State officials and union representatives remain at odds after allegations surfaced regarding directives reportedly issued by upper-level management to keep Larned (Kan.) State Hospital staff from receiving superior ratings on annual performance reviews, according to the Hays Daily News.
Three LSH employees informed the Kansas Organization of State Employees that executives at the Topeka-based Kansas Department for Aging and Disability overruled the "exceptional" performance review ratings the employees had received from supervisors. Two mid-level hospital supervisors also came forward with similar claims, according to the article.
Tim Keck, secretary of KDADS, said in a statement that he had not issued a directive to supervisors to change or alter annual evaluation scores. He said such an order would "undermine employee relations at the hospital," according to the article.
Conflict over the rating system surfaced as the state is in the process of passing regulatory reforms that would halt ratings appeals by employees receiving the second and third highest marks, according to the article.
"Ratings should not be predetermined by a set distribution," said Ms. Proctor. "Each employee should be able to receive the rating his or her work justifies. If all of an employee's feedback has been positive, and has indicated the employee is an exceptional performer, it is unfair to suddenly at the end of the year give that employee a lower rating."