1.4 The SPTHB Internship Program

following actions taken: employee counseling and extension of review period, or termination. In the event of employee counseling and extension of review period, such extension shall not exceed an additional sixty (60) days, and all provisions of the initial review period shall apply, except those additional extensions may not be granted. Within the extended sixty (60) days, the employee and their direct supervisor will develop an employee improvement plan for review. 5. At any time during an initial review period, an employee may be separated from employment for just cause without recourse to the grievance procedures. 6. In no case will successful completion of the initial review period guarantee indefinite employment. 7. An initial review period may be waived upon recommendation by the employee’s supervisor and approval by the Executive Director in cases where a temporary employee transfers to a regular classification.

1.7 Annual Review Period

Each employee of the SPTHB shall have their performance evaluated on an annual basis. All such reviews shall be initiated by the employee’s supervisor and completed during the Annual Review Season which begins in May and ends in June. Should a pay increase accompany the annual review, such increase shall be included in the employee’s pay effective July 1. Annual Evaluations shall consist of an Employee Input Form submitted to the employee’s supervisor and an Annual Evaluation Form completed by the evaluating supervisor. These forms shall be forwarded to the Human Resources Manager and placed in the employee’s Personnel File after completion. All consideration for continued employment, salary adjustment, training & development recommendations, corrective or discipline actions, and commendation or other recognition shall be identified in writing in such a review and discussed with the employee by their supervisor. The employee and their supervisor shall sign annual review documents. If an employee disagrees with any recommendation or action contained in the review, the employee shall be afforded an opportunity to grieve such recommendation or action in accordance with the grievance procedure outlined in this manual.

1.8 Hours of Work

The SPTHB establishes the time and duration of working hours as required by customer service needs, workload and production flow, and the efficient management of personnel resources. 1. The hours of operation for the SPTHB office are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on those days observed as holidays. 2. For all full‐time non‐exempt employees, eight (8) hours constitute a workday. Forty (40) hours within a calendar week constitute a work week. 3. Non‐exempt employees may be assigned additional hours of work by supervisors to meet organizational requirements. If hourly employees are required to work hours in addition to their regular scheduled week, they are paid in accordance with FLSA regulations. 4. All full‐time non‐exempt employees are entitled to overtime for all hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in one week. Overtime is paid as time and one‐half for all hours in excess of 40 per week. The employee’s supervisor must approve all overtime in advance. The supervisor must initial the overtime on the employee’s time sheet. 5. Employees in the exempt classification for which the SPTHB has established a specific annual salary shall be considered as fully remunerated for all services rendered regardless of the number of hours worked. 6. Attendance at lectures, meetings, and training programs is considered time worked if: attendance is required by the SPTHB; course, lecture, or meeting is directly related to the employee’s job; and the employee’s performance is satisfactory. 7. Irregular Work Hours. When SPTHB program activities necessitate irregular work hours (e.g., business travel, conference set‐up, etc.), a non‐ exempt employee may adjust the normal work‐week schedule to accommodate irregular work hours in lieu of overtime pay. Irregular work hours shall be arranged in advance between the employee and the immediate supervisor. Such work hour adjustments shall be activity‐based, and all compensatory time adjustments shall be made within the same pay period in which the activity occurred. If compensatory time adjustments are not made within the same pay period in which the activity occurred, any such compensatory time adjustments shall be forfeited by the affected employee. 8. Flexible Work Schedule or AWS “Alternate Work Schedule” Employees, at the discretion and approval of their supervisor may work an alternate work schedule that may include working hours to deviate from normal “8am – 5pm or Monday – Friday” schedule.

1.9 Teleworking:

To maintain a progressive, modern workplace, the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board shall allow employees to work off‐site at an alternative workplace as Probationary, Occasional or Regular Telework Employees provided the position and the employee have been designated as “eligible” by the supervisor, TEC Director and Executive Director. While this policy endeavors to transition the SPTHB to a more “Teleworking Friendly” organization, at no time should teleworking interfere with our capacity to provide the highest level of service to the tribes in our region of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Rather, the purpose of this policy is to better position our organization to serve our tribes in new and innovative ways and make our staff more available to our tribes and partners. The first 60 days of teleworking will be a probationary period during which the employee and supervisor can evaluate communication methods, reporting systems and the sustainability of a long‐term teleworking schedule. At the end of the probationary period, the supervisor should notify the employee in writing if the probationary period has been successfully completed, needs to be extended or if teleworking is not in the best interest of the program and/or organization.

On occasion, teleworkers may be required to either attend events, such as our annual conference, or physically come to the office, such as mandatory staff meetings and evaluations/assessments. The designated alternative workplace shall be specified by the employee and approved by the supervisor. Should an employee need or desire to leave the designated workplace for a prolonged (more than half a day) period, such as vacation or family trip, or if the employee has an emergency which prevents the employee from working/being available, or if the employee is sick, those hours should be recorded as PTO hours.

Confidentiality: while working away from the office, all staff are expected to maintain confidentiality of all tribal data and other confidential items. When sending confidential data via email, encrypted emails are required to be used. Conduct: Professionalism and proper attire should be used when communicating virtually with staff and partners. This includes professional telephone etiquette and professional attire when meeting with partners virtually and in‐person. Regular Task Reporting: Telework employees required to report, at minimum, on a weekly basis through the method prescribed by supervisor. Progress on tasks, assignments, collaborations, successes, and setbacks should be reported. Safety: Employees are required to ensure their work area and location while teleworking is safe and free from distractions and potential hazards. Employees may be eligible for workers compensation if injured while conducting business within their scope of responsibilities, however, teleworking employees accept that responsibility rests with the employee to ensure their workplace away from the main office is safe. Discipline: Should any Regular or Occasional Telework employee demonstrate a lack of proficiency teleworking, his or her supervisor shall notify the employee in writing of their deficiencies. Should the issues not be resolved, the employee will be put on a 30‐day probationary teleworking schedule. Additionally, the employee will need to meet, in person or virtually, with the supervisor and be provided a Performance Improvement Plan. During this meeting, the employee and supervisor will discuss methods to improve performance moving forward and will schedule a meeting to reassess on or around 30 days after the initial meeting. However, certain egregious conduct may be grounds for immediate termination of teleworking privileges at the discretion of the supervisor and approval of the Executive Director. Supervisors are required to keep track of productivity and task completion. Additionally, feedback and evaluation should be provided to employees by their supervisors on a regular basis along with clear expectations and direction. 1. Non‐communication for three consecutive days is grounds for termination in accordance with the job abandonment provision outlined in section 8.5 of this personnel policy. 2. Prior to beginning a probationary teleworking schedule, the Supervisor Assessment, Employee Agreement, mandatory training, and Teleworking Checklist shall be completed. Duty location: The official work site of SPTHB personnel, unless otherwise agreed to in advance by the employee and Executive Director, and as necessitated by organizational needs or contractual obligations, shall be the SPTHB offices located at 9705 N. Broadway Extension. Suite 200, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 1.10 Employee Privacy

The SPTHB believes that nothing should be placed in an employee’s Personnel File unless there is a clear business reason for doing so. Our employee privacy philosophy is further reflected in the following statements:

1. Human Resources shall maintain official personnel files which will include only job‐ related information pertinent to employment. 2. Upon written request, employees may see information in their official personnel files. If an employee disagrees with the information, he or she may submit written comments that will be attached to the information. 3. Employees must give their written permission before there will be external disclosure of their personnel information, with the exception of the following information: a. Verification of dates of employment, positions held, and salary when requested by the employee’s prospective employer. b. Information the organization is obligated to release due to court order or subpoena, in which case, the employee will be informed prior to the disclosure if reasonably possible.

1.11 Outside Employment

Full‐time employment by the SPTHB generally shall constitute the sole employment of any employee. However, it is recognized that personal situations do occur that make it necessary for employees to seek supplemental employment. Regardless, SPTHB employees are not allowed to work elsewhere without prior written permission from the Executive Director or Tribal Epi Center Director. Permission to engage in outside employment shall not be granted, or may be revoked, if such employment may or does result in one of the following: 1. Impairment of on‐the‐job efficiency; or 2. Conflicts of interests; or 3. Unfavorable publicity or poor public relations.