the investigator selected?
• What are the key characteristics of an effective investigation?
• What is the investigative process?
• How are results communicated?
Note: Please see attached copy of the Power point presentation.
The City Council took a recess at 10:49 a.m. and Council Member Solache left the
workshop.
Mayor Castro stated for the record "After Mr. Solache leaves it is informational only no
directives will be given ".
The workshop reconvened at 11:01 a.m.
Mr. Garcia presented the second portion of the workshop and provided information on
the following topics:
• Promoting Personal /Organizational Ethics
• When Ethical Problems Exist...... How Should Elected Officials Deal with the
Problem
• Governmental Transparency
• Council Rules/ Responsibilities
Note: Please see attached agenda.
ADJOURNMENT
Having no further discussion, Mayor Castro adjourned the special meeting at 12:18 p.m.
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Aide Castro, Mayor
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Maria Quinonez, Ci y Clerk
City of Lynwood
Ethics and Procedures Workshop
May 31, 2014
L Promoting Personal /Organizational Ethics
• What is Ethics/The Right Thing To Do
• Types of Ethical Dilemmas
• Personal Cost
• Right Versus Right - Ethical Dilemmas
• Sorting Through Ethical Dilemmas
• Promoting a Culture of Ethics
• Lead by Example
• Adopt a Code of Ethics
• Hire Based on Ethics
■ Human Resources as a Vehicle For Ethics Training
■ Dialogue Ethical Situations
11. When Ethical Problems Exist......How Should Elected Officials
Deal With the Problem
• Stop and Examine Motivations
• Figure Out What the Wrong Might Be
• Determine Consequences
• Determine Whether an External Enforcement Agency is Necessary
• What Steps Should Occur
Ill. Governmental Transparency
• Brown Act
• California Public Records Act
• Political Reform Act
IV. Council Rules /Responsibilities
• HR Issues
■ Personnel Investigations
■ Privacy Issues in the Workplace
■ California Public Records Act
■ Other Employee Protections
■ Councilmember Responsibilities — Employee Relations
• Relationship with City Manager
• Relationship with Staff
• Ins /Outs of Council Behaviors
• Want to Innovate your Government..... Focus on Culture
A w"M T,N,
Part 1 — Personnel Investigations
Part 2 — Privacy Issues in the Workplace
Part 3 — California Public Records Act
Part
4 —Other
Employee
Protections
Part
5 —
Councilmember
Responsibilities —
Employee Relations
When is an investigation
® Customer /Vendor /Constituent Complaint
® Anonymous Letter/ Complaint
* Direct Witness/ observation
Third -Party Information
a An employee is suspected of misconduct
® Any violation of a rule
When 'i's an investigation
• An employee files a formal complaint or grievance
• An employee reports a questionable situation, but says he or
she does not want to make any trouble
• An employee's morale, behavior or performance
mysteriously declines
"General Duty" obligation - any employer who either
knows or should know about a discrimination, harassment,
threat, or safety problem faced by an employee is to take
prompt and effective remedial action to put an end to the
problem
Where are employee f m e a s + ?
submitted/received
City Manager
Department Heads
Supervisor/ Manager
Customer Service Personnel
Elected Officials
Human Resources
Where the om p a a a a, a, go.?
Administrative determination
Recommend internal "centralization" of complaints —
critical to coordination, tracking, credibility, resolution
and consistency
Human Resources for all employee complaints
Who should be involved in the
investigation?
Discrimination, Harassment, Threats — Human Resources
Violations of Work Rules/ Safety —Human Resources,
Department Head, Manager/ Supervisor
Workplace Theft, Vandalism —Human Resources,
Department Head & Police
What .... e .� r purpose ,e an
11
investigation
Investigations are a "tool" to ascertain the facts
The main purpose of any investigation is to provide a sound factual
basis for decisions by management
The investigation should also produce reliable documentation that
can be used to support management actions
® The investigation should reveal whether any misconduct has
occurred, identify specific employees who are suspected or guilty
of misconduct, and put a stop to further wrongful actions
Employers that fail to investigate situations usually lose claims or
lawsuits brought by the employee or complainant in response to
the problem
What is the purpose of an
investigation'?
• Uphold organizational values and ethical standards
• Ensure credibility to tax payers /constituents
• Ensure credibility to workforce — "no tolerance"
• Based on the facts, appropriate and consistent action can be'-
determined administratively
Is Consistency in treatment of employees — similar punishment
for similar crime
What are the State a Federal
requiring investigations.?
Job discrimination laws — Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII),
the ADA, the ADEA and FEHA
* Health and safety laws — OSHA — employers must investigate
problems and prevent future similar problems; prevention of
workplace violence — employers have a duty to investigate threats
and prevent acts of violence in the workplace to the extent
possible
Drug -free workplace laws — Drug -free Workplace At of 1988;
DOT drug testing regulations
® Background and credit checks — in order to minimize
liability for negligent hiring or negligent retention, employers
must investigate employee' backgrounds — Fair Credit Reporting
Act requirements may apply
How . u �► e � �° a selected?
® Each problem is evaluated on a case -by -case basis which is
determined based on severity, complexity and scope
Routine performance issues and violations of work rules are
generally handled by the supervisor /manager
Allegations of harassment or discrimination are generally
investigated by Human Resources or by an independent
outside investigator
® Allegations of theft, vandalism, or fraud are typically
investigated by. an independent outside investigator and/or in
coordination with the Police Department
What are the r
effective investigator.?
Investigator must be knowledgeable about state and federal
employment laws
Must uphold the privacy rights of employees and others
Must be able to conduct a thorough investigation, but without
letting it drag on too long
Must be objective, credible, respected and regarded as "fair and
impartial"
® Must focus on the ultimate goal — discovering the facts
(corroboration) so that management can take corrective action(s)
Must be able to stand up in court if called upon to testify in a
lawsuit
What is the investigative
process
Organization must move quickly to avoid potential influence
or forgotten details
® Identify witnesses
* Identify pertinent documents
® Organize list of questions and order of interviews
4 Develop written report and tie all the various facts and
documents together
Present findings to management
Management takes corrective action, up to and including
termination
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Complainant - receives a "closure" letter notifying that the
investigation is over and that "appropriate action" has been
taken
Accused — receives a "closure" letter that the matter is
unfounded, OR receives a disciplinary notice, depending on
the level of severity of the findings
City Council — generally only receives updates on matters of
litigation, or items that an employee has made public through
their own actions (e.g. media or public comment at Council
meetings)
Part 2 - Privacy Issuesin the
Workplace
,a p 5
t
Employees have the "Right to Privacy" — as defined by the
California Constitution, and other laws that specifically
mandate that personnel records and files, including personnel
investigations, be kept confidential and further limit
disclosure of such records in only certain limited
circumstances
The California Supreme Court has noted that the desirability
of confidentiality in personnel matters does outweigh the
public interest in openness
.a
n
Municipal employers have the "duty and obligation" to
maintain the confidentiality of personnel files and to resist
attempts at unauthorized access
® Employees
have the
right to
keep private facts about
themselves
and their
families
confidential
B
Consists of the disclosure of private facts about a person
Is Two main elements:
• The information contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts
about a person's private affairs such that its release would be
highly objectionable to a reasonable person; and
• The information is of no legitimate concern to the third parties
to whom the information was released
Since investigations often reveal highly intimate or
embarrassing facts about people, especially in the case of
sexual harassment, the information must be kept completely
confidential by the employer and all who are involved in the
investigation
i i W WT
Employees' personnel files should be accessed only by those
who have a job - related need to know the information:
® All information relating to an employee's personal
characteristics or family matters is private and confidential
® Information relating to an employee should be released only on
a "need -to- know" basis, or if a law requires the release of the
information
® All information requests concerning employees should go
through a central information release person or office (Human
Resources/ City Attorney)
9.
Fiersonnel files - Public a
• Peace officer personnel records have greater protection and
are protected under penal code
• Personnel records are confidential and shall not be disclosed
in any criminal or civil proceeding except by discovery
• Personnel records of peace officers can only be disclosed to a
third party with either the peace officer's consent or by court
order
Police Officers' Bill of Rights (POBOR) — generally makes
peace officer personnel records confidential, allowing
disclosure in criminal and civil proceedings only after a
Pitchess motion.
Grievance and investigation records
Maintained separately from the personnel file, because they
often contain embarrassing, confidential or extremely private
information about employees that could give rise to a
defamation or invasion of privacy lawsuit if such facts were
known and discussed by others within the organization
Such files should be carefully controlled by HR Director,
with limited access by others
Part 3 - California Public Records Apt
(CPRA)
a Public `, c o • Act
* Created to provide transparency to the public
o The CPRA affords agencies a variety of discretionary
exemptions which they may utilize as a basis for withholding
records from disclosure
The law requires determining the balance between the
employee's invasion of privacy as compared to the public's
need /interest in the information
0 The privacy interest would need to outweigh the public
interest to exempt the disclosure of the record
C _ s
Public Records
�ar
Exemptions are typically for personnel, medical, or similar
records that refer to intimate or personal information which
an individual is required to provide to a government agency
frequently in connection with employment is exempt
0 Information such as an individual's qualifications, training, or
employment background which are generally public in
nature, ordinarily are not exempt
G""*alifornia
Example
• City of Riverside — between 2011- 2014) 375 requests to
one department from only three (3) members of the
public
* Cost = $151,000 in staff time (1,700 hours) of lost
productivity
$2,025 recovered in copying costs
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• Consists of communicating false information about a person to a
third party, either intentionally or with reckless disregard for its
falsity
• Organizations can be liable to any of its employees about whom
false information is released if it makes the information known
itself or negligently allows the false information to be released
• Employers must be extremely careful with the information that
often results from investigations
• Employees under investigation must not be talked about in ways
that could generate defamation liability for the employer
® Managers should never say or write anything about an employee
that cannot be proven with reliable documentation
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Employers are prohibited from retaliating in any way against
employees who file claims or who assist in the filing or
investigation of claims
Employers must take great care when investigating
employees to ensure that the company does not take any
unwarranted action against the employee that might appear
to be retaliation for filing a complaint or claim
Managers must know when to "back off " with an employee
who is involved in a claim
1, 3 Councilmember
Responsibilities
Mayor & Councilmember
Responsibilities - Employei
The City Manager has the authority to appoint, remove and
demote any and all officers and employees of the City
The City Manager has the duty to investigate complaints,
accusations of misconduct or any other actions by City employees
The City Council's role in personnel matters is limited and /hence,
it has no greater access to this information than the public
The City Council has no legitimate business need to view or
obtain a copy of the public employee's personnel file or to obtain
information from within a personnel file from someone with
knowledge of its contents
a .. Councilmember
Responsibilities
€ ate.
Do's:
Report all complaints received to the City Manager
Provide an expectation that all complaints are properly
investigated
Receive any updates that the City Manager and City Attorney
deems appropriate
Maintain utmost confidentiality related to personnel
information received to avoid placing the organization at risk
Maintain employee rights to privacy by not asking for
updates on specific personnel matters
Mayor & Councilmember
$ o e Relations
Do's:
®Receive, as desired, statistical updates related to Employee
Relations matters
Assure constituents that the matter will be investigated and
"appropriate action will be taken"
Don'ts:
*Attempt to "help" with any personnel investigations
*Take sides
*Repeat information you've heard that may defame an
employee's reputation
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