Steps of the Grievance Procedure All grievances shall be processed in accordance with the following procedure. Grievances over final counseling or dismissal will begin at Step Two. For all other grievances, the parties may agree to waive Step One. For grievances filed directly at Step Two, the grievant will have thirty (30) calendar days from the occurrence of the situation, condition or action that caused the grievant to file. Within thirty (30) calendar days of the occurrence of a situation, condition, or action that caused the grievance, the employee(s) affected and/or the xxxxxxx or Union representative shall present the grievance to the employee’s immediate supervisor for resolution. The Human Resources Consultant may also attend, if desired by the University. Presentation of the grievance shall include a short written description of the subject of the grievance and the contract Articles allegedly violated. If the grievance is directed against the employee’s immediate supervisor, the grievance may be presented to the next higher level of supervision. In the event the employee’s immediate supervisor does not have authority to resolve the grievance, the grievance will be presented at the level having authority to act as determined by the Employer. The Employer will respond within five (5) calendar days of the meeting. In the event an employee files a grievance outside the department in which the employee is employed and the grievance cannot be resolved at Step One, the grievance will be processed at Step Two by the level of management as designated by the University in the department which has been named in the grievance. If a satisfactory settlement is not reached in Step One, and the employee wishes to pursue the matter further, said grievance shall be put into writing on the agreed upon grievance form and referred to the department head or designee or to the next appropriate level of management and the Office of Labor Relations within fifteen (15) calendar days after the decision from Step One. The date of alleged occurrence of the grievance shall be specified. The parties shall attempt to meet to resolve the grievance within fifteen (15) calendar days following the date of written submittal. At this step, the Union agrees to cite all known sections of the Agreement and/or written policy or practice allegedly violated and to provide a copy to the Human Resources Office and Office of Labor Relations. The grievant may be represented by a xxxxxxx and a union staff representative. The University will be represented by the appropriate management official(s) or designee(s), a representative from the Office of Labor Relations, and a Human Resources Consultant, if desired by the University. The University will respond in writing within ten (10) calendar days.
of the Grievance Procedure If the grievance is still unresolved after it has been considered at the Appeal Step (Fourth) of the Grievance Procedure, it may be referred to the Classification Review Committee who shall consider the matter. Thereafter, if the grievance is still unresolved, it may be referred to the Arbitrator who shall be empowered to determine the proper classification and/or rate for the new job as provided herein.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE 6.01 An employee shall have the right to grieve any complaint arising from the application, interpretation, administration or alleged violation of this Agreement. It is understood that nothing contained in this Article is intended to preclude the informal discussion and review of employee concerns or complaints between employees and members of management. No employee shall have a grievance until the employee, with the assistance of a Union representative if so desired, has given his or her immediate supervisor an opportunity to resolve the complaint.
6.02 It is the mutual desire of the parties hereto that grievances of employees be adjusted as quickly as possible and it is understood that if an employee has a grievance, it shall be discussed with his or her supervisor within thirty (30) days of when the circumstances giving rise to the grievance were known or should reasonably have been known to the grievor in order to give the supervisor an opportunity of adjusting the grievance. The discussion shall be between the employee and/or the Union xxxxxxx and the supervisor, but the supervisor may elect to have the assistance of another person. The supervisor’s response to the grievance shall be given within seven (7) days after such discussion.
6.03 Failing settlement, the grievance may be taken up in the following manner and sequence provided it is presented within fifteen (15) days of the supervisor’s reply to the grievance: The Union shall present the grievance in writing signed by the employee, in the case of an individual grievance, to the Editor-in-Chief, or designate, setting forth the nature of the grievance, and the remedy sought. The Editor-in-Chief or designate shall arrange a meeting with the Union within seven (7) days of the receipt of the grievance at which the grievor, in the case of an individual grievance, may attend, if requested by either party, and discuss the grievance. The Editor-in-Chief or designate may have such assistance at the meeting as is considered necessary. The Editor-in-Chief or designate will give the Union a decision in writing within seven (7) days following the meeting with a copy to the grievor.
6.04 In the event the grievance has not been satisfactorily settled under the foregoing Grievance Procedure, the matter shall then, by notice in writing given to the Employer within thirty (30) days of the date of the decision from the Editor-in-Chief or designate, be referred to arbitration as hereinafter provided.
6.05 Any matter so referred to arbitration, including any question as to whether a matter is arbitrable, shall be heard by an independent arbitrator. The notice of the party referring the decision to arbitration shall contain the names of three (3) neutral persons, any one of whom it is prepared to accept as Arbitrator. The recipient of the notice shall within fourteen (14) days advise the other party of either its acceptance of one of the proposed persons as the Arbitrator or shall suggest the names of other neutral persons it proposes to act as Arbitrator. If the recipient of the notice fails to respond, or if the two (2) parties fail to agree upon a neutral person to act as Arbitrator, within the time limits, the appointment shall be made by the Minister of Labour upon the request of either party. The Arbitrator shall hear and determine the matter and shall issue a decision. The decision shall be final and binding upon the parties and upon any employee affected by it.
6.06 Either party may, in the correspondence contemplated under Article 6.05 notify the other party of its suggestion to proceed before a Board of Arbitration. Provided both parties agree, an Arbitrator selected in accordance with articles 6.05 shall be appointed as chair of the Arbitration Board. Each party shall be responsible for naming its own nominee to the Arbitration Board and will advise the other party and the Chair of the name of its nominee ten (10) days prior to the date scheduled for the hearing. Where the parties have agreed to a Board of Arbitration, references in this Article to Arbitrator will be read to mean Arbitration Board, where appropriate.
6.07 The Arbitrator shall not be authorized to alter, modify or amend any part of the terms of this Agreement, nor to make any decision inconsistent therewith. Any individual who is selected as an Arbitrator cannot at any time have been involved in attempting to solve the grievance or been involved in any way in the negotiation of this collective agreement.
6.08 The Employer and the Union shall each pay one-half (1/2) of the remuneration and expenses of the Arbitrator and if a Board of Arbitration is agreed to, each party shall pay the remuneration and expenses of its nominee. Neither party shall be obligated to pay any part of the cost of any stenographic transcript of an arbitration hearing without its expressed consent.
6.09 It is agreed that the time limits set out with respect to grievances and arbitrations are mandatory. The time limits imposed upon either party of any step in the Grievance Procedure may be extended by mutual agreement. A request for extension of the time limit made prior to the expiry of such time limit shall not be denied on an arbitrary basis.
6.10 Where the Arbitrator determines that a disciplinary penalty or discharge is excessive, he or she may substitute such other penalty for the discipline or discharge as it considers just and reasonable in all the circumstances.
6.11 The Employer shall have the right to file a grievance in writing signed by the Director of Human Resources or designate, with the Union within thirty (30) days of when the circumstances giving rise to the grievance were known or should reasonably have been known to the Employer. Failing settlement, a meeting will be held with the Union within seven (7) days of the presentation of the grievance and the Union shall give the Employer its written reply to the grievance in seven (7) days following the meeting. Failing settlement, such grievance may be referred to arbitration under this Article within thirty (30) days of the date the Employer received the Union’s reply.
6.12 The Union shall have the right to file a grievance in writing with the Editor-in-Chief within thirty (30) days of when the circumstances giving rise to the grievance were known or should reasonably have been known to the Union. Failing settlement, a meeting will be held with the Union within seven (7) days of the presentation of the grievance and the Employer shall give the Union its written reply to the grievance in seven (7) days following the meeting. Failing settlement, such grievance may be referred to arbitration under this Article within thirty (30) days of the date the Union received the Employer’s reply. The Union shall not have the right to initiate an individual grievance and such grievances shall be initiated by the employee concerned. This restriction shall not apply to a grievance involving the discharge of an employee. For the purpose of this Agreement, ‘individual grievance’ means a grievance that requests a remedy for an individual employee and does not arise out of the interpretation, application or alleged violation of an Editor-in-Chief department wide policy affecting bargaining unit employees generally.
6.13 Policy grievances and grievances involving the discharge or discipline of an employee may be submitted at Step 2 of the Grievance Procedure.
6.14 If two (2) or more employees have the same individual grievance arising out of the same circumstances and based on the same incident, such grievances may be combined and treated as a group grievance.
6.15 For the purpose of this Agreement, ‘day’ means a calendar day and ‘grievance’ means a complaint arising from the interpretation, application, administration or alleged violation of the Agreement.
Steps in the Grievance Procedure (a) Step 1 (Immediate Supervisor who is not within the scope of this Collective Agreement) An Employee who has a grievance shall first discuss the matter with their immediate supervisor and attempt to resolve the grievance at this stage. In the event that it is not resolved satisfactorily to the Employee, it may be advanced in accordance with the following steps.
(b) Step 2 (Director of the Department, or Designate) If:
(i) an individual grievance, within fifteen (15) days of the date the Employee first became aware of or reasonably should have become aware of the occurrence of the act causing the grievance; or
(ii) a group grievance, within fifteen (15) days of the date any of the aggrieved Parties became aware of the event or reasonably should have become aware of the event leading to the grievance; the grievance shall be submitted, in writing, stating the Article claimed to have been violated, the nature of the grievance and the redress sought, to the appropriate Human Resources Department. The Director of the Department or Designate shall reply in writing within ten (10) days of receiving the grievance. At the request of either Party, a grievance meeting shall be held prior to providing a written reply. If the grievance is not settled at this stage, it may be advanced to Step 3.
(c) Step 3 (Vice President, or Designate) Within ten (10) days of the reply from the Director of the Department or Designate or for a dismissal grievance, within fifteen (15) days of the date the Employee first became aware of or reasonably should have become aware of the occurrence of the act causing the grievance, the Employee shall submit the grievance in writing to the appropriate Human Resources Department. The Vice President or Designate shall hold a meeting and render a written decision within ten (10) days of receipt of the grievance. The Employee shall be entitled to have a Union Xxxxxxx and/or Union Representative present during the meeting. If the grievance is not settled at this stage, the Union may decide to proceed to Arbitration.
(d) Grievance meetings referred to in Clause 8.05 may include a teleconference or videoconference.
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.
