HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009 Policy on Suspected Misconduct Fraud and DishonestyCity of West University Place
Policy on Suspected Misconduct, Fraud and Dishonesty
PURPOSE:
Like all organizations, the City of West University Place ("City") is faced with risks from
wrongdoing, misconduct, dishonesty and fraud. As with all business exposures, the City
must be prepared to manage these risks and their potential impact in a professional
manner.
The impact of misconduct and dishonesty may include:
• the actual financial loss incurred;
• damage to the reputation of the City and its employees;
• negative publicity;
• the cost of investigation;
• loss of employees;
• loss of funding from foundations/donors;
• damaged relationships with contractors and suppliers;
• litigation; and
• damaged employee morale.
The City's goal is to establish and maintain a business environment of fairness, ethics and
honesty for its employees, its citizens, its suppliers its donors and anyone else with whom
the City has a relationship. To maintain such an environment requires the active
assistance of every employee and manager every day.
The City is committed to the deterrence, detection and correction of misconduct and
dishonesty. The discovery, reporting and documentation of such acts provide a sound
foundation for the protection of innocent parties, the taking of disciplinary action against
offenders up to and including dismissal where appropriate, the referral to law
enforcement agencies when warranted by the facts, and the recovery of assets.
The purpose of this document is to communicate the City's policy regarding the
deterrence and investigation of suspected misconduct and dishonesty by employees and
others, and to provide specific instructions regarding appropriate action in case of
suspected violations.
SCOPE:
This policy applies to all employees, officers, board members and council members.
DEFINITION OF MISCONDUCT AND DISHONESTY:
For purposes of this policy, misconduct and dishonesty is defined as an intentional
deception, misappropriation of resources or the manipulation of data to the unfair
City of West University Place
Policy on Suspected Misconduct, Fraud and Dishonesty
advantage or disadvantage of a person or entity. Some examples include, but are not
limited to:
• falsification of expenses and invoices;
• acts which violate the City's Personnel and Administrative Policies;
• theft or other misappropriation of assets, including assets of the City, its
customers, suppliers or others with whom the City has a business relationship;
• misstatements and other irregularities in City records, including the intentional
misstatement of the results of operations;
• forgery or other alteration of documents;
• fraud and other unlawful acts; and
• any similar acts.
The City specifically prohibits these and any illegal activities in the actions of its
employees.
POLICY:
Reporting
It is the responsibility of every employee to immediately report suspected misconduct or
dishonesty to his/her supervisors and/or the Human Resources Director or his/her
designee. Supervisors, when made aware of such potential acts by subordinates, must
immediately report such acts to their supervisors and/or the Human Resources Director or
his/her designee. Any reprisal is strictly forbidden against any employee or other
reporting individual because that individual, in good faith, reported a violation.
Due to the important yet sensitive nature of the suspected violations, effective
professional follow up is critical. Managers, while appropriately concerned about
"getting to the bottom" of such issues, should not in any circumstances perform any
investigative or other follow up steps on their own. Concerned but uninformed managers
represent one of the greatest threats to proper incident handling. All relevant matters,
including suspected but unproven matters, should be referred immediately to the Human
Resources Director or his/her designee.
Additional Responsibilities of Supervisors
All employees have a responsibility to report suspected violations. However, employees
with supervisory and quality control review responsibilities at any level have additional
deterrence and detection duties. Specifically, personnel with supervisory or quality
control review authority shall:
1. become aware of what can go wrong in his/her area of authority;
2. put into place and maintain effective monitoring, review and control
procedures that will prevent acts of wrongdoing; and
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City of West University Place
Policy on Suspected Misconduct, Fraud and Dishonesty
3. put into place and maintain effective monitoring, review and control
procedures that will detect acts of wrongdoing promptly should prevention
efforts fail.
Accountability for the effectiveness of these three additional responsibilities cannot be
delegated and will remain with the department director. Assistance in effectively
carrying out these responsibilities is available upon request through the Human
Resources Director of his/her designee.
Responsibility and Authority for Follow Up and Investigation
The Human Resources Director or his/her designee has the primary responsibility for all
investigations involving the City. The Human Resources Director or his/her designee
may request the assistance of any other department (i.e., Police Department, City
Attorney's office) in any investigation, including access to the Finance Department's
periodic examinations and evaluations of internal controls. In the case of an alleged
criminal act, the Police Department shall have primary responsibility for investigations.
Any investigation shall also have:
• free and unrestricted access to all City records and premises, whether owned
or rented; and
• the authority to examine, copy and/or remove all or any portion of the
contents of files, desks, cabinets, and other storage facilities (whether in
electronic or other form) without the prior knowledge or consent of any
individual who might use or have custody of any such items or facilities when
it is within the scope of investigative or related follow up procedures.
All investigations of alleged misconduct and dishonesty will be conducted in accordance
with applicable laws and City policies, procedures and administrative rules.
Reported Incident Follow Up Procedure
Care must be taken in the follow up of suspected misconduct and dishonesty to avoid
acting on incorrect or unsupported accusations, to avoid alerting suspected individuals
that follow up and investigation is underway, and to avoid making statements which
could adversely affect the City, an employee, or other parties.
Accordingly, the general procedures for follow up and investigation of reported incidents
are as follows:
1. Employees and others must immediately report all factual details as indicated
above under Policy.
2. The Human Resources Director or his/her designee has the responsibility for
follow up and, if appropriate, investigation of all reported incidents.
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City of West University Place
Policy on Suspected Misconduct, Fraud and Dishonesty
3. Do not communicate with the suspected individuals or organizations about the
matter under investigation until necessary.
4. In appropriate circumstances and at the appropriate time, the Human
Resources Director or his/her designee will notify the City Manager and the
Chief of Police or their designees.
5. All inquiries from an attorney or any other contacts from outside of the City,
including those from law enforcement agencies or from the employee under
investigation, should be referred to the City Attorney's office and/or the City
Secretary's office, whichever is appropriate under the Texas Public
Information Act.
hivestigative or other follow up activity will be carried out without regard to the
suspected individual's position, level or relationship with the City.
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