Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a)
Grievance: Any certified employee, unless otherwise excepted by this Part, may
file a grievance as to the application of this Part or any policy arising under
this Part as to the impact of the application upon his or her employment
condition or his or her status. The existence of a grievance procedure is not
intended to discourage the informal resolution of complaints. The Office
intends this procedure to be used infrequently and only for major
matters.
b) Grievance Procedure -
Limitation: The rules of the Office and the official policy arising under those
rules are not subject to grievance. The following are not subject to the
grievance process: the discipline, demotion or discharge of executive employees
and probationary employees who have not obtained certified status in the
Office; the demotion of a certified employee from a position in which he or she
is serving a probationary period; layoff; and appointment, discharge,
reinstatement, and intra-agency transfers of employees.
c) An employee shall be allowed reasonable
time with pay during working hours for the presentation of a grievance,
provided that the employee has obtained permission from his or her Director,
the employee is currently in active status on payroll, and the employee's
absence will not interfere with agency operations.
d) Grievance Procedure - Abandonment -
Extension:
1) Failure of either the grievant
or the Grievance Review Committee to comply with the form or time requirements
of the grievance procedure shall resolve the matter in favor of the other. The
parties may mutually extend the time limits in writing at any level of the
procedure. However, whenever the last day of a specified time requirement falls
on a day on which the Office is closed for regular business, that time
requirement shall automatically be extended to the next day on which the Office
is open for regular business.
2) An
employee's failure to advance a grievance to the next level of this procedure
within specified time limits shall mean that the employee has withdrawn the
grievance or, if the employee so indicated, accepted the last answer given in
the grievance procedure.
e) Grievance Procedure - Steps:
1) Step 1: A grievant shall submit the
grievance to the appropriate Director in writing, including the requested
resolution to the grievance. The Director shall note the date and time upon
receipt of the grievance and shall, within five working days after the
grievance is filed, issue a written decision and serve a copy of the decision
in person upon the grievant and place a copy of the decision in the employee's
personnel file.
2) Step 2: If the
grievance is not satisfactorily resolved or no answer is given within the time
limit set forth in Step 1, the grievant may submit, within 10 calendar days
from the date the Director's decision was due, to the Executive Director a copy
of the written statement of grievance submitted in Step 1, along with a request
for a grievance hearing.
f) Grievance Review Committee:
1) The Executive Director or Assistant
Executive Director shall appoint a Chair. The Chair, no later than five working
days following receipt of an employee's request for a grievance hearing, shall
appoint a Grievance Review Committee. The Committee shall consist of three
members. The Director or the immediate supervisor of the grievant shall not be
appointed to the Committee. If the Chair is a party to the grievance or is
unavailable, the Executive Director shall designate another committee member to
chair the Grievance Review Committee.
2) Immediately upon appointment of the
Committee, the Chair shall designate the location, time and date for hearing,
which shall be no later than 20 working days after receipt of the employee's
request for a grievance hearing. The grievant shall promptly be notified in
person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the time, date and
place of the hearing.
3) The
grievant and others who have knowledge of the relevant facts shall have an
opportunity to present evidence in person or by written statement, after which
the Committee shall meet privately to reach a recommendation. The Chair may
require that testimony be given under oath or by sworn affidavit and may be
recorded by an audio recording device. In the event the testimony is recorded
by an audio recording device, the recording shall be retained in the office of
the Director of Administrative Services for a period of three years.
4) The members of the Committee shall reduce
to writing their recommendations as to the disposition of the grievance and
submit them to the Executive Director within five working days following the
hearing. A dissenting member of the Committee may make separate
recommendations. All recommendations will bear the signatures of the concurring
Committee members. Upon receipt of the recommendations from a Grievance Review
Committee, the Executive Director, or his or her designee, shall approve,
disapprove or modify the Committee recommendations, render a decision in
writing within five working days, and cause a copy of the decision to be served
upon the parties. The Executive Director's decision shall be final as to the
grievant.
5) The written statement
of the employee's grievance, the recommendations of the Grievance Review
Committee, and the decision of the Executive Director shall be made part of the
grievant's personnel file.
6) The
Executive Director, for good cause, may extend any deadline set forth in this
subsection (f).
g)
Representation: The grievant is entitled to be present and may be accompanied
by a representative of his or her choice at the hearing. Only those persons the
Chair deems advisable shall be entitled to attend the hearing.