Respectful Workplace a. The Employer is committed to taking appropriate measures to create and maintain a workplace that is respectful and free from inappropriate workplace behavior for all Agency employees pursuant to the statewide policy titled ‘Maintaining a Professional Workplace Policy’ (50.010.03).
b. If an Agency employee believes an Agency employee, supervisor or manager has violated the statewide policy titled ‘Maintaining a Professional Workplace’ (50.010.03), the employee shall submit a complaint pursuant to the process outlined in the policy. The Agency complaint form will be accessible to all employees both online and through the Agency’s Human Resources Office.
c. The employee may have a Union representative present during regular work hours when reporting inappropriate workplace behavior and through the process outlined in this section.
d. The Agency shall investigate the complaint and shall provide a written response to the employee filing the complaint within thirty (30) calendar days of the complaint being filed. When circumstances warrant it, the Agency may take additional time to complete the investigation in blocks of additional thirty (30) calendar days with notice to the Union. The response will include whether the complaint was substantiated and any relevant non confidential information pertaining to the remedial steps taken, if any. Repeated behavior or conduct shall be reported to the Agency Human Resource Office.
e. For purposes of this Section, the grievance procedure in Subsection 6 replaces the grievance procedure outlined in the local agreement.
(1) If the employee who filed the complaint believes that the Agency did not respond to the complaint or the complaint process was not followed, the Union, on behalf of the employee, may file a grievance directly with the Agency Head. The Agency Head or designee shall respond to the grievance within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of receipt of the grievance.
(2) If the employee continues to believe the Agency did not respond to the complaint or did not follow the complaint process, the Union, on behalf of the employee may, within fifteen (15) calendar days of the Agency Head or designee’s response, file the grievance with the Department of Administrative Services Labor Relations Unit. The grievance will be investigated and a response provided within thirty (30) calendar days from the date the grievance was appealed to the Department of Administrative Services.
(3) If the Department of Administrative Services Labor Relations Unit’s response did not respond to the complaint or did not address whether the complaint process was followed, the Union may, within fifteen (15) calendar days, file an arbitration request with the Department of Administrative Services and send a copy to the Employment Relations Board asking for a list of seven
PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR Teachers are expected to comply with reasonable rules, regulations, and directions adopted by the Board, or its representatives, which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement, provided that a teacher may reasonably refuse to carry out an order which threatens physical safety or well being or is professionally demeaning.
Professionalism The Engineer shall perform the services it provides under the contract: (1) with the professional skill and care ordinarily provided by competent engineers practicing under the same or similar circumstances and professional license and (2) as expeditiously as is prudent considering the ordinary professional skill and care of a competent engineer.
Behavior Students must respect each other.
Behaviour No obscene or insulting language or disorderly behaviour shall be permitted. This includes any form of entertainment that may be considered lewd or inappropriate for a public place or that may offend or cause embarrassment to others.
PROFESSIONAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE A. Any claim by the Association or a teacher that there has been a violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of the terms of the Agreement or violation of any established policy shall be a grievance and shall be resolved through the procedure set forth herein.
B. In the event that a teacher, or the Association believes there is a basis for a grievance, the teacher or representative of the Association within thirty (30) working days of the time the teacher knew of the circumstances giving rise to the grievance, shall first discuss the alleged grievance with the building principal either personally or accompanied by the Association Representative. The grievance process may begin at the Superintendent’s level when the building principal is not involved with an alleged incident.
C. If, as a result of the informal discussion with the building principal, a grievance still exists, the teacher or representative of the Association may, within ten (10) working days, invoke the formal grievance procedure through the Association on the grievance report form, signed by the grievant and a representative of the Association. Said form shall be available from the Association Representative in each building. A copy of the grievance form shall be delivered to the building principal, it may be filed with the Superintendent or a representative designated by him.
D. Within five (5) working days of receipt of the grievance the principal shall meet with the Association in an effort to resolve the grievance. The principal shall indicate his/her disposition of the grievance in writing within five (5) working days of such meeting and shall furnish a copy thereof to the Association. If the Association desires to proceed to the next step, it shall do so within fifteen (15) calendar days of the principal’s disposition.
E. If the Association is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance, or if no disposition has been made within five (5) working days of such meeting (or ten [10] working days from the date of filing, whichever shall be later) the grievance shall be transmitted to the Superintendent. Within seven (7) working days the Superintendent or his/her designee, shall meet with the Association concerning the grievance and shall indicate his/her disposition of the grievance in writing within five (5) working days of such meeting, and shall furnish a copy thereof to the Association.
F. If the Association is not satisfied with the disposition of the superintendent, or if no disposition has been received within five (5) working days of such meeting the Association may proceed to a Board Level Hearing. This grievance hearing shall be heard in closed session, so long as it does not violate the open meetings act. If the grievance is not settled at the preceding step, it may be submitted to binding arbitration. Within fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of the Superintendent’s answer, the party choosing to arbitrate must give written notice to the other party, setting forth specifically the nature of the dispute to be arbitrated. The charging party shall file a Demand for Arbitration with the American Arbitration Association within fifteen (15) days from the notification date that arbitration will be pursued. The arbitrator shall be selected by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its rules, which shall likewise govern the arbitration proceedings.
G. The arbitrator shall have no power to rule on any of the following:
1. The termination of services of or failure to re-employ any probationary teacher.
2. Any claim or complaint for which there is another remedial procedure or forum established by law or by regulation having the force of law, including any matter subject to the procedures specified in the Teacher’s Tenure Act (Act IV Public Acts, Extra Session of 1937 of Michigan, as amended).
3. Any matter involving the content of a teacher evaluation.
H. The Board and the Association shall not be permitted to assert in such arbitration proceedings any ground or to rely on any evidence not previously disclosed to the other party. The arbitrator shall have no power to alter, add to, or subtract from the terms of this Agreement. Both parties agree to be bound by the decision of the arbitrator and agree that judgment thereon may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
I. The fees and expense of the arbitrator shall be shared equally by both parties.
J. The time limits provided in this Article shall be strictly observed but may be extended by written agreement of the parties. In the event a grievance is filed after May 15 of any year and strict adherence to the time limits may result in hardship to any party, the Board shall use its best efforts to process such grievance prior to the end of the school term or as soon thereafter as possible.
Professional Development; Adverse Consequences of School Exclusion; Student Behavior The Board President or Superintendent, or their designees, will make reasonable efforts to provide ongoing professional development to Board members about the adverse consequences of school exclusion and justice-system involvement, effective classroom management strategies, culturally responsive discipline, appropriate and available supportive services for the promotion of student attendance and engagement, and developmentally appropriate disciplinary methods that promote positive and healthy school climates, i.e., Senate Bill 100 training topics. The Board will conduct periodic self-evaluations with the goal of continuous improvement. New Board Member Orientation The orientation process for newly elected or appointed Board members includes:
BEHAVIOR AND CONDUCT The Student is responsible for knowing and observing all UCF regulations and procedures regarding behavior and conduct, including the UCF Golden Rule, UCF DHRL publications, and other official UCF publications. UCF DHRL reserves the right to establish or adopt additional rules regarding student conduct, as deemed necessary by UCF DHRL. Newly established or adopted rules will be communicated to the Student as provided in this document. The Student agrees to abide by additional rules and regulations that are established or adopted by UCF DHRL once communicated to the Student.
WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR
3.1 The Employer and the Union agree that all employees should work in an environment that fosters mutual respect and professionalism. The parties agree that inappropriate behavior in the workplace does not promote a college’s/district’s business, employee well-being, or productivity. All employees are responsible for contributing to such an environment and are expected to treat others with courtesy and respect.
3.2 Inappropriate workplace behavior by employees, supervisors and/or managers will not be tolerated. If an employee and/or the employee’s union representative believes the employee has been subjected to inappropriate workplace behavior, the employee and/or the employee’s representative is encouraged to report this behavior to the employee’s supervisor, a manager in the employee’s chain of command and/or the Human Resources Office. An employee or the employee’s representative should identify complaints as inappropriate workplace behavior. The Employer will investigate the reported behavior and take appropriate action as necessary. The employee and/or union representative will be notified upon conclusion of the investigation. Upon request, the Employer will provide the employee and the union representative with a copy of the investigation report.
3.3 Retaliation against employees who make a workplace behavior complaint will not be tolerated.
3.4 Supervisors, managers and Human Resource Office staff will be trained on Article 3, Workplace Behavior. The Employer and the Union agree to prepare and make available online a 15-minute joint training online presentation on workplace behavior for all employees covered by this CBA and their supervisors, managers and Human Resources staff.
3.5 Grievances related to this Article may be processed through Step 3 of the Grievance Procedure.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT A. The Board of Education agrees to pay the actual tuition costs of courses taken by a teacher at accredited colleges or universities up to three courses per two (2) year fiscal periods from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008 and July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2010 respectively, except as follows:
1. No teacher may be reimbursed for courses taken during the first year of teaching in Vineland.
2. Teachers taking courses in the second and third years of employment in Vineland will not receive remuneration until tenure has been secured. The remuneration will then be retroactive and will be paid to the teacher in a lump sum within sixty (60) days after the teacher has secured tenure.
3. All courses must be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee subject to the following requirements:
(a) A teacher must provide official documentation that he/she has obtained a grade of B or better;
(b) Reimbursement shall be paid only for courses directly related to teacher’s teaching field which increase the teacher’s content knowledge and are related to the teacher’s current certification, as determined by the Superintendent or his/her designee in his/her sole discretion; no reimbursement shall be paid for courses leading to a post graduate or professional degree in a field other than education or teaching. Further, effective September 1, 2010, all newly hired teachers shall not be eligible for reimbursement until they are tenured, and they shall not be eligible for retroactive reimbursement upon gaining tenure for courses taken prior to being tenured.
(c) The maximum total payments to be made by the Board shall not exceed $130,000.00. Courses shall be applied for no earlier than the following dates: Summer Session - April 1 Fall/Winter Session - June 1 Spring Session - October 1 Courses must, as set forth hereinabove in this sub-article 18.A.3, be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee, prior to the teacher commencing the course(s); and
(d) Teacher taking courses shall sign a contract requiring them to reimburse the Board for all tuition paid for a course if the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board within one (1) full school/academic year of completion of said course, except that reimbursement shall not be required when the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board due to a significant, documented life change.
4. Tuition reimbursement costs shall be a sum not to exceed the actual cost of college credits charged in an accredited public State college/University of the State of New Jersey.
B. When the Superintendent initiates in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs designed to improve the quality of instruction, the cooperation of the Vineland Education Association will be solicited. Notwithstanding the above, the initiation of in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs shall be determined solely at the discretion of the Board.
C. One professional leave day may be granted to a teacher upon request, according to the following guidelines:
1. The professional day may be for attendance at a workshop, seminar or visit to another school for the expressed purpose of self professional improvement for the job.
2. The request shall arrive in the office of the Superintendent of Schools at least ten (10) working days prior to the date requested and shall be reviewed by the immediate supervisor prior to submission. The Board reserves the right to deny a professional leave day before or immediately following a holiday or on a day which by its nature suggests a hardship for providing a substitute.
3. No more than two teachers from any one elementary school or from any one department in the secondary schools may be granted a professional leave for a given day.
4. The teacher may be required to submit a report to the Superintendent of Schools, Assistant Superintendent, supervisor (s), principal and staff regarding the activity of the professional day.
5. Costs incurred by the teacher for the professional day authorized under this Section shall be the teacher’s responsibility.
6. A maximum of 90 professional leave days may be authorized for the school year which shall be apportioned as follows: elementary, 35; grades seven and eight, 20; and high school, 35.
D. If the Board initiates a teacher’s attendance at a professional workshop, seminar or visit, the expenses shall be the responsibility of the Board. Further, this day shall not be subtracted from the 90 professional leave days granted to teachers of the Association.
E. The Board agrees to pay the full cost of courses taken by secretaries related to skills and knowledge improvement when such courses are required and approved by the Board.
F. The Board and the Association agree that it is important to communicate when developing and implementing current and future learning technologies, including but not limited to distance and on-line learning.
