City of Lloydminster council is looking at updating its employee code of conduct policy.
Council received the draft of the updated policy at the Aug. 11 Governance and Priorities Committee meeting.
Read more: Council updates code of ethics
Administration regularly reviews all policies every three years. The council code of ethics was recently reviewed at a meeting in July.
There were some notable changes to the updated employee code of conduct. The dollar value for employee gift or prize acceptance has been raised from $150 to $350. Any gift over the $350 value will be disposed of at the discretion of the city manager, unless directed otherwise by council.
Some language reflected in the procurement policy was also included. Section 8.3 of the code of conduct refers to employees who leave their employment of the city and wish to personally bid on or work for a company bidding on any city contracts shall act in accordance with the city’s procurement and purchasing policy.
“That’s been in place and there’s some reference in the city’s procurement and purchasing policy relating to employees after their employment. So, we thought it was important that was highlighted in the policy as well,” said Marie Pretty, chief of staff.
The employee code of conduct handbook was also a part of the agenda package available for the public to see.
“I’m glad to see, I think on page nine in the document handbook, it references the city’s vision and values,” said Coun. Michael Diachuk.
Coun. Michele Charles Gustafson also complimented the wording of the policy.
“The one line that I really liked, and I don’t know who came up with it, but it said, ‘to embed ethics into daily activity,’ that’s what these things are for,” she said.
Charles Gustafson raised the idea of creating a social media policy in a previous meeting and was happy to see it reflected in this policy.
“I was happy to see page 32 with the smell test with that last line about ‘Can my comments on social media be interrupted in such a way and I’m representative of the city.’ I wanted to highlight that as I’m happy to see that.”
The smell test refers to a quick assessment of whether an action or situation aligns with ethical principles, often by imagining how it would be perceived publicly.
Council accepted the report as information and it is expected to return to a future council meeting.
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