Title
A MOTION requesting the county executive to transmit a plan to implement a countywide employee performance management system that includes annual employee evaluations.
Body
WHEREAS, on November 3, 1992, voters approved the merger of King County and the municipality of metropolitan Seattle (Metro) to be effective January 1, 1994. This merger created a need to integrate two work forces and this integration is known as the classification and compensation project and includes both represented and non-represented employees within the executive branch, and
WHEREAS, on December 13, 1993, the metropolitan King County council passed Motion 9182, which adopted the philosophy, guidelines and objectives for the classification and compensation project plan. The plan stated that an employee performance measurement system with clear performance objectives and regular feedback systems will be established and that this system will allow the county to reward employee high performance and create mechanisms for employee corrective action, and
WHEREAS, on June 28, 1997, the metropolitan King County council passed Motion 10262, which provided policy direction to the county executive that a new employee performance measurement evaluation and merit pay system for county employees, including the effort to develop performance measures for the county, will be initiated following the completion of the classification and compensation study, and
WHEREAS, on October 4, 2004, the metropolitan King County council passed Motion 12024, which adopted a countywide human resources policy to align all county human resource practices and procedures to ensure that business needs are met through legally defensible human resource practices, and
WHEREAS, in 2005, the classification and compensation project for the executive branch of county government was completed, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, the labor, operations and technology committee, in fulfilling its role as the labor implementation committee, has reviewed collective bargaining agreements negotiated between the bargaining agent and bargaining representatives and has found that employee performance evaluations are not consistently conducted for represented employees within King County, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, the labor, operations and technology committee, in fulfilling its role as the labor implementation committee, heard testimony from the director of the department of adult and juvenile detention that the department had suspended the practice of conducting annual employee performance evaluations, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, there have been articles in the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer regarding employee performance problems among some employees within the department of adult and juvenile detention, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, the labor, operations and technology committee, in fulfilling its role as the labor implementation committee, heard testimony from the chief of the technical services division of the King County sheriff's office that the office had suspended the practice of conducting annual employee performance evaluations, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, there have been articles in the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer regarding employee performance problems among some employees within the King County sheriff's office, and
WHEREAS, the King County sheriff has announced that the King County sheriff's office will seek accreditation from the commission on accreditation for law enforcement agencies. The commission on accreditation for law enforcement agencies accreditation standards state that annual, documented performance evaluations of each employee be conducted, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, the King County sheriff's blue ribbon panel found that an employee performance management system which includes conducting employee evaluations at least annually is not in operation within the King County sheriff's office and recommended that an employee performance management system be implemented within the King County sheriff's office, and
WHEREAS, it is a human resource management best practice to operate a systematic and equitable employee performance management system which includes conducting employee evaluations at least annually, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, the labor, operations and technology committee found that a comprehensive countywide employee performance management system is not in place in King County for all employees across all agencies, and
WHEREAS, in 2006, the labor, operations and technology committee heard testimony from department of executive services' labor negotiators that the executive branch is developing an employee performance management system for the executive branch;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The county executive is requested to transmit to council by motion by May 1, 2007, a plan to implement a comprehensive countywide employee performance management system that is systematic and equitable. Employee performance evaluations shall be an element in a comprehensive employee performance management system that shall include employee development and can be considered in determining compensation,
promotions, demotions and discharges. Employee performance evaluations shall be conducted at least annually.
ad requirements
none