It’s Impossible to Fire a Government Employee

My posts so far have been written based on my 28 years of public service/ law enforcement, and my 22 years activity in my organization/ union (as an employee representative, Chief Steward, and executive board member of both the local and state lodge). Initially I came up with a few ideas for posts, addressing topics from my law enforcement/ union perspective. Then I began to think that I should find something to write about other than topics based on my background, however, something last week made me decide to go forward and write on this topic.

Last week (I began drafting this on March 21st) there were news articles that the Florida Legislature was considering a 5% pay reduction for state employees as one of the measures of dealing with the proposed budget deficits. Although it wasn’t a strong or popular sentiment, there were some that thought this would be a way of getting rid of some state employees. After all, you can’t fire a government (municipal, county, state, or federal) employee, even when they’ve committed an act that warrants termination. Unfortunately this perception is perpetuated by some in a supervisory role in government that have had disciplinary action overturned, or reduced by an appeal board (civil service, arbitration, or PERC, etc).

However, it is not impossible to discipline or terminate bad employees; I say that after being on both sides of the argument (union rep. and supervisor initiating discipline). In my experience there are a couple of main reasons that employers loose discipline cases. First the supervisor or agency doesn’t take the appeal process seriously and as a result they do not prepare for it as they should. Also, their attitude comes across during their appearance and/ or testimony.

In law enforcement the supervisor needs to prepare for this appeal process as if they are preparing to appear in criminal court. Another problem is that supervisors don’t want to put in the time and effort; often time’s short cuts are taken, such as not documenting when an employee is counseled (or other corrective action is taken), such as date and time it occurred. Another problem is the agency or supervisor’s reputation, if they have been excessive in the past, not followed progressive discipline, this can have an impact on the action the appeal board (or arbitrator) takes. In the event of a serious violation that warrants termination over a lesser penalty the supervisor needs to articulate why.

If a supervisor has not worked an investigative assignment they should consider taking a case preparation class, although these courses are designed for preparing a court presentation the principles are the same. Finally, a supervisor needs to have a positive attitude, even if they have appeared before the appeal board in the past and “lost”.

There are people that do not belong in the law enforcement profession, and if the supervisor properly documents their actions and is consistent in the recommended actions this individual will be removed. More importantly, if there is a civil lawsuit filed because of this person’s actions the supervisor will be protected.

In closing, unions don’t like defending someone that doesn’t deserve the “people’s” trust, however, they can’t allow violations of policies or contract to occur as a way to get them out of the profession. If you allow a person’s rights to be ignored or violated, how can you protect others?

If you are fair, consistent, professional, and take the time to document your attempts to correct a violation or poor performance a government employee can be terminated. That’s my opinion, what’s yours.