APPLICABILITY & PURPOSE

This Personnel Management Regulation (PMR) describes the rules for conducting performance planning and evaluation for County employees.

Employee performance planning and evaluations provide an on-going process for supporting an employee’s job development and providing him/her with performance feed-back.

CONTENTS

43.1 Purpose of Planning and Evaluation
43.2 Performance Planning
43.3 Written Evaluation
43.4 Procedure
43.5 Merit Increase
43.6 Timelines
43.7 Probationary Employee Assessment
43.8 Employee’s Response
Approval

FORMS AND ATTACHMENTS

43.1 Purpose of Planning and Evaluation

A. The purpose of employee performance planning and evaluations will be to achieve the following:

1. Assist an employee to perform his/her job more effectively for the mutual benefit of the employee and the County by providing a process to set performance goals / work objectives and review progress towards those goals and objectives.

2. Provide an on-going process for evaluating an employee’s job performance.

3. Identify those employees whose performance needs improvement, is marginal or unsatisfactory.

4. Recognize the achievements and accomplishments of employees and support improvements of employees’ job performance.

43.2 Performance Planning

Annually, the supervisor and employee will discuss and establish the performance goals and work objectives based on the employee’s class specification for the evaluation period. The relationship between the individual, department and County goals and purposes will be included. The discussion will provide an opportunity for the employee and supervisor to discuss any support that may be provided by the supervisor.

43.3 Written Evaluation

A. Evaluation of the work performance of employees will be recorded in a written performance evaluation on an approved County Performance Evaluation Form (attached hereto) or another format approved by the Director of Human Resources, to be placed in the employee’s personnel file. The purpose of the written employee performance evaluation will be to achieve the following:

1. Serve as a record of the employee’s performance for the evaluation period.

2. Serve as a record of the employee’s achievement of goals and work objectives.

3. Serve as documentation of performance deficiencies for those employees whose performance needs improvement or is unsatisfactory.

B. If an employee’s performance needs improvement or is unsatisfactory, a performance improvement plan (PIP) will be included with the written evaluation along with a time (usually 90 days) for a follow-up evaluation. Until the employee achieves successful performance (competent and effective or above), additional written evaluations shall be accompanied by a performance improvement plan (PIP).

43.4 Procedure

A. An employee’s evaluation shall be completed by a supervisor or manager who is knowledgeable of the employee’s work during the evaluation period. In most instances, that shall be the employee’s immediate supervisor.

B. An employee’s performance rating should be supported with details (e.g.; prior notifications (oral or written), documentation, examples).

C. This procedure shall include an opportunity for the employee and the supervisor to discuss concerns relative to the evaluation and assistance that may be provided to the employee during the upcoming evaluation period.

D. An employee who receives a rating below competent and effective and disagrees with the rating may request a meeting with the appropriate next level manager / supervisor. During such meeting, the employee may present his/her self-assessment or any other information that may be helpful. Following that meeting the manager / supervisor may consult with the supervisor who initiated the performance evaluation in order to consider any changes that may be warranted. That decision is final.

The failure to grant an employee’s requests to meet pursuant to this sub-section is grievable up to step 2 of the grievance procedure.

E. Performance evaluations are not grievable or appealable, except where specifically identified in this PMR.

43.5 Merit Increase

An employee must have a performance evaluation with a rating of competent and effective or above, as set forth in PMR 43.3 above, to receive a merit increase.

If an employee’s merit step increase is withheld based on the employee’s performance evaluation, the employee will be re-evaluated and reconsidered for a merit step increase at the time of the follow-up evaluation, as described in 43.3 B. If an employee receives a merit step increase upon his/her follow-up evaluation, the date for his/her annual performance evaluation and step increase will be re-set in accordance with the date of the last evaluation and merit step increase.

Performance evaluations for employees eligible for a merit increase are to include the appropriate Personnel Action Form regarding the increase.

43.6 Timelines

Non-probationary, regular hire, full-time and part-time employees will be evaluated after every year (12 months) in paid status (excluding overtime and/or compensatory time earned) and prior to receiving a merit increase or as otherwise designated by the applicable collective bargaining agreement. However, if an employee is granted a leave of absence in excess of thirty (30) consecutive calendar days in paid or unpaid status, the employee’s annual evaluation period and merit increase as identified in 43.4 above will be extended by the length of the absence.

Departments may adopt an annual evaluation period, during which all employees who are at the top of the salary schedule, and therefore are ineligible for a merit increase, will be evaluated.

The due date for all evaluations is the last day of the 12-month period referred to in the first paragraph in PMR 43.6 unless the employee’s department has established an annual evaluation period as provided for in the second paragraph of PMR 43.6, in which case the due date shall be the last day of that evaluation period. The failure of a Department to evaluate an employee within 60 days of the due date described in this section is grievable up to step 2 of the grievance procedure.

43.7 Probationary Employee Assessment

As the probationary period is the last step in the examination process, the supervisor must assess whether or not the probationary employee has demonstrated competency in the requisite skills, knowledge, ability, and character necessary to successfully become a regular hire employee. Before the end of the probationary period, a written evaluation is required for an employee to pass probation and move to regular status. Unless a collective bargaining agreement requires otherwise, interim evaluations are encouraged, but not required, and need not be in writing. Such interim evaluations, if conducted, are designed to provide feedback to the probationary employee as to his or her progress in meeting expectations.

43.8 Employee’s Response

An employee will sign his or her performance evaluation acknowledging (in writing) its receipt within ten (10) calendar days and will be provided a copy of the performance evaluation. The employee has 30 calendar days from receipt of the evaluation to submit a written response. The response should be submitted to the department head with a copy to the Human Resources Department. The response will be placed with the evaluation in the employee’s personnel file. The employee has no further means of challenging or appealing a performance evaluation.

APPROVAL

Effective Date: January 2005
Revisions No. : 1
Revision Date: April 12, 2016

Approved: ss/President, Board of Supervisors