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Employee Services

Overview

Gail Levario, Assistant Director

The Employee Services (ES) Division serves the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) by focusing our efforts on our most valuable asset: our employees. We do this through recruitment, hiring, and retention of a diverse workforce of the best and brightest. The ES Division is here to provide guidance, technical assistance, training, and labor relations support – while continually striving to deliver best-in-class customer service. Correctional Services oversees:

  • Background Investigations
  • Class/Comp Position Management
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
  • Employee Relations
  • FMLA/OFLA
  • HR Investigations
  • Labor Relations
  • Professional Development
  • Recruitment
  • Workday Training and Support
  • Workforce Analytics
  • Payroll
You can see an expanded description of some of these areas in the drop down below.

About the Units

Employee Relations is a function of the Human Resources department that helps manage and foster a harmonious and productive workplace. One of the main goals of the Employee Relations unit is to strengthen the employer-employee relationships. Employee Relations oversees:

  • Employee performance evaluation procedures
  • Professional development and employee training
  • Labor relations, including the interpretation of union collective bargaining agreements
  • The restitution of employee workplace issues and grievances
  • Position classifications and allocation of positions throughout the department
  • Disciplinary polices

The Employee Relations department works in conjunction with other other departments within the agency - as well as other state agencies - to best serve its employees.


Agency DEI Mission

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is embedded in the department’s core values by:
  • Recruiting, retaining, and developing a diverse, high-performing workforce that draws from all segments of society and
  • Exceeding Oregon’s expectations for the promotion of and compliance in diversity, equity and inclusion.  
 
Agency DEI Vision

Be the public safety employer of choice with innovative employees that transform lives.


Assistance

If you feel you have been harassed or discriminated against at the Oregon Department of Corrections, please contact our office. Complaints should be filed as soon as possible and preferably within 30 days of the most recent incident; however, complainants have up to 180 days to file a complaint. In some circumstances the 180 day limit may be waved upon the approval of the Human Resources Assistant Director. 

Individuals with complaints should contact their Human Resources Manager. 

Resources

New Employee Orientation (NEO)
Our New Employee Orientation (NEO) is offered to all new employees and full-time contractors, as well as prior employees who have been away from the department for two years or more. The NEO program is designed to share the mission, vision, and values of the Oregon Department of Corrections. NEO provides new employees an opportunity to learn the Oregon Way of humanizing and normalizing the correctional environment, correctional core practices, basic security awareness, and the policies and rules of the agency. New staff will develop an understanding of the Oregon Accountability Model (OAM) and our primary goal of rehabilitation for the AIC. Our NEO program is delivered in a blended format using online and classroom courses.

Basic Corrections Course (BCC)
BCC is a comprehensive program that provides new officers the tools needed for success. Students are provided training and education to meet professional standards, responsibilities, and duties required of a DOC Correctional Officer. During their first year of employment, Correctional Officers receive both classroom education and scenario-based skills training, interpersonal communication skills, trauma informed care, basic security practices, health and fitness, use of force (firearms, defensive tactics, planned uses of force), and an in-depth Field Training Evaluation Program (FTEP).

This statewide curriculum is certified by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) and is portable to other correctional agencies in Oregon. The content of the program is not altered at the institution level.

Annual Training (AT)
The Annual Training programs are designed for institution and non-institution employees and contractors. The curriculum includes legal and policy compliance courses, mental health topics, and contains DPSST Maintenance Training Requirements for all certified staff. For medium and above institutions, AT also has ongoing firearms training. The program’s design and presentation are intended to further the department’s mission and goals while strengthening teamwork and communication across all staff and functional units.

Correctional Management Development Program
This introductory course provides correctional management knowledge focused on professional, personal, and leadership development. Facilitator topics include legal and policy compliance, labor relations, fiscal services, recruiting to retire processes, and servant leadership. In addition, this course provides information on personnel records, evaluating employee performance, safety, wellness, domestic violence, and various leaves of absence.

Special Teams
The department provides training for specialized teams, including Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT), and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM).

Force Skills
Force skills training involves general and specialized areas in accordance with DOC’s Rule on Use of Force, directives, and the law. These areas include personal defense, less lethal, and lethal options.  Examples of force skills training are firearms, OC pepper spray, defensive tactics, and scenario training. The focus of the force skills training is on decision-making during use of force incidents, encouraging de-escalation techniques, and reducing use of force incidents overall. 



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