Advisory Regarding Suspensions for Historical Shakman Violations
Summary
The Hiring Oversight Section of the Office of Inspector General recently conducted a Compliance Review of the City’s time-keeping records related to the imposition of discipline by the City arising from the Shakman Monitor Office investigations of historical Shakman violations.
Executive Summary
This advisory highlights inconsistencies in the implementation of employee discipline meted out by the City. It comes after an OIG review of disciplinary actions found critical variations in the way sanctions were carried out across and within City departments.
The lack of a clear central policy resulted in some employees escaping the full professional and financial consequences of disciplinary sanction and rendered payroll records inaccurate. OIG examined disciplinary actions arising from Shakman Monitor Office investigations. The review looked at time-keeping records, finding that suspensions served by employees were inconsistent with the City’s stated disciplinary sanctions. OIG also found incorrect coding including the entry of “excused absence” on a suspension day, personnel files that were missing notices of suspension, and variability in how and when suspensions were served.
In the advisory, OIG recommends that The Department of Human Resources (DHR) and the Department of Finance (DOF) establish a City-wide policy for the assessment, coding, and enforcement of unpaid suspensions and other disciplinary sanctions. The departments agree with OIG and, in their response, note that they have already begun drafting a new policy.
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