It was moved by Justice Kapsner to amend the first sentence of the second paragraph to read as follows: "Job information including essential functions and minimum requirements for the job are documented in classification descriptions or job descriptions." After brief discussion, the motion carried.
The second paragraph also refers to the five factors of the matrix system. Ted Smith questioned the word public relations "skills." Ms. Klein said she would review the matrix again to see if it is worded correctly.
It was moved by Judge Hagerty, seconded by Justice Kapsner, to delete the word "possible" from the last sentence in paragraph two of the Pay Grade Review section. The motion carried.
Under the Request by Employee subsection, it was the consensus of the Board to change the pronoun in the first sentence from "their" to "the employee's."
Under the Approval Process subsection, Justice Kapsner suggested in order to keep the Board apprised of the system, the reclassification requests be forwarded to the Board even if the Director of HR denies the request. Ms. Klein questioned if the appeals process would then be eliminated. After brief discussion, no action was taken.
It was suggested that once the policies are finished and online, that any corresponding forms be linked to the policy.
Salary Administration for Classified Employees
In the first paragraph of the policy, Justice Kapsner suggested to change the wording to reflect the importance of tying the satisfactory performance and longevity together in order to advance through the system.
It was moved by Judge Hagerty, seconded by Judge Paulson, to rephrase the second sentence as follows: "A time-based step-rate pay system is based on longevity in the job and satisfactory performance." The motion carried.
It was moved by Justice Kapsner, seconded by Judge Paulson, to change the word "goal" to "method" in the last sentence of the first paragraph. The motion carried.
Under the Anniversary Date subsection, it was moved by Justice Kapsner, seconded by Chris Myers, to change the pronoun from "their" to "the employee's" and the word "timeframe" to "time" under the second sub-bullet. The motion carried.
It was moved by Justice Kapsner, seconded by Ted Smith, to strike the word "period" in the third sub-bullet. The motion carried.
Under the Relative Value Adjustment subsection, it was moved by Justice Kapsner, seconded by Jerrold Arneson, to rephrase the last line of the paragraph to read, "adjusted to at least the minimum of the new pay range." The motion carried.
Ms. Klein said under the Career Ladder Series Reclassification subsection, it states if an adjustment is due to the reclassification of a job series, the employees will move to the same step in the new pay grade. She said when the Court moved into the new classification system, the employees moved to the step closest to their current pay grade. It was the consensus of the Board to have Ms. Klein draft proposed language and bring it back at the next meeting.
Code of Conduct
Amy Klein questioned the placement of the Duty to Report paragraph under Section III. She said Duty to Report is commonly placed at the end of the policy because there is a duty to report anything in the whole code of conduct as opposed to just that section.
Chris Myers suggested adding a new section at the end of the Code titled Duty to Report as it encompasses the entire section in the employee manual instead of just this one area.
Justice Kapsner thought it was appropriate under Section III because that section defines an employee's duties. She said the language under the Duty to Report subsection refers to any violation of the law or this code.
No action was taken.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Justice Kapsner questioned the purpose of the first paragraph of the policy. To be consistent with federal law, it will require monitoring because the statutes change.
It was moved by Justice Kapsner, seconded by Ted Smith, to modify the first paragraph as follows: "ND Judicial System is committed to complying with all employment-related provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act, as amended, and the North Dakota Humans Rights Acts.
Judge Paulson suggested adding the words "as amended" after the ND Humans Rights Act.
With the consent of the second, the motion was withdrawn.
It was moved by Ted Smith, seconded by Justice Kapsner, to modify the first paragraph as follows: "ND Judicial System is committed to complying with all employment-related provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act and the North Dakota Humans Rights Acts. The motion carried.
Absenteeism and Tardiness
Amy Klein stated this is a new policy and stressed the importance of having such a policy.
It was the consensus of the Board to modify the third line of paragraph two to read as follows, "speak with the employee's supervisor prior to the scheduled starting time."
It was moved by Judge Hagerty, seconded by Justice Kapsner, to rephrase the last sentence in paragraph two to read as follows: "The call must be made by the employee unless the medical condition makes communication impossible." The motion carried.
There was brief discussion concerning the use of email for communicating absences.
In response to a question concerning why it is necessary to require a physician's note from an employee who is absent for three days or more, Ms. Klein explained part of the requirement stems from FMLA.
It was moved by Judge Paulson, seconded by Jerrold Arneson, to rephrase the third paragraph to read: "The ND Judicial System reserves the right to request a physician's note for any medical absence. Human Resources must be notified by the Supervisor of an employee absence of three days or more. After brief discussion, the motion carried.
Justice Kapsner said under Excessive Absence, it states protected absences are absences covered by state and federal law. She said that statement is not very helpful and suggested changing the language to state protected absences are annual leave, sick leave or other leaves provided by these policies.
Amy Klein responded not all sick leave is going to be protected. An example of a protected absence is FMLA, ADA, when the governor closes state offices, etc.
It was moved by Paulson to table the matter. Ms. Klein will draft alternative language regarding the protected absences. The motion carried.
Other Business
It was the consensus of the Board to have the draft changes to the policies sent to the Board via email rather than regular mail. It was also requested that the drafts reflect the date they were modified.
The meeting adjourned.