Personnel Policy

Employment
1. Age, race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation or national origin shall never be grounds for failure to employ any applicant.
2. All appointments to the staff are made for a probationary period of 26 weeks, at the end of which an evaluation of performance will be made, by the director and the employee's supervisor, then submitted to the Executive Committee of the Library's Board of Trustees. An employee may be released for incompetence or misconduct at any time during the probationary period. An evaluation of the director will take place at the end of a probation period of 26 weeks. This evaluation is to be carried out by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.
3. The director shall meet with each employee at least once a year for evaluation purposes. One copy of the result of this evaluation shall be kept on file, and a copy shall be given to the employee.
4. Following the satisfactory completion of the probationary period, the employment of a full-time staff member -- unless appointed on a temporary basis -- carries with it all possible assurance of continuous employment as long as the staff member performs the duties assigned and in accordance with the policies of the library. In the case of termination of services, on the part of the employer, an hourly employee will receive two weeks notice and a permanent employee will receive one month's notice. In return, the employee is expected to give the library the same notice, except in the case of illness or family emergency. In the case of gross misconduct on the part of the employee, immediate termination will take place. Civil Service law shall be followed notwithstanding any of the above policies.
5. When vacancies occur, the library shall fill them by promotion or transfer if candidates with necessary qualifications are available on the staff. Applicable Civil Service laws apply.
Conditions of Work, Employee Benefits
1. Hours of Work
  Full-time members of the library staff work on a 40-hour per week schedule. Each staff member is allowed a relief period of 15 minutes of library time for each continuous working schedule of 4 hours of more. A paid lunch period of 1 hour is allowed to every staff member working more than 4 hours on any day. Personal business may not be conducted from the library during library business hours except for emergencies.
2. Overtime
  Non-exempt employees who work full-time (40 hours per week) will receive time-and-a-half pay for overtime unless the employee requests and is granted compensatory time instead. Compensatory time must be taken within 6 months after it is granted.
3. Vacations
  The director receives one-month vacation each year. All other staff members are granted one week vacation the first year, two weeks vacation the second year, and three weeks vacation thereafter, with the proviso that it not be taken during the probationary period. However, during the first and last years of employment vacation time shall be prorated on the basis of one-tenth of the stipulated time for each month of employment that year. Vacation time for any staff member working less than full-time will be prorated, based on the percentage of a regular full-time schedule actually worked. Part-time employees working 26 continuous weeks at 20 hours per week will receive paid vacation time of 5 days prorated after one year of employment and 10 days prorated after 2 years. This will be effective starting January 2006 and will not be retroactive. It is the director's responsibility to schedule vacations so that there is always sufficient staff to conduct library business. As a consequence, vacations must have the approval of the director at least two weeks before they are scheduled to occur. Each employee is encouraged to take vacation in the year in which it was earned. Up to 5 vacation days may be carried over to the next year. Part-time employees working less than 20 hours per week will receive pay for hours they are scheduled to work but may not, most often because the library is closed for bad weather.
4. Sick Days
  Full-time, salaried employees receive 12 sick days per year, which may be accumulated to a total of 60 days. Upon severance from the library employees are entitled to a severance pay of one half day's wages per unused sick day. Sick leave days may not be added to vacation. Sick days for salaried employees less than full-time shall be treated on the same prorated basis as vacation and holidays (see Section VI B. 3 above) Probationary employees will receive one sick day per month during the probationary period, but there will be no compensatory payment for unused sick days.
5. Personal time
  Paid time off to conduct personal business will be available to salaried staff each year, beginning with two days a year and adding one day a year to a total of five in the 4th year of employment, provided adequate staff is available at the time of the request. Personal business shall fall into two categories: Emergencies or 2.Business, which cannot be conducted outside of normal business hours. Personal leave days may not be added to vacation. Personal leave days for less than full-time salaried employees and for part-time hourly rated staff will be prorated (see Section VI B. 3 above).
6. Jury Duty
  Staff members will be excused for jury duty in accordance to local, state and federal law.
7. Leaves
  Unpaid leave up to 12 weeks for maternity, paternity, or for a serious health problem for which medical certification is provided will be granted by the Board of Trustees upon request. Medical insurance will be continued for salaried employees who receive health coverage through the library, or receive payments in lieu of coverage through the library. Unpaid leave for educational, travel, or other purposes may be granted by the Board of Trustees. Requests for leave are to be submitted in writing to the director, who in turn will forward them to the Board of Trustees for consideration. Each case will be considered on its individual merits.
8. Health Insurance
  Any salaried employee is immediately eligible for individual health insurance paid for by the library, with a cap of $346.64 payment for monthly coverage. Any salaried employee is immediately eligible for individual health insurance paid for by the library, with a cap of $424.30 payment for monthly coverage through MVP and a $356.66 through Capital District Physicians Health Plan. Any employee requiring family coverage must pay for that individually. This benefit is for health insurance coverage, and any employee not requiring the health insurance coverage is not eligible for additional wages in lieu of the coverage, except under the condition noted in 9. Below. The Board of Trustees will also consider health insurance coverage on a case-by-case basis for permanent part-time employees with more than 5 years of service.
9. Payments in lieu of health insurance coverage
  An eligible employee presenting evidence of other health insurance similar to that provided by the Kingston Library may elect not to receive coverage under the Kingston Library insurance policy. In the event of such election, the employee shall receive a monthly payment in lieu of such coverage in an amount to be set by the Board of Trustees annually at its November meeting subject to change at its November meeting each year. Such monthly payments shall continue so long as the employee's employment, eligibility for coverage under the Kingston Library insurance policy and opting-out election shall continue. The employee shall make such election in writing within 30 days after the November board meeting at which the payment amount for the ensuing year is determined, or after the employee first becomes eligible for inclusion in the Kingston Library insurance policy. Employees will be given the opportunity each September to decide whether to continue the opting-out option or to join the library's insurance policy. In the event of a loss of other insurance, an employee may at any time request resumption of coverage and the elimination of the buy-out option.
10. Tax-deferred annuity
  After two years of employment, a full-time salaried employee becomes eligible to choose whether to participate in the library's tax-deferred 403B annuity plan. Under the annuity plan, the library contributes an amount equal to 4% of the employee's salary into an investment fund where it must be matched by a contribution from the employee's salary of the same amount or a higher amount up to the amount allowed by law.
11. Paid holidays
  All full-time employees are entitled to the paid holidays listed in Section VIII. Employees who are less than full-time salaried will earn paid holiday time on a pro-rated basis. Part-time employees working 20 hours per week will, after 26 continuous weeks of employment, receive 7.5 paid holidays per year on a prorated basis. This will be effective starting January of 2006. Dates of regular holidays will be determined at the beginning of the year, and the employee may designate which ones are to be claimed. There is no carry-over of hours into the next calendar year.
12. Electronic Communications Policy Guidelines
  The Kingston Library provides e-mail accounts to library employees and possibly to other employees working for the Library in a capacity such as an Independent Contractor. Usage of the Library's e-mail system indicates that you will abide by this policy. Once your position or employment relationship at the Library ends, your e-mail will be terminated.
  1. Definitions
    - Communications is defined as a system for sending and receiving messages.
    - E-mail (Electronic Mail): The transmission of text messages and optional file attachments over a network. Within an enterprise, users can send mail to a single recipient or broadcast it to multiple users. Mail is sent to a simulated mailbox in the network mail server or host computer until it is examined and deleted. The mail program (e-mail client) in your computer queries the mail server every so many minutes and alerts you if new mail has arrived.
    - E-mail System provides the means for creating messages, transmitting them through a network, and displaying the message on the recipient's workstation, personal computer (PC), or terminal. E-mail systems can provide an array of features including graphical user interfaces, advanced editing and document management capabilities, secure transport services, directories of user addresses, and message authentication. They are storage and delivery software systems that transport messages from one computer to another. E-mail systems range in scope and size from a local are network e-mail system that carries messages to users within an agency or office; to a wide area in various physical locations; to Internet e-mail systems that allow users to send and receive messages form other Internet users around the world.
    - Employee is a person who is permanently, temporarily, or contractual engaged at the Library and given authorized access to the e-mail system.
  2. Proper Usage, Generally
  3. Privacy and Monitoring
    Employees of the Library can expect reasonable privacy of their e-mail accounts. However, the Library reserves the right to access, monitor and review an employee's e-mail account pertaining to misuse, needed information for operating matters relating to the Library, for e-mails that are subpoenaed for litigation, and so forth
  4. Proper Usage, Specifically for the Kind E-mail System
    See Exhibit I for the guidelines of use for the specific e-mail system the Library is using.
Staff Development

The Kingston Library is committed to having a trained and educated workforce. An employee and his or her supervisor will develop an individualized training program based on the job requirements, experience, and educational needs of the particular position involved. Staff members are urged to become members of civic, educational, and professional organizations, and to improve their skills in librarianship, and, with the permission of the library director, to attend library conferences and other professional meetings, provided attendance does not adversely affect service at the library. Up to three days of staff time annually are allowed a full-time employee to attend optional job-related training and educational functions. Released time for part-time employees to do the same is allowed on a prorated basis.

The library will make every effort to arrange schedules to permit staff members wishing to take further study to continue working at the library. As time allows, staff members may be asked to attend continuing education workshops provided by regional, state, and national library organizations. For travel and personal expenses involved in attending such workshops, mileage reimbursements will be paid, and reimbursement for other expenses may be allowed. Within the library, training or information programs for the staff may be initiated either by the library director or by interested staff members.
Employee Conduct
1. Punctuality is an essential requirement. Staff members who will be absent from their place of duty for longer than five minutes must notify their supervisor or the library director.
2. Eating and drinking are to occur during break time or during lunch, out of public view.
3. Conversation with either public or fellow staff members should be conducted quietly and kept within bounds. Discussion of library operations is considered privileged. Employees are expected to work with each other in an atmosphere free of verbal harassment.
4. The patron has a right to expect the staff to be familiar with the library collection and to keep informed about new additions to it. However, reading while on duty is limited to professional periodicals, book reviews, and the like, unless a staff member's particular assignment requires the reading of other materials.
Sexual Harassment

The Kingston library is committed to providing a working environment free of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. It can be defined as follows: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:
1. Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment; or
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment affecting such individual; or
3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
When an employee of the library feels that he or she has been sexually harassed, by another staff member or by a member of the public, that employee must promptly report the incident or circumstances to the library director, who will investigate the matter. Such a report may initially be made orally, but a formal complaint must be made by a written letter or memorandum detailing the incident or circumstance of sexual harassment. If the library director is involved in the circumstance, oral and subsequent written report will be made instead to the President of the Library's Board of Trustees, who will appoint a committee of three members of the board to investigate the matter.

Investigation of the matter will take place through separate interviews with the complainant and with the other staff member(s) involved in the incident. These interviews will be recorded in writing. The library director or the Committee of the Board of Trustees appointed to investigate such a complaint will also prepare memoranda of these conversations for the record. Care will be taken to preserve the privacy of these conversations, to honor the interests of both complainant and respondent. When a patron is involved in the complaint, and it is impossible to secure cooperation in the investigation, the proper authorities will be contacted immediately.

In some circumstances informal resolution of a complaint may be more satisfactory than formal proceedings. Agencies for informal resolution may include, but are not limited to, any one or more of the following: consultation with the library director and/or with the Board of Trustees, with an outside mediation agency, or with authorities concerned with public safety.

A written memorandum of complaint should be filed with the library director or the President of the Board of Trustees; whichever is appropriate, as soon after the incident or circumstance as possible, but no later than twelve months following the incident. The library will maintain a record of all written memoranda of complaints received, including the complainant and respondent's names, and the outcome of proceedings, including sanctions imposed.

A complainant may file a formal complaint immediately or may do so after efforts to reach an informal settlement prove unsuccessful. The complaint will state clearly and concisely the complainant's description of the incident or circumstance, and will specify the remedy sought. The complainant must sign the complaint. The library will send the respondent a copy of the complaint within five working days after it is received.

The respondent will have ten working days to respond in writing. The reply will contain full and specific responses to each claim, admitting, denying or explaining the complainant's allegations. The respondent must sign his or her response, which will be filed with the original complaint. Resolution of a formal complaint may take place through mediation, or through a hearing conducted by the library director, together with the members of the library's Personnel Committee (Executive Committee), or by a Committee of the Board of Trustees, accompanied by the members of the board's Personnel Committee (Executive Committee). Copies of agreements made by resolution through mediation will be sent to the library for file. If no resolution through mediation is possible, a closed hearing on the complaint will be scheduled.

The hearing will be conducted with due regard for the complete presentation of evidence about the incident. Complainant and respondent will have the opportunity to hear all testimony, to examine all evidence, to respond to any testimony, and present evidence and witnesses, which advance arguments relevant to the issues in contention. Each party will have the right to be accompanied and advised by two people at any stage of the proceedings; one or both may be an attorney. The hearing will be recorded on tape and the tapes will become the property of the library.

After all evidence and testimony is presented, the library officials conducting the hearing, that is, the library director and members of the Personnel Committee (Executive Committee) or a Special Committee of the Board of Trustees and members of the board's Personnel Committee (Executive Committee), will convene for private deliberations to determine whether the library's policy on sexual harassment has been violated. If they find that a violation has not occurred, that fact will be registered in library records of the reported incident. If it has been violated, the officials will prepare findings and will recommend a penalty for the respondent and relief for the complainant. Findings of fact as well as recommended penalty and relief will be based solely on testimony and evidence presented at the hearing.

Penalties will reflect the severity of the harassment. They may include, but will not be limited to: verbal admonition, written warning placed in the respondent's personnel file, probation, suspension without pay, demotions, removal from duties within a department, and dismissal. The officials may also recommend professional counseling, and may recommend relief for the complainant, which restores a proper working environment to the library operation. Nothing in the procedures outlined above may be construed to hamper the complainant's ability to seek state and federal remedies for perceived sexual harassment.

While it is impossible to list all circumstances that may constitute sexual harassment, the following are examples of conduct, which, if unwelcome, may constitute sexual harassment, depending upon the totality of the circumstances, the severity of the conduct and its pervasiveness:
1. Unwelcome sexual advances, whether they involve physical touching or not.
2. Sexual epithets, jokes, written or oral reference to sexual conduct, gossip regarding one's sex life
3. Comment on an individual's body, comment about an individual's sexual activity, deficiencies, or prowess
4. Displaying sexually suggestive objects, pictures, or cartoons
5. Unwelcome leering, whistling, brushing against the body, sexual gestures, suggestive or insulting comments
6. Inquiries into one's sexual experiences
7. Discussion of one's sexual activities
Termination of Employment

In the case of termination of services, on the part of the employer, an hourly employee will receive two weeks notice and a permanent employee will receive one month's notice. An employee who resigns is expected to give the library the same notice, except in the case of illness or family emergency. Employees may be terminated for substandard work without notice during the probationary period. After the probation period, employees will receive oral and written counseling to improve substandard work before dismissal if work does not improve. Serious offenses, including but not limited to theft, use of drugs or alcohol while at work, physical assault, or a determination of sexual harassment on the part of an employee, may result in immediate dismissal without counseling. Employees who are terminated may file a grievance with the President of the Board of Trustees within five days of termination. A grievance must be made in writing. If budget cuts necessitate a reduction in staffing levels, the library director will determine which positions can be cut to create the least negative effect on library services, and submit a plan to the library's Board of Trustees for approval before implementation. Longevity will be a primary factor in retaining staff.

Employees who leave in good standing or who are laid off will be paid for unused vacation and compensatory time, as well as for sick days that have not been utilized (see Section V. B. of these policies.

Personnel Policy

Employment

Conditions of Work, Employee Benefits

Staff Development

Employee Conduct

Sexual Harassment

Termination of Employment