General Rules of Conduct

Title:	General Rules of Conduct
Policy Owner:	Department of Human Resources
Applies to:	Faculty, Staff
Campus Applicability:	Storrs and Regional Campuses
Approval Date	February 27, 2024
Effective Date:	February 29, 2024
For More Information, Contact	Employee/Labor Relations
Contact Information:	(860) 486-5684 or laborrelations@uconn.edu
Official Website:	https://www.lr.uconn.edu/

PURPOSE

To outline expectations for employee conduct in the workplace.

POLICY STATEMENT

The University requires employees to adhere to the General Rules of Conduct and will hold employees accountable for violations. A supervisor’s failure to enforce a rule does not excuse employees from complying with it, nor does it prevent the University from taking disciplinary action thereafter. The below list is not exhaustive and other, more detailed policies on these topics remain in effect. Nothing in this policy constrains the University from pursuing criminal prosecution, if applicable, in addition to dealing with or responding to issues administratively.

The General Rules of Conduct prohibits the following:

Unlawfully distributing, selling or offering for sale, possessing, using, or being under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or controlled substances (including marijuana) when on the job or subject to duty;
Misusing or willfully neglecting University property, funds, materials, equipment, or supplies;
Fighting, engaging in unruly or disruptive behavior, or acting in any manner which endangers the safety of oneself or others. This prohibition includes but is not limited to acts of aggression, intentional or not, as well as threats of violence;
Marking or defacing walls, fixtures, equipment, machinery, or other University property, or willfully damaging or destroying property in any way;
Interfering in any way with the work of others;
Stealing or possessing without authority any equipment, tools, materials, or other property of the University, or attempting to remove them from the premises without written permission from the appropriate authority;
Being inattentive to duty, including but not limited to sleeping on the job;
Refusing to do assigned work or to work overtime if directed, working overtime without proper authorization, or failing to carry out the reasonable directive of a manager, supervisor, or department head;
Falsifying any time card, attendance report, or other University record, or giving false information to anyone whose duty it is to make such record;
Being repeatedly or continuously absent or late, being absent without notice or reason satisfactory to the University, or leaving one’s work assignment without authorization;
Conducting oneself in any manner, which is insulting, intimidating, threatening, physically or verbally abusive, or contrary to common decency or morality; making verbal or written remarks that are inflammatory, derogatory, discriminatory, harassing, or that create a hostile work environment;
Carrying out any form of harassment, including sexual harassment;
Operating state-owned vehicles or private vehicles for state business without proper license, or operating any vehicle on University property or on University business in an unsafe or improper manner;
Having an unauthorized weapon on University property;
Appropriating state or University equipment or resources for personal use or gain or appropriating state, University, student or employee time or effort for personal use or gain;
Engaging in actions which constitute a conflict of interest with one’s University job; including but not limited to, in the case of academic administrators and faculty, the teaching of credit courses at other educational institutions, unless approved in advance in accordance with established procedures;
Gambling or unauthorized solicitation;
Smoking or vaping within no-smoking areas;
Computer abuse, including but not limited to plagiarism of programs, accessing or viewing obscene or pornographic material, misuse of computer accounts, unauthorized destruction of files, creating illegal accounts, possession or use of unauthorized passwords, disruptive or annoying behavior on the computer, and non-work-related use of computer software and hardware;
Being convicted of a crime;
Engaging in activities which violate either the State’s or the University’s Code of Ethics;
Engaging in activities which are detrimental to the best interests of the University or the State;
Entering, using, or providing access to the worksite other than for work purposes or to unauthorized individuals;
Retaliating in any form or manner toward an employee or student for reporting a violation of any federal or state statute or regulation or University rule or policy;
Engaging in any form of sexual or unwelcome physical contact in the workplace;
Failing to cooperate or being untruthful in a University investigation.

ENFORCEMENT

Violations of this policy may result in appropriate disciplinary measures in accordance with University By-Laws, General Rules of Conduct for All University Employees and applicable collective bargaining agreements. When applicable, individuals may also be held accountable under the Student Code of Conduct.

PROCEDURES/FORMS

None

REFERENCES

Supervisors should contact Employee/Labor Relations at 860-486-5684 or laborrelations@uconn.edu regarding any suspected violation of the General Rules of Conduct.

POLICY HISTORY

Policy created: January 2004

Revisions: February 27, 2024 (Approved by the Senior Policy Council and the President)

University Policies