Common use of Level Three – Suspension with or without Pay Clause in Contracts

Level Three – Suspension with or without Pay. If the unit member has failed to correct, within the specified time period but within a period of not less than ninety (90) days, the unprofessional conduct that had led to a Level Two disciplinary action, the Superintendent/President, upon the direction of the Board of Trustees of the District, shall issue a Notice of Intent to Suspend with/without Pay. The District may elect to suspend a unit member for a period of up to one (1) year for unprofessional conduct or unsatisfactory performance that the unit member has failed to correct in spite of verbal and written notices to do so. The period of suspension should be proportional to the severity of the act(s) of misconduct (Ed. Code §87768 and §87672). The District must issue the Notice of Intent to Suspend with/without Pay in writing and deliver it to the unit member by registered mail to the address on file with the District. The notice must detail the specific act(s) of misconduct, the attempts made by the District to correct the behavior of the unit member, the length of time of the proposed suspension, and when the suspension is scheduled to commence. The Notice shall also include the specific remedies that must be made to correct the misconduct upon the unit member’s return to work and the time limit in which such remedies must occur. The Notice of Intent to Suspend with/without Pay shall be made a part of the unit member’s personnel file (Ed. Code §87672). In response to the Notice of Intent to Suspend with/without Pay, the unit member may do the following: 1. accept the suspension without objections; 2. accept the suspension with objections. The unit member must object to the Written Notice in writing to the Superintendent/President, asking such objection to be attached to the Written Notice and placed within the member’s personnel file; 3. protest the suspension. To protest the suspension, the unit member must, within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt of the Notice, request in writing to the Superintendent/President a hearing to determine if the suspension shall stand. The suspension without pay cannot commence prior to this hearing (Ed. Code §87673). Within thirty (30) days of the receipt by the District of the employee’s demand for a hearing, the employee and the governing board shall agree upon an arbitrator to hear the matter. When there is agreement as to the arbitrator, the employee and the governing board shall enter into the records of the governing board written confirmation of the agreement signed by the employee and an authorized representative of the governing board. Upon entry of such confirmation, the arbitrator shall assume complete and sole jurisdiction over the matter (Ed. Code §87674). The district alone shall pay the arbitrator’s fees and expenses and the costs of the proceedings as determined by the arbitrator. The “cost of proceedings” does not include any expenses paid by the employee for his or her counsel, witnesses, or the preparation or presentation of evidence on his or her behalf (Ed. Code §87677).