Best Practices Manual -- Sample Policies (Page 1 of 2)

San Antonio Metropolitan Ministry
Employee Handbook continued (continued)

Incentive Award Program

Purpose:

To provide supervisors of exempt and nonexempt employees working for SAMM and SHC a method of rewarding employees for excellent sustained and project-specific performance. This program is not designed to replace cost-of-living salary increases, salary increases based on tenure and experience, or increases designed to allow SAMM to be competitive with other nonprofits; rather, it is designed to be used as a tool by supervisors to accomplish special projects, to motivate and retain committed employees, and to reward employee initiative in improving safety, efficiency, and accomplishment or expansion of SAMM's mission.

Program Description:

The program is designed to provide three levels of awards to honor/motivate employees.

Level I

rewards good suggestions which have resulted in minor improvements, special acts of good judgement and service (handling a crisis, special service to a guest, participation in a short-term project outside the job scope.) Examples of Level I awards are safety improvements, suggestions for new forms or procedural changes. This category could also be used by managers to reward successful change of work habits or skill development (e.g., an employee who successfully masters new job-related computer skills, or one whose attitude toward guests/residents improves).

Level II

rewards superior sustained initiative within job scope, in order to motivate reliable and committed employees. Level II can also serve to reward employees who take leadership roles or commit extra time to special projects outside regular job duties.

Level III

rewards employee initiative and extraordinary performance of job duties. Planning of special projects, program expansion, and effort to acquire relevant skills at employee's time and expense are examples of Level III awards.

Any SAMM employee or member of the Board of Directors can nominate an employee for an award. Volunteers and guests/residents interested in honoring an employee should complete Incentive Award form (SAMM Form 69) to inform the employee's supervisor of the employee's performance. It is the supervisor's job to decide if the employee's actions merit a recommendation for an incentive award.

SAMM senior staff members are authorized to approve Level I & II awards for the employees they supervise; award letters should be copied to the Financial Officer for inclusion in personnel files and to the Executive Director. Level III awards must be approved by the Executive Director.

Description of Award Levels
I.	$10 - $50 OR 1 admin day	Good suggestion, individual acts of good judgment or heroism; special effort on behalf of a project outside an employee's job description.
II.	$51 - $200 OR 2 - 3 admin day	Superior sustained performance, significant effort on a specific project outside an employee's job description. ($10 - $100 - Senior staff can approve) ( Over $100 - Senior staff recommend, Exec. Dir. approves)
III.	$201 - $500 OR 4 - 5 admin day	Unusally dedicated performance of job duties and accomplishment of innovation within job scope; planning and execution of special project outside an employee's job description; extraordinary effort to acquire skills and education of direct benefit to SAMM's mission at employee's expense.

Administrative Details: A line item for incentive awards should be included in the annual budget. Managers who wish to approve incentive awards for Level I and Level II for their employees should complete SAMM Form 69 to submit to the employee's file and request a check from the Finance Officer. Managers may expend only their budgeted amount, which is allotted based on number of employees at that site. Nominations for Level III awards should be submitted to the Executive Directo5r who may award those at his/her discretion. Admin days should be noted in employee's personnel file to be requested by employee using the same approval process as a request for other leave. Admin days do not have a cash value and cannot be converted to dollars under any circumstances. When supervisors notify an employee of an award, the supervisor may negotiated with the employee a combination of cash and admin days.

Disciplinary Philosophy

SAMM actively strives to assure that the work environment remains safe, pleasant and harmonious for all employees. Anywhere we go, we must observe rules of conduct that are designed to protect the rights and interests of everyone. Certain rules and regulations are necessary to help ensure orderly conduct within our ministry.

SAMM established an Employee Code of Conduct that outlines a partial listing of personal behavior actions that are not in the best interest of fellow employees or SAMM. Violation of these rules could result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

The Executive Director5 reserves the right to review each disciplinary case on an individual basis and may, at his or her sole discretion, proceed to a higher offense level. He/she has the right to ignore the process altogether when necessary.

Disciplinary Procedures

SAMM has a progressive disciplinary system as follows:

Level I Offenses

Step One: Oral Warning
Step Two: Written Warning
Step Three: Discharge

Level II Offenses

Step One: Written Warning
Step Two: Discharge

Level III Offenses

Step One: Discharge

The Executive Director may, in his or her sole discretion, suspend an employee from work, with or without pay, for any length of time, for any level of offense. SAMM's Senior Staff will determine the appropriate disciplinary action on a case-by-case basis. Consequently, the assessment of discipline in one case shall not serve as precedent for the assessment of discipline in another case.

Level I Offenses:

The following list is not all-inclusive of Level I offenses for which Senior Staff may issue an Oral Warning for the First Offense, a Written Warning for the Second Offense and recommend Discharge for the Third Offense:

Excessive absence from work.
Failure to call in each day it is necessary to be absent.
Frequently reporting to work late or leaving early.
Deliberately creating or contributing to unsanitary or dirty conditions on SAMM property.
Smoking in other than designated smoking areas.
Overstaying lunch periods.

Level II Offenses:

These are more serious offenses. If the employee commits more than one Level II offense, the employee is subject to immediate discharge. The following list is not all-inclusive of Level II offenses for which Senior Staff may issue a Written Warning for the First Offense and recommend Discharge for the Second Offense:

Leaving your assigned work location without your supervisor's permission.
Doing work of a personal nature, loitering, reading, computer games (other than in connection with employee's job), visiting other departments without authorization, or other deliberate waste of time during working hours.
Engaging in horseplay, distracting attention of others or creating a disturbance.
Use of obscene language and/or spreading malicious gossip and/or rumors; making derogatory statements concerning employees, guests/residents or SAMM.
Violation of safety rules or SAMM's Safety Policy.
Performance of substandard work relative to quality and content.

Level III Offenses:

These offenses generally lead to the employee's immediate discharge from SAMM for the first offense. The following list is not all-inclusive of Level III offenses:

Dishonesty and/or falsifying records.
Theft of SAMM property or the property of a SAMM employee guest/resident.
Reporting to work while under the influence or in the possession of illegal drugs or intoxicating beverages on SAMM property.
The deliberate destruction, damage, abuse, removal or attempted removal of SAMM property or the property of fellow workers or guest/residents.
Sleeping on the job during work hours or walking off the job without permission.
Physical violence, fighting, or creating a disturbance on SAMM property.
Possession of any dangerous weapon (as defined by law) on SAMM property.
Immoral or indecent conduct.
Insubordination, including refusal to perform work assigned and/or assaulting or threatening to assault a supervisor.
Threatening, intimidating, coercing, harassing, or abusing fellow employees, or any attempt to disturb, interfere, or slow the work of fellow employees or yourself.
Convictions in courts of law that regarded the employees as an undesirable.
Failure to properly notify your supervisor within two (2) calendar days concerning absence from work.

Disciplinary Probation

Senior Staff (with the approval of the Executive Director) may place an employee on disciplinary probation to allow the employee to show improvement on the problem(s) specified at the time of probation. The disciplinary probation period begins when the supervisor provides the employee with a written document (signed by the employee and the supervisor) which:

Identifies the problem (s)
Indicates the necessary improvement
Specifies length of probation period
Informs the employee that further disciplinary action could result from failure to show satisfactory improvement within the specified probation period

Suspension

The Executive Director may suspend an employee for disciplinary reasons without pay. An employee who is suspended will be given written notice of the reasons for the action, and a copy will be made a part of the employee's personnel record.

The Executive Director can suspend employees for incidents that merit termination, if the employee's participation is suspected, but unclear. Under these circumstances, the Executive Director can suspend the employee with pay while SAMM conducts an investigation.

Return from Suspension

Supervisors will meet formally with suspended employees upon their return to work, and define clearly and specifically the improvements in job-related behaviors required as a condition of the employee's continued employment. The supervisor will document this meeting and forward it to the Executive Director. SAMM will also add a copy of the suspension records to the employee's personnel file.

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San Antonio Metropolitan Ministry Employee Handbook continued (continued)