Establishment of Work Rules. The Employer may establish reasonable rules and regulations concerning the conduct of workers. Said rules and regulations shall not characterize the following as worker misconduct for purposes of this section: job performance, tardiness, and absenteeism. The Union shall be given notice of the establishment of such rules and regulations and shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to discuss them. Such regulations so established shall be conspicuously posted. After the process described above is complete, the Employer agrees to use progressive discipline to enforce the rules of conduct as follows: Oral Warning, Written Warning, Suspension (not to exceed five days), and Discharge; however, when appropriate, the Employer may begin progressive discipline in cases of misconduct with a written warning. The Employer may not proceed to the next step in progressive discipline if more than one year has passed since the previous step. For example, if a worker received a written warning for misconduct on January 1, 1998, and the misconduct reoccurred on January 5, 1999, the Employer could not suspend the worker. In that case, the Employer would issue another written warning. The Union shall receive a copy of all disciplinary actions taken by the Employer and such actions shall be subject to the grievance procedure. Documentation concerning worker misconduct shall remain in the worker’s personnel file until both of the following occur:
Establishment of Work Rules. The Town may make, modify and enforce reasonable rules of employee conduct and safety. The Employer agrees to negotiate over the effects of changes in existing work rules or the establishment of new work rules with the Union. New work rules or changes in existing work rules shall not become effective until they have been posted prominently on all bulletin boards for a period of five consecutive work days.
