Grievance Steps Prior to initiating a formal written grievance pursuant to this Article, an employee or PEF is encouraged to resolve disputes subject to this Article informally with the appropriate immediate supervisor.
(a) Step One: The employee or PEF shall present the grievance to the facility or institution head or a designated representative not later than 30 calendar days after the date on which the act or omission giving rise to the grievance occurred. The facility or institution head or designated representative shall meet with the employee or PEF and shall issue a short plain written statement of reasons for the decision to the employee or PEF not later than 20 working days following the receipt of the grievance.
(b) Step Two: An appeal from an unsatisfactory decision at Step 1 shall be filed by the employee or PEF, on forms to be provided by the State, with the agency or department head or the designee within 10 working days of the receipt of the Step 1 decision. Such appeal shall be in writing and shall include a copy of the grievance filed at Step 1, a copy of the Step 1 decision and a short plain written statement of the reasons for disagreement with the Step 1 decision. The agency or department head or a designee shall meet with the employee or PEF for a review of the grievance and shall issue a short, plain written statement of reasons for the decision to the employee and to the President of PEF or the President’s designee no later than 20 working days following receipt of the Step 1 appeal.
(c) Step Three: An appeal from an unsatisfactory decision at Step 2 shall be filed by PEF through its President or the President’s designee, on forms to be provided by the State with the Director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations, or the Director’s designee, within 30 working days of the receipt of the Step 2 decision. Such appeal shall be in writing, and shall include a copy of the grievance filed at Step 1, and a copy of all prior decisions and appeals, and a short, plain written statement of the reasons for disagreement with the Step 2 decision. The Director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations, or the Director’s designee, shall issue a short, plain written statement of reasons for the decision within 30 working days after receipt of the appeal. A copy of said written decision shall be forwarded to the President of PEF, or the President’s designee.
(d) Step Four: Arbitration:
(1) Contract grievances which are appealable to arbitration pursuant to the terms of this Article may be appealed to arbitration by PEF, by its President or the President’s designee, by filing a demand for arbitration upon the Director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations within 15 working days of the receipt of the Step 3 decision. If the Step 3 decision has not been issued within the time period for the issuance of such decision, a demand for arbitration may be filed by the President of PEF or the President’s designee at any time after expiration of the time period established for the issuance of the Step 3 decision, except that in no case may a demand for arbitration be filed later than 15 working days after receipt of the Step 3 decision.
(2) The demand for arbitration shall identify the grievance, the department or agency involved, the employee or employees involved, and the specific term or provision of the Agreement alleged to have been violated.
(3) Within a reasonable time after the effective date of this Agreement, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and the President of PEF, or their designees, shall meet to agree upon a panel of arbitrators selected from lists submitted by the parties. The composition of the panel of arbitrators shall be agreed to by the State and PEF and such panel shall serve for the term of this Agreement. After receipt of the demand for arbitration, the parties shall meet to select an arbitrator from this panel. The essential method of selection of the arbitrator for a particular case shall be by agreement and, if the parties are unable to agree, the arbitrator shall be assigned from this panel on a rotating basis. Initial assignment for rotation shall be determined by lot.
(4) Arbitrators shall have no power to add to, subtract from or modify the terms or provisions of this Agreement. They shall confine their decision and award solely to the application and/or interpretation of this Agreement. The decision and award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding consistent with the provisions of CPLR Article 75.
(5) Arbitrators shall confine themselves to the precise issue or issues submitted for arbitration and shall have no authority to determine any other issues not so submitted to them nor shall they make observations or declarations of opinion which are not essential in reaching the determination.
(6) All fees and expenses of the arbitrator shall be divided equally between parties. Each party shall bear the cost of preparing and presenting its own case.
(7) Any party requesting a transcript at an arbitration hearing may provide for one at its expense and, in such event, shall provide a copy to the arbitrator and the other party without cost.
(a) The arbitration hearing shall be held within 60 working days after receipt of the demand for arbitration or as soon thereafter as is practicable.
(b) The arbitration decision and award shall be issued within 30 calendar days after the hearing is closed by the arbitrator.
Informal Grievance 1. Within fourteen (14) calendar days of the event giving rise to a grievance, the grievant shall present the grievance informally for disposition by the immediate supervisor or at any appropriate level of authority within the department.
2. Presentation of an informal grievance shall be a prerequisite to the institution of a formal grievance.
Informal Grievance Procedure Employees are encouraged to act promptly to attempt to resolve disputes with their manager/supervisor through an informal procedure. A meeting between the manager/supervisor and the employee should take place whenever requested by either party to assist, to clarify or resolve the grievance. The employee may be accompanied by his/her Union representative at the informal meeting. Any resolution reached at the informal step must be in accordance with the provisions of this agreement, or other rule or ordinance and shall not set precedent.
Formal Grievance Step 1 6
Policy Grievance – Union Grievance The Union may institute a grievance alleging a general misinterpretation or violation of this Agreement by the Employer by submitting a written grievance at Step No. 1 within twenty (20) days after the circumstances have occurred. This section shall not apply to disciplinary grievances or application of competitive clauses under this Agreement.
Policy Grievance – Employer Grievance The Employer may institute a grievance alleging a general misinterpretation or violation by the Union or any employee by filing a written grievance with the Bargaining Unit President, with a copy to the Labour Relations Officer within twenty (20) days after the circumstances have occurred. A meeting will be held between the parties within ten (10) days. The Union shall reply within ten (10) days after the meeting, and failing settlement, the matter may be referred to arbitration.
(a) Where a difference arises between the parties relating to the interpretation, application or administration of this Agreement, including any questions as to whether a matter is arbitrable, or where an allegation is made that this Agreement has been violated, either of the parties may, after exhausting the grievance procedure established by this Agreement, notify the other party in writing of its decision to submit the difference or allegation to arbitration, and the notice shall contain the name of the first party's appointee to an Arbitration Board. The recipient of the notice shall, within ten (10) days, inform the other party of the name of its appointee to the Arbitration Board. The two appointees so selected shall within ten (10) days of the appointment of the second of them, appoint a third person who shall be the Chairperson. If the recipient of the notice fails to appoint a nominee, or if the two nominees fail to agree upon a Chairperson within the time limit, the appointment shall be made by the Minister of Labour for Ontario upon the request of either party.
(b) Within thirty (30) calendar days of the receipt of notice referred to in Article 8.12(a) above, either party may require a process for a sole arbitrator where the grievance concerns:
i) a job posting ii) a short term layoff
Formal Grievance Procedure 1. In the event that a complaint cannot be resolved informally, the parties shall pursue the first step in the formal grievance procedure before making any application for arbitration, unless the College and the AAUP agree in writing to alter the procedure or waive one or more of the steps by proceeding directly to arbitration.
2. Upon written request of the AAUP Contract Compliance Officer, the College shall submit any requested documents in its possession which may be necessary for investigation of the grievance. The College shall deliver such documents as soon as is reasonably possible, but no later than seven (7) days after receipt of a written request.
3. Internal Steps in the Procedure
a. Step One: The Director of Human Resources
(1) Within thirty (30) days of when the AAUP learns of, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have learned of, an alleged violation of the provisions of this Agreement, the AAUP shall submit to the Director of Human Resources a completed Faculty Grievance Form or a dated, signed, written description of the grievance, clearly labeled "grievance" containing substantially the same information as provided for on the Faculty Grievance Form.
(2) Within eight (8) days of receipt of the written grievance, the Director of Human Resources shall convene a meeting to discuss the grievance. Such meeting shall include the grievant(s) and/or the designated representative(s) of the AAUP and shall be scheduled at a time which is mutually convenient to the parties.
(3) The Director of Human Resources shall attempt to determine the facts pertaining to the grievance and shall notify the grievant and the AAUP in writing of his/her decision within eight (8) days in a Grievance Disposition Form or in a document containing substantially the same information as contained in a Grievance Disposition Form, which shall include written details of the reasons which support the decision.
(4) Within eight (8) days after receipt of the disposition of the Director of Human Resources, the AAUP may appeal the decision in writing to the College Grievance Officer, by submitting a Grievance Disposition Reaction Form or a document containing substantially the same information as contained in a Grievance Disposition Reaction Form.
(5) By agreement, the parties may decide to advance the grievance to step two of the procedure, or to appeal directly to arbitration at step D(4) of this article.
Group Grievance Where a number of employees have identical grievances and each employee would be entitled to grieve separately they may present a group grievance in writing signed by each employee who is grieving to the Administrator or her designate within ten (10) days after the circumstances giving rise to the grievance have occurred or ought reasonably to have come to the attention of the employee(s). The grievance shall then be treated as being initiated at Step No. 1 and the applicable provisions of this Article shall then apply with respect to the processing of such grievance.
Grievance Process (a) Either party, with the agreement of the other party, may submit a grievance to Grievance Mediation at any time within ten (10) working days after the Employer’s decision has been rendered at the step prior to arbitration. Where the matter is so referred, the mediation process shall take place before the matter is referred to Arbitrator.
(b) Grievance Mediation shall be scheduled within twenty (20) working days of the grievance being submitted to mediation, or longer period as agreed by the parties.
(c) No matter may be submitted to Grievance Mediation which has not been properly carried through the grievance procedure, provided that the parties may extend the time limits fixed in the grievance procedure.
(d) The parties shall agree on a mediator.
(e) Proceedings before the Mediator shall be informal. Accordingly, the rules of evidence will not apply, no record of the proceedings shall be made and legal counsel shall not be used by either party, unless otherwise mutually agreed.
(f) If possible, an agreed statement of facts will be provided to the Mediator, and if possible, in advance of the Grievance Mediation Conference.
(g) The Mediator will have the authority to meet separately with either party.
(h) If no settlement is reached within five (5) working days following Grievance Mediation, the parties are free to submit the matter to Arbitration in accordance with the provisions of the collective agreement. In the event that a grievance which has been mediated subsequently proceeds to arbitration, no person serving as the Mediator may serve as an Arbitrator, unless otherwise mutually agreed. Nothing said or done by the mediator may be referred to Arbitration.
(i) The Union and Employer will share the cost of the Mediator, if any.
COMPLAINT AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE 9.01 Where a difference arises between the parties relating to the interpretation, application or administration of this Agreement, including any questions as to whether a matter is arbitrable, or where an allegation is made that this Agreement has been violated or whenever an employee who has completed the required probationary period and has been accepted by the Employer for employment in the permanent service, claims that he/she has been disciplined or discharged without reasonable cause, such difference, allegation or claim being hereinafter referred to as the grievance, the grievance procedure set forth below shall apply.
9.02 The Association shall name, appoint or otherwise select a Grievance Committee of no more than three (3) who shall be members of the Association and shall have reached at least the rank of First Class Fire Fighter and other advisors as deemed necessary at the expense of the Association. The Employer shall recognize and deal with the Grievance committee with respect to any matter or dispute which properly arises from a breach of the Collective Agreement from time to time during its term. This committee shall suffer no loss as a result of their attendance at such grievance meetings, hearings, etc.
9.03 No grievance will be considered where the circumstances giving rise to it occurred or originated more than ten (10) full working days before the submission of the grievance.
Step 1 - An employee having a grievance will take the matter up through their Association representative. The President or designate shall contact Fire Management to seek a resolution.
Step 2 - If the grievance is not settled within five (5) working days, the Association shall submit the matter in writing to the Fire Chief or designate within five (5) working days of receiving the reply from Step 1. The Fire Chief or designate shall render the written decision to the Association within five (5) working days after receiving the written grievance. In the context of this Article a working day shall be deemed to be Monday to Friday excluding designated holidays.
Step 3 - If the reply of the Fire Chief is not acceptable to the Association the grievance may be referred to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) or the Director of Human Resources within five (5) working days of the written decision of the Fire Chief. The CAO or the Director of Human Resources, who together with the Fire Chief and any other advisors deemed necessary, shall meet with the Association Representatives within 5 working days to consider the grievance. Within five (5) working days of the aforesaid, the CAO or the Director of Human Resources will render a written reply to the employee and the Association.
Step 4 - If no resolve is reached at Step 3, the matter shall be submitted to arbitration. Notice shall be given within 5 business days. The parties agree that, for the purposes of this collective agreement the words of the expedited arbitration provisions of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 as amended (Section 49), will be deemed to have been incorporated into this collective agreement. Accordingly and notwithstanding any other provisions of this article (the grievance/arbitration provisions); either party may refer a grievance to expedited arbitration in accordance with the provisions of Section 49. The parties further agree that neither party will raise any jurisdictional or other objection to the application of Section 49 to a grievance under this collective agreement as it pertains to the right to an expedited arbitration. Either party is entitled however, to raise any objection, with the arbitrator with respect to whether the provisions of Section 49 have been properly utilized in respect of any specific grievance (e.g. objections with respect to time limits etc.). Such an appointment by the Minister of Labour or his or her designate will be determined to be a joint appointment in accordance with Section 53(3) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act.
9.04 Extensions to the time limits in 9.03 may not be unreasonably withheld.
9.05 The employee in all steps of the grievance procedure shall be confined to the grievance and redress sought as set forth in the written grievance initially filed as provided.
