Employee Handbook

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICY

It is the policy of the City to foster, maintain, and promote equal employment opportunity. The City shall select employees on the basis of the applicant's qualifications for the job and award them, with respect to compensation, opportunity for training and advancement, including upgrading and promotion, and conditions of employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, political affiliation, marital status, genetics, or because an individual is forty (40) or more years of age, or any other federally protected class.

The City will not discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability in regard to job application procedures, hiring or discharge, employee compensation, job training, or other terms, conditions and privileges of employment. Applicants with physical disabilities shall be given equal consideration with other applicants for positions in which their physical disabilities do not represent an unreasonable barrier to satisfactory performance of duties.

PURPOSE

It is the purpose of this policy and the rules and regulations set forth to establish a fair and uniform system of personnel administration for all employees of the City under the supervision of the City Manager. This policy is not to be construed as a contract between the City of Athens and its employees and does not in any way imply or create any rights, contractual or otherwise, on behalf of the City’s employees to continued employment or a specific duration of employment. The City may, at its sole discretion, alter or amend this policy or portions thereof at any time.

APPLICATION OF POLICIES, PLANS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS

The employee handbook and all personnel policies and regulations shall be binding on all City employees. The City Manager, City Attorney, City Judge, and members of the City Council and advisory boards and commissions will be exempted except in sections where specifically included. Temporary employees shall be subject to all articles except in sections where specifically excluded. An employee violating any of the provisions of this policy shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, as well as prosecution under any civil or criminal laws which have been violated.

The City Manager, or his designee, shall be responsible for the administration of these policies. The City Manager, subject to the approval of the City Council, may adopt administrative policies and procedures not in conflict with these provisions that supplement or augment the established policies. As part of this administration, the City Manager shall establish the personnel function, subject to the approval of the City Council, and may delegate to the head of this function responsibility for administering various procedural and technical phases of the personnel program.

DEPARTMENTAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

Due to the personnel and operational requirements of the various departments of the City, each department is authorized to establish supplemental rules and regulations applicable only to the personnel of that department. All such rules and regulations shall be subject to the approval of the City Manager, with the approval of the City Council, and shall not in any way conflict with the provisions of this Policy but shall be considered as a supplement to this Policy.