Grievance Principles.
(a) All Parties agree that any employee, the Union, or the Employer has a right to file a grievance and that right will not be violated. No Party shall be harassed, penalized, or retaliated against solely for initiating a grievance.
(b) The grievant will be granted reasonable administrative time to process the grievance in accordance with Article 3 of the Agreement.
(c) A grievance not submitted or advanced by the grievant within the time frames specified for each step will be considered to be withdrawn and will not be subject to further action or review.
(d) Any grievance submitted under these procedures shall cite the specific concern and, to the extent known, the date and place of the grieved action or event, who took the action, the applicable section or sections of the Agreement that are alleged to be violated, and the specific remedy being sought.
(e) A grievance not responded to within the time limits specified at any step will result in the authority to advance the grievance to the next step within the specified timeframe.
(f) Grievances presented at any step, as well as grievance responses, must be hand delivered or submitted electronically, and accompanied by the Grievance Status and Tracking Form included with this Article, which will be posted on the OJP Intranet with reference to the CBA Article on Grievance Procedures.
(g) Either Party may request a meeting to discuss and to attempt resolution of the grievance at any step in the process, and both Parties shall make reasonable efforts to make representatives available to settle the grievance.
(h) Any issue of grievability or arbitrability must be raised at or before the filing of the final grievance step (or initial request for arbitration) to be valid.
(i) Any settlement agreement will be reduced to writing and will be signed by the grievant, the Union and the Employer. The grievance will be considered as being resolved once the terms of the settlement agreement have been effectuated.
(j) Settlement offers or discussions will not be used as evidence or referred to in the remaining steps of the grievance process or at arbitration, if the settlement efforts do not result in agreement. Settlement agreements will be considered to pertain only to the circumstances of the individual grievance and will not be precedent setting or used as evidence in any later grievances or other actions.
(k) All time limits herein may be extended by mutual agreement of the Parties.
Grievance Principles. Every Employee shall have the right to present grievances and not be subjected to reprisal because of it. Discussions shall be confidential during the procedural stages of the grievance. Upon the consent of all parties involved, tape recordings may be made at any step of the grievance procedure. If such a tape recording is made and if either party designates that recording as confidential, the custody of this recording will be the responsibility of the Superintendent. No third party will have access to this recording without the mutual written consent of the Superintendent and the Union president.
Grievance Principles. Every Teacher shall have the right to present grievances and not be subjected to reprisal because of it. Discussions shall be confidential during the procedural stages of the grievance. Upon the consent of all parties involved, tape recordings may be made at any step of the grievance procedure. If such a tape recording is made and if either party designates that recording as confidential, the custody of this recording will be the responsibility of the Superintendent. No third party will have access to this recording without the mutual written consent of the Superintendent and the Union president.
Grievance Principles a. If the time periods specified herein are not adhered to, said grievance is void. It is agreed that all grievance timelines will be waived while school is out of session during the Thanksgiving break, winter break, spring break and summer. Employees wishing to file a grievance during the Thanksgiving break, winter break, spring break, and summer months will not be denied the right to file that grievance once timelines resume when school is back in session.
b. Unless mutually agreed upon by the AFT and District, this applies to those Employees who work during the summer months.
c. Discussions shall be confidential during the procedural stages of the grievance. No recordings will be made at any step of the procedure prior to arbitration, or at any other meeting of the Employee and District or Building Administrator, unless there has been prior written agreement between the AFT and the District Administration.
d. Any Employee who is formally reprimanded, disciplined, or discharged shall have the right of grievance and will be given the option of waiving their right to AFT representation.
e. The AFT Executive Board has the right to withdraw from any grievance at any level without establishing precedent. This decision shall be communicated in writing to all appropriate parties.
f. Through mutual agreement, any step of the grievance procedure may be bypassed, and the grievance brought directly to the next step.
g. Through mutual agreement, time limits may be extended at any step.
h. A District or Building Administrator’s failure to give a decision within the time limits shall permit the grievant to proceed to the next step.
i. An Employee’s failure to file their grievance, at the various steps, within the time periods shall be deemed a waiver of their right to carry their grievance to the next step.
