Employee Conduct

Progressive Discipline

Although employment with Dunwoody is based on mutual consent and both the employee and Dunwoody have the right to terminate employment at will, with or without cause or advance notice, Dunwoody may use progressive discipline at its discretion. However, no employee is entitled to progressive discipline. Dunwoody recognizes that there are certain types of employee problems that are serious enough to justify either a suspension, or, in extreme situations, termination of employment, without going through any progressive discipline steps.

Disciplinary action may call for any of four steps—verbal warning, written warning, suspension with or without pay, or termination of employment—depending on the severity of the problem and the number of occurrences. There may be circumstances when one or more steps are bypassed. In any case, Human Resources should always be notified when termination is being considered.

Dunwoody expects employees to be reliable and to be punctual in reporting for scheduled work. Absenteeism and tardiness place a burden on other employees and on Dunwoody. In the rare instances when employees cannot avoid being late to work or are unable to work as scheduled, they should notify their supervisor prior to the beginning of their scheduled shift.

Poor attendance and excessive tardiness may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including termination. An employee who is absent more than three consecutive days without proper notice will be considered to have abandoned their position and voluntarily resigned.

The employment of relatives or persons involved in a dating relationship in the same area of an organization may cause serious conflicts and problems with favoritism and employee morale. In addition to claims of partiality in treatment at work, personal conflicts from outside the work environment can be carried into day-to-day working relationships.

Dunwoody does not prohibit the hiring of relatives of existing Dunwoody employees or the hiring of persons involved in dating relationships with existing employees. Dunwoody also does not prohibit existing employees entering into personal consensual relationships with one another. However, relationships in the workplace have the potential to create violations of Dunwoody’s harassment, discrimination, and sexual misconduct policies, and we are committed to monitoring situations in which relatives or persons involved in a dating relationship work in the same or related departments. In case of actual or potential problems, Dunwoody will take prompt action. This can include reassignment or, if necessary, termination of employment for one or both of the individuals involved.

At no time will a relative be in a supervisory capacity over a family member nor may a person involved in a dating relationship be in a supervisory capacity over the person they are dating.  If at any time an employee feels that Dunwoody’s harassment, discrimination, or sexual misconduct policies have been violated, the employee should report the situation to the employee’s supervisor, Human Resources, or the Title IX Coordinator.

All employees, especially faculty members and managers, are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner that contributes to the proper educational, business and employment environment. Due to the inherently unequal relationship that exists between a faculty member and their students, or a manager and their subordinates, close social relationships can be problematic. Such relationships can easily degenerate into cases of sexual harassment, and the real or perceived problem of favoritism can seriously affect the educational or management process.

Accordingly, consensual sexual relationships, extra-curricular socializing (especially off the School premises), attending parties, hosting students, telephoning students for conversations not connected to school business, dating, and other activities of a like nature between faculty or staff and students can prove to be unwise and problematic, and should be avoided.

The term solicitation includes any oral communication by any employee or group of employees to another employee or group of employees that encourages, advocates, demands, discusses or requests a contribution of money, time, effort, or personal involvement or membership in any organization or activity or the purchase of any merchandise, raffle tickets, and so forth.

The term distribution includes the posting, handing out or otherwise distributing of written materials.

Employees are prohibited from solicitation, for any purpose, during working hours.

Employees are prohibited from distribution of written materials at all times in any work area. 

Exceptions to this policy regarding solicitation are made when a solicitation occurs on behalf of a charitable organization and has the advance approval of the Vice President of Human Resources. Employees violating this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.

Solicitation and distribution of materials by non-employees is not permitted on the College campus. Any such incident should be reported to the Vice President of Human Resources.

Dress, grooming, and personal cleanliness standards contribute to the morale of all employees and affect the business image Dunwoody presents to customers and visitors.  During business hours or when representing Dunwoody, you are expected to present a clean, neat, and tasteful appearance. 

Your supervisor or department head is responsible for establishing a reasonable dress code appropriate to the job you perform. If your supervisor feels your personal appearance is inappropriate, you may be asked to leave the workplace until you are properly dressed or groomed. Under such circumstance, you will not be compensated for the time away from work. Consult your supervisor if you have questions as to what constitutes appropriate appearance. Jeans of good quality and condition are approved to be worn on Fridays for all employees.