§ 34-74. Penalties and appeals.

(a)

All unclassified employees shall be employees at will. An appointing authority (department head) may dismiss, demote, suspend or otherwise discipline any Fulton County employee for any reason, other than the reasons otherwise prohibited by state or federal laws, or for no stated reason whatsoever. No employee shall be entitled to prior notice of, explanation of, or appeal from any such action.

(b)

Without limiting the scope of authority granted in subsection (a) of this section, it is the intent of the general assembly that Fulton County shall treat all employees in accordance with the following principles:

(1)

Assuring fair treatment of applicants and employees in all aspects of personnel administration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age (40 and over), national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), veteran status, uniformed service-member status, or political affiliations. This "fair treatment" principle includes compliance with all state and federal equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination laws;

(2)

Recruiting, selecting, and advancing employees on the basis of their relative ability, knowledge, and skills, including open consideration of qualified applicants for initial employment;

(3)

Providing equitable and adequate compensation based on merit, performance, job value, and competitiveness within applicable labor markets;

(4)

Training employees, as needed, to assure high quality performance and to provide workforce skills needed to maintain and advance the county's goals and objectives;

(5)

Retaining employees on the basis of the adequacy of their performance, correcting inadequate performance where possible and appropriate, and separating employees whose performance is inadequate; and

(6)

Assuring that employees are protected against coercion for partisan political purposes and are prohibited from using their official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or nomination for office.

(c)

Any dismissal, suspension or demotion of a permanent classified employee for cause which results in a loss of salary, grade or classification shall be stated to such employee in writing. This writing shall include notice of the charges against the permanent classified employee, the effective time and date of such disciplinary action and an explanation of the reasons for the disciplinary action, and shall give the employee an opportunity to respond orally or in writing to the charges. This writing shall be provided to the employee not less than 24 hours prior to the effective date and time of such disciplinary action.

(d)

Any permanent classified Fulton County employee who is dismissed, suspended, demoted or otherwise disciplined for cause, whereby such employee suffers any loss in salary, grade or classification, shall have the right to appeal such action to the personnel board. Such appeal shall be made in writing within ten working days from the date of his or her being notified of the action. The grounds for such appeal to the personnel board shall include those cases wherein the appellant alleges that the disciplinary action taken was prohibited by applicable law and may include those cases wherein personal, political or religious reasons are alleged by the appellant. All other employees do not have the right to appeal disciplinary actions taken against them to the personnel board.

(e)

When conducting hearings and rendering decisions, the personnel board shall determine whether the appointing authority had authority to exercise such action and did exercise such action for cause within the rules and standards of the Fulton County Personnel Policies and Procedures. If so found, the personnel board shall affirm the action of the appointing authority. In the event that the personnel board finds that the action appealed is contrary to the rules and standards of the Fulton County Personnel Policies and Procedures, the personnel board shall reverse such an action. The personnel board shall not modify the terms and conditions of said action of the appointing authority, but may in its order of affirmance or reversal make recommendations of disposition which shall have persuasive force only. After arriving at a final decision on an appeal, the personnel board shall prepare an order to be prepared within 30 calendar days setting forth its recommendations to resolve the appeal. The decision of the personnel board in such cases shall be final and conclusive, in the absence of an appellate review in the courts. Copies of the personnel board's order shall be made a matter of official record and shall be furnished to all parties at interest in the matter.

(f)

Where an employee who has been dismissed is reinstated following appeal to the personnel board, any award of back pay to the employee shall be reduced by the amount of money earned by the employee during the period of separation from Fulton County, including any unemployment insurance benefits received.

(1982 Ga. Laws (Act No. 1341), page 4896, § 9; 1988 Ga. Laws (Act No. 848), page 3689, § 1; 1995 Ga. Laws (Act No. 116), page 3889, §§ 5, 6; 2013 Ga. Laws (Act No. 594), page 4422, § 9; 15-1198, Exh. A, 1-6-16; 16-1066, Exh. A, 12-7-16)