Preamble
WHEREAS, The Fairer Employment Act protects members of departments from being unfairly disciplined, however, this does not extend to employees of a municipal executive office as they can be terminated at will;
WHEREAS, Providing employee protection would guarantee job security and render Redwood a more appealing place to seek employment: Now, therefore, be it
Enacted by the City of Redwood City Council that:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This Act may be cited as the “Municipal Employee Protection Act” or "MEPA".SECTION 2. EXTENT OF PROTECTION
All citizens of Firestone presently and/or previously employed by a lawfully established and recognized executive office under the executive branch of Redwood, excluding those in offices under the rank of “Enlist”, “Trainee”, “Cadet”, “Candidate”, "Director", "Secretary", "Advisor" or any other reasonable variant of one who is still in training or is the head of the executive office, of the Redwood government shall enjoy the protections of the rights enumerated later in sections and subsections of this bill.SECTION 3. EMPLOYMENT TERMS AND APPEALS
Each head of an executive office under the City of Redwood's executive branch shall be responsible for producing and maintaining a fair and just set of rules and regulations, including a standard disciplinary system for violations as well as a method to appeal disciplinary action, which shall first be approved by the Mayor of Redwood. Any alterations or changes must be approved by the Mayor and notified to all employees part of the office. The mayor shall be permitted to delegate the authority to approve to any city official.(a) By agreeing to initial employment and by pursuing continued employment, it is assumed that the executive office's employees agree to abide by their executive office(s)’s set of rules and regulations.
(b) The head of the executive office, or whoever issuing the disciplinary action, must, at minimum, be able to prove it is more likely than not that the given employee being disciplined is the one who was involved in the specified incident(s) or violation(s) before issuing disciplinary action. Employees shall be informed of the accusations against them prior to the official enactment of disciplinary measures.
(c) Employees, former or current, who believe they were wrongfully punished may appeal through the system established in the rules and regulations of the executive office. Shall this be denied or a period of fourteen (14) days elapse since the submission of an appeal, they shall retain the right to pursue redress from the executive office in question in the civil courts of Firestone if the executive office has breached the law during the disciplinary, punitive, or appellate process.
(d) Should an employee’s civil court case be successful, it shall be the responsibility of the executive office head to rectify the damage(s) done to the employee and the employee’s rapport as well as can reasonably be expected.
SECTION 4. RIGHT TO EXPRESS OPINION(S)
Employees shall retain the right to peacefully express or to not express their personal opinion(s), publicly or privately, positively or negatively (so long as any criticism is not deliberately inflammatory or mean-spirited in nature), of the executive branch, executive office(s), its administration, government departments, and any other matters or entities without fear of disciplinary action from their executive office(s), except where their conduct or speech violates relevant law(s) or terms of service.SECTION 5. EXEMPTION TO REDWOOD POLICE DEPARTMENT
This act shall not apply to the Redwood Police Department (RPD). In addition, employment under the Redwood Police Department (RPD) shall not be covered under this bill.SECTION 6. ENACTMENT
This legislation shall go into effect immediately upon passing the legal processes as described by the City Charter.SECTION 7. SEVERABILITY
Should any part of this act be struck down and/or declared unenforceable, then that part shall be severed with the rest remaining in full force and effect unless all is struck down and/or declared unenforceable.SECTION 8. ENFORCEMENT
The Mayor of Redwood, the Redwood City Attorney's Office, and the Redwood City Council shall be responsible for the enforcement of this bill.CHIEF SPONSOR
Chairman DOJODOG_2004, Esq.CO-SPONSOR(S)
Councillor 50statess
Councillor Detective_Chase458
Councillor brnaq
City Attorney cosmicanimals123, Esq.
Assistant City Attorney FinleyFraser12345, Esq.
CITATION(S)
SurrealReality (Chief-Sponsor/Author of Fairer Employment Act)