STATE HUMAN RESOURCES MANUAL Discipline, Appeals & Grievances

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Disciplinary Action Policy
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Insubordination: The willful failure or refusal to carry out a reasonable order from an
authorized supervisor. Insubordination is unacceptable personal conduct for which any level
of discipline, including dismissal, may be imposed without prior warning.
Suspension without Pay: The unpaid removal of an employee from work for disciplinary
reasons.
Unacceptable Personal Conduct: Defined in § 4.4 of this Policy.
Unsatisfactory Job Performance: Defined in § 4.2 of this Policy.
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§ 14. Sources of Authority
This policy is issued under any and all of the following sources of authority:
• N.C.G.S. § 126-4(6), which authorizes the State Human Resources Commission to
establish policies governing the “appointment, promotion, transfer, demotion and
suspension of employees.”
• N.C.G.S. § 126-4(7a), which authorizes the State Human Resources Commission to
establish policies governing the “separation of employees.”
• N.C.G.S. § 126-4(10), which authorizes the State Human Resources Commission to
establish policies governing “other programs and procedures as may be necessary to
promote efficiency of administration and provide for a fair and modern system of
personnel administration.”
• N.C.G.S. § 126-30(c), which requires the State Human Resources Commission to “issue
rules and procedures” to implement N.C.G.S. § 126-30, the statute on fraudulent
disclosure and willful nondisclosure on applications for State employment.
• N.C.G.S. § 126-35(a), which states, “The State Human Resources Commission may
adopt, subject to the approval of the Governor, rules that define just cause.”
It is compliant with the following additional laws and regulations:
• N.C.G.S. § 126-1.1, 126-23, and 126-30
• 25 NCAC 01J .0600, 25 NCAC 01J .1316, and 25 NCAC 01O .0210

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§ 15. History of This Policy
Date Version
December 15, 1969 First version. policy concerning disciplinary action and dismissal
designed to solve problems in a fair and equitable manner without
prejudice or favoritism.
December 29, 1975 Revised hearing procedure to shorten delay of hearings of new
evidence or exceptions to the findings and rulings of the hearing
officer.
January 7, 1976 Revised to provide for an impartial departmental employee relations
committee. Allows personnel officers to serve only in an advisory
capacity on personnel policy during grievance hearings.
September 30, 1977 Revised to provide law enforcement division to correct conduct of
law enforcement personnel when said division has specific narrowly
defined uses for suspension and the period of suspension does not
exceed 3 days.
December 1, 1984 Final Written Warning - As a part of counseling, management may
request employee to take up to a day’s leave with pay to consider
whether or not employee wishes to continue employment.
Suspension – a department may extend the period of investigatory
suspension without pay beyond the 45-day limit. Permanent
employees may file an appeal of disciplinary action.
February 1, 1985 Established procedures for administering the Disciplinary Action,
Suspension and Dismissal Policy.
August 1, 1985 Revised pre-dismissal hearing policy due to decision of the US
Supreme Court, which defined minimum procedural due process
due employees upon being dismissed.
December 1, 1985 Changed pay in lieu of notice to apply to situations other than job
performance.
January 1, 1988 Added section on credentials - applicant information and application.
June 1, 1988 Dismissal during probationary or trainee period revised to conform to
legislation.

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May 1, 2004 Delete the Grandfather provision, which is outdated.
August 1, 1988 Pre-suspension and pre-demotion conferences added. Agencies do
not need to inform OSP as disciplinary suspensions without pay
since its purpose in monitoring the use has been served.
April 1, 1989 Changed process for filing grievances/
July 1, 1989 Clarification of warnings/reprimands based on personal conduct.
Such warnings cannot be used to shorten the mandatory three
warning process for job performance dismissal.
November 1, 1989 Employee may be given 2 weeks pay in lieu of notice without getting
prior approval. Technical change that requires at least one
disciplinary action to be taken in cases of falsification. Deleted pay in
lieu of notice for falsification.
March 1, 1990 Allows management to have a witness or security personnel present
at predismissal conference if deemed necessary.
March 1, 1991 Employee Appeals & Grievances – revised to require approval of
SPC for any settlement or agreement which requires exception to
policy.
September 1, 1991 Dismissal part of policy revised. 7-1-93 Change “permanent” to
“career.”
August 2, 1993 “Just cause," unacceptable job performance, unacceptable personal
conduct defined.
October 1, 1995 Entire policy revised.
January 1, 2002 Page 18 changed to conform to current rule which states that "A
second management representative may be present at
management's discretion."
Page 19 changed to conform to current rule which states that the
decision should not be communicated after the end of the second
business day following the completion of the conference.
May 1, 2004 Delete the Grandfather Provision, which is outdated.
July 1, 2004 Disciplinary Action, Suspension and Dismissal Clarified Falsification
of Credentials as follows: (1) Deleted last paragraph under “What is

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just cause for grossly inefficient job performance?” (2) Revised
paragraph on Obtaining and Maintaining Credentials. (3) Revised
Paragraph 1 under Falsification of Credentials.
July 1, 2010 Deletes the out-dated provision for an extension under the definition
of Inactive Disciplinary Action. “Extensions” of disciplinary actions
were permitted initially to provide a smooth changeover from a
system with no time limits on disciplinary actions to a system with an
18 month time limit. Since we are now well beyond 18 months past
1995, this provision is no longer needed and is occasionally
confusing.
February 1, 2011 The 2010 General Assembly passed House Bill 961 which, among
other things, made the dismissal letter public information. This rule
explains how to mesh the statutory requirement that the dismissal
letter be public with the reality that the final dismissal letter might not
contain the same reasons as originally used. It also provides a
process that contemplates that the employee might in fact be
reinstated as a result of the internal appeals process and not even
be dismissed as a final agency action.
October 1, 2017 Updated to support the performance management policy, clarify or
expand existing information in the policy, and delete outdated
portions of the policy. The specific disciplinary procedures have not
changed.
August 7, 2023 All sections of the policy revised. Added cross references to other
(effective September policies, removed gendered language, revised language that was
15, 2023) inconsistent with the North Carolina Administrative Code to be
consistent with the Code, including the definition of Unacceptable
Personal Conduct, added footnotes with citations to the
Administrative Code, removed definitions that were already written
elsewhere in policy, and added reference to specific policy section.

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