CORRECTIVE ACTION [Revised September 2006]
Staff employees are employed at will. That means that their employment
exists and continues at the will of the organization and that the
university need not show cause for termination of employment. By the
same token, staff employees may terminate their employment at any time
without the need to show cause.
Administrative employees are employed pursuant to an annual employment
contract, which may be renewed or not renewed at the will of the
university without the need to show good cause. Administrative
employees may terminate their employment at any time during the term of
their contract or at the conclusion of their contract without the need
to show good cause, although during the term of the contract consent
from the university, which will not be unreasonably withheld, is
required.
Even though the employment relationship is at will and the university
need not show cause for termination or non-renewal, PLU values
employees and will make reasonable efforts, where possible, to avoid
termination. Supervisors are encouraged to address performance issues
as they arise before they become serious. Moreover, PLU believes
discipline generally should be corrective rather than punitive and
should be appropriate to the performance issue in question.
Accordingly, PLU may inform employees whose performance falls below
standard of their deficiencies and give those employees an opportunity
to take corrective action in an effort to avoid termination or
non-renewal. There are circumstances, however, in which termination is
appropriate. The university expressly reserves the right to terminate
any staff employee or non-renew any administrative employee for any
reason. Good cause is not required for termination or non-renewal.
Each disciplinary situation is different and the university reserves
the right to take whatever corrective action it feels appropriate in
any given situation. The following options for corrective action apply
to both staff and administrative employees:
Corrective action should be taken after consulting with Human Resource
Services. Generally, employees who are currently on probation will not
be considered for open positions or vacancies on campus. There is no
guarantee that any particular corrective action
will be taken prior to termination and no obligation on the part of the
university to follow any set procedure with regard to disciplinary
decisions. For instance, termination may follow an oral warning without
first having a written warning. The university reserves the right to
take any particular corrective action as it deems appropriate to the
circumstances.
Moreover, the university may impose on an employee, as a condition of
continued employment, an obligation to participate in the Employee
Assistance Program or other counseling directed at behavior and/or
substance abuse issues.
The university further reserves the right to suspend an employee,
without pay, pending investigation of an act of misconduct, which may
result in immediate termination. If the employee is reinstated to his
or her position, that employee will be reinstated without break in
service and with back pay for the period of suspension.
NON-RENEWAL OF CONTRACT
Administrative contracts are renewed at least sixty days before the
termination of the contract. In cases where the university does not
renew an administrator's contract, notification of non-renewal will be
provided at least sixty days before expiration. The university may opt,
at its discretion, to pay an administrator in lieu of the sixty days
notice. Non-renewal of the administrator's contract may be done for any
reason with or without cause.
After completion of the introductory period, the contract may be
terminated by the employee prior to its expiration only with the
consent of the university, which will not be unreasonably withheld. The
contract may be terminated by the university before the expiration of
its term for good cause.
SEPARATION PROCEDURE
Where an employee is involuntarily separated from employment with the
university, the employee is subject to the same accumulated vacation
and sick leave policy as for those voluntarily separating from
employment. A departing employee will also be asked to clear campus and
to complete the outprocessing procedure as is done for voluntarily
separated employees.