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Policy 5-111: Corrective Action and Termination Policy for Staff Employees. Revision 10. Effective Date: October 10, 2011

  1. Purpose and Scope:
    1.  Purpose
      1. Outline the process for taking corrective and disciplinary action regarding staff employment at the University of Utah.
    2. Scope
      1. This Policy applies to all Full-Time Benefited and Part-Time Benefited staff members of the University who have satisfactorily completed their probationary period.
      2. Part-Time Non-benefited, Per Diem , Temporary (Benefited and Non--Benefited) and probationary employees are not included within the scope of this Policy.
  2. Definitions
    1. For purposes of this Policy and associated Rules, the following words and phrases shall be defined as follows;
      1. Concern: An event occurring which is contrary to manager's/supervisor's reasonable expectations for the staff employee and/or represents violation(s) of University Regulations.
      2. Egregious Behavior: Serious conduct or behavior issues that will likely result in termination of employment.
  3. Policy
      1. In determining the level of corrective action which may be taken, consideration will be given to both the actual or potential impact and to the consequences of the behavior.
      2. The level of corrective action will be the result of an evaluation of each/all current incidents and any history of corrective action.
      3. Possible corrective actions include Written Warning, Final Written Warning, Suspension Without Pay, Demotion and Termination of employment. Depending on the nature and severity of the issue, corrective action may be applied without prior warnings having been issued to the staff member.
      4. Prior to imposing any corrective action supervisors or managers must consult with the Human Resources Department as defined in the associated Rules.
      5. Where institutional issues, rather than departmental issues, are involved, the appropriate institutional representative may take responsibility for any corrective action to be taken.

        1. [Note: Parts IV-VII of this Regulation (and all other University Regulations) are Regulations Resource Information – the contents of which are not approved by the Academic Senate or Board of Trustees, and are to be updated from time to time as determined appropriate by the cognizant Policy Officer and the Institutional Policy Committee, as per Policy 1-001 and Rule 1-001.]

  4. Rules, Procedures, Guidelines, Forms and other related Resources
    1. Rules
      1. Rule R5-111-A Corrective Action and Termination for University Staff (non-UUHC)
      2. Rule R5-111-B Corrective Action and Termination for UUHC Staff
      3. Rule R5-111-C Egregious Behavior Rule
      4. Rule R5-111-D Written Warnings Rule
    2. Procedures
    3. Guidelines
    4. Forms
  5. References
    1. Policy 1-004 Violence in the Workplace and Academic Environment
    2. Policy 5-001 Personnel Definitions
    3. Policy 5-106 Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination in Employment
    4. Policy 5-107 Sexual Harassment and Consensual Relationships
    5. Policy 5-113 Drug-Free Workplace
    6. Policy 5-114 Drug Testing
    7. Policy 5-203 Staff Appeals
  6. Contact
    1. The designated contact officials for this Policy are:
      1. Policy Owner (primary contact person for questions and advice): Director of Employee Relations for Human Resources.
      2. Policy Officer: Chief Human Resource Officer and the Sr. Vice President for Health Sciences.
        1. These officials are designated by the University President or delegee, with assistance of the Institutional Policy Committee, to have the following roles and authority, as provided in University Rule 1-001:
        2. "A 'Policy Officer' will be assigned by the President for each University Policy, and will typically be someone at the executive level of the University (i.e., the President and his/her Cabinet Officers). The assigned Policy Officer is authorized to allow exceptions to the Policy in appropriate cases.... "
        3. "The Policy Officer will identify an 'Owner' for each Policy. The Policy Owner is an expert on the Policy topic who may respond to questions about, and provide interpretation of the Policy; and will typically be someone reporting to an executive level position (as defined above), but may be any other person to whom the President or a Vice President has delegated such authority for a specified area of University operations. The Owner has primary responsibility for maintaining the relevant portions of the Regulations Library.... [and] bears the responsibility for determining -requirements of particular Policies...." University Rule 1-001-III-B & E
  7. History
    1. Renumbering: Renumbered as Policy 5-111 effective 9/15/2008, formerly known as PPM 2-9.
    2. Revision history:
      1. Current version: Revision 10
        1. Presented for the information of the Academic Senate: October 3, 2011
        2. Presented for the information of the Board of Trustees, October 10, 2011
        3. Effective Date: October 10, 2011
        4. Legislative History for Revision 10
      2. Earlier versions:
        1. Revision 9: effective dates February 13, 2006 to October 10, 2011
        2. Revision 8: effective dates June 30, 2004 to February 12, 2006
        3. Revision 7: effective dates July 13, 1998 to June 29, 2004
Last Updated: 3/20/23