Grievance Procedure for Classified Civil Service Employees Not Covered By a Bargaining Unit Agreement

Effective 12/1/79

A. Definition

A grievance is defined as a contention of misapplication or violation of the provisions of the State Higher Education Law, Higher Education Personnel Board rules, compensation plans, or written University or departmental personnel policies and procedures.

B. Classified Staff Grievance Committee

There shall be a standing University Classified Staff Grievance Committee consisting of four classified civil service employees, four administrative exempt employees, and four faculty members. The twelve members will be appointed by the President or designee for a two-year term after consideration of recommendations from the Office of Personnel & Benefits, the Association of Administrators, and the Faculty Senate. Members may be reappointed and serve any number of successive terms.

C. Hearing Committee

Each Hearing Committee shall have three members chosen from the Grievance Committee and shall choose its own chairman. The committee for two or more grievance cases ma y consist of the same members, but a committee shall not consider two cases concurrently unless the grievant is the same person in both cases or unless the grievance is in the nature of a class action involving two or more grievants with the same grievance.

D. Records

Hearings before the Hearing Committee will be tape recorded which will constitute the only record of the proceedings other than the final report of findings and recommendations. The tapes will be kept by the Director of Personnel & Benefits and will be available to the members of the Hearing Committee, the President or designee. the aggrieved employee, and to the immediate supervisor.

E. Evidence

Grievance hearings shall be informally conducted and without the restrictions of evidence which are appropriate in civil courts. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted, whether covered in the preliminary written statements or not. Hearsay evidence should be discouraged except for the purpose of establishing perspective for the subsequent introduction or explanation of other evidence. Substantial evidence of the validity of the grievance must submitted by the grievant, but this shall not prevent inquiry by the Hearing Committee into relevant matters whether or not they are raised by the parties concerned.

F. Hearing

Hearings before the Hearing Committee will be closed and will include only members of the Hearing Committee, their assistants including recorders, the grievant and his/her designated representative, the immediate supervisor and her/his designated representative, and any witnesses while testifying.

G. Grievances

Except as provided in written Higher Education Personnel Board rules and other written University policy, classified staff employees who have successfully completed their probationary service period and achieved permanent status may seek settlement of a grievance as defined using this procedure. The availability of this procedure does not preclude the adoption of other grievance procedures negotiated by organizations having exclusive recognition for an appropriate bargaining unit or by one adopted by the Higher Education Personnel Board under its-jurisdiction.

1.0

All grievances shall be heard during working hours when practicable and the aggrieved employee may at any of the four procedural steps be accompanied by a representative of his/her choosing who is an employee of Central Washington University and not admitted to the practice of law.

1.1

When grievances arise, the following steps shall be observed and each step shall be exhausted before resorting to the next. When a complaint is submitted, all personnel involved will exercise care to ensure that each step is accomplished within the time limit assigned each step. Should the originator or recipient of any written request or decision described in this procedure be absent from campus during the prescribed response time, the response time may be extended by the remaining duration of the absence or the absent party may designate an alternate to act in her/his stead.

• 1.11 Any employee having a grievance shall submit it in writing to his/her immediate supervisor as promptly as possible after its occurrence, but a grievance shall be invalid if not presented in writing within five(5) working days from the time the cause of the complaint became known to the employee concerned.
  Step 1 The immediate supervisor shall review the matter and make a decision in writing to the aggrieved employee within five(5) working days of receipt of such a written request. If the grievance is not settled satisfactorily, the employee shall have five(5) working days following receipt of the decision to submit the grievance in writing to the next senior level of supervision senior supervisor)
• 1.12 Step 2 The senior supervisor shall make a decision in writing to the aggrieved employee within five(5) working days of receipt of such a written request. If the grievance is not settled satisfactorily, the employee shall have five(5) working days following receipt of the decision to submit the grievance in writing to the Director of Personnel & Benefits.
• 1.13 Step 3 The Director of Personnel & Benefits shall, within seven(7) working days of receipt of such a written request, meet with the aggrieved employee, and/or her/his representative, and with the immediate supervisor in an effort to reach a satisfactory settlement of the grievance. A summation by the Director of Personnel & Benefits of the hearing held at Step 3 will be in writing and will be sent to the aggrieved employee, the immediate supervisor, and the senior supervisor within five(5) working days following the hearing. The summation will be made a part of this grievance file to be forwarded to the Hearing Committee, if formed.
• 1.14 Step 4 If the grievance is unsatisfactorily resolved by the Director of Personnel & Benefits as outlined in Step 3, the employee may request in writing, and within five(5) working days of receipt of the summation from the Director of Personnel & Benefits, that a Hearing Committee be formed as a final grievance step. The request for formation of the Hearing Committee shall be directed to the Chairman of the Grievance Committee
  
  The Hearing Committee shall be formed within five(5) working days of receipt of the employee's written request and shall include three persons not in the same office, department, or subdepartment as the aggrieved employee, selected by lot from among the members of the Grievance Committee. Unlimited challenges for cause may be submitted by either the aggrieved employee or the immediate supervisor. Such challenges will be ruled upon by the Grievance Committee as a whole. Also, the aggrieved employee and the immediate supervisor will each have one preemptory challenge.
  
  Prior to hearing the grievance and as a first step, the Hearing Committee will meet in camera (privately) and make a determination whether on the face of the written grievance sufficient basis exists to proceed with the hearing. If the determination is in the negative, the grievance will be dismissed without further process. If the determination is that a reasonable basis exists for a hearing, the Hearing Committee will then arrange to hear the grievance.
  
  The Hearing Committee will hear the grievance under procedures established by the chairman and after the hearing is concluded will render a written report of findings and recommendations to the President or designee with copies, including dissenting opinions, if any, of members of the Committee, to the aggrieved employee, the immediate supervisor, the senior supervisor, and the Director of Personnel & Benefits. The President or designee will make the final decision on the disposition of the grievance and will render a written report of the decision with copies to members of the Hearing Committee, the aggrieved employee, the immediate supervisor, the senior supervisor, and the Director of Personnel & Benefits. The hearing procedure from the point of formation of the Hearing Committee to the receipt by the parties involved of the President's or designee's written report of decision, shall be carried out within fifteen(15) working days.

Questions and Inquiries

Classified employees may consult with the Office of the Director of Personnel and Benefits concerning matters of classification, compensation, conditions of employment, interpretation of the civil service rules now in effect, or concerning other personnel matters and problems. Such questions are not to be construed as grievances and may be made without reference to the Grievance Procedure described above.