I. Policy

II. Definitions

III. Procedures

    The purpose of this grievance procedure is to provide employees covered by this agreement the broadest possible opportunity to resolve work related problems through an effective administrative procedure. The Association and the City recognize a mutual obligation to faithfully uphold the spirit and purpose of the grievance procedure.

I. Policy

     A. Employees have the right to use this grievance procedure without fear of reprisal. No negative employment action will be taken against any employee as a result of the use of this grievance procedure.

     B. Employees may represent themselves or select whomever they wish to represent them at any or all steps in the grievance procedure.

          1. The employee has the right to the assistance of a POA representative in the investigation, preparation, and presentation of a written grievance.

          2. Employees may have no more than one City employee and one non-city employee as representatives for grievance hearings.

          3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this agreement, an employee may not select a supervisor in the direct chain of command, as a representative, except that a supervisor may select another supervisor as a representative.

     C. Grievances may be initiated by the employee, or by a formally recognized employee organization, on the employee's behalf or by the recognized employee organization for this unit on its own behalf, on matters that directly involve the interpretation or application of the specific terms or provisions of this Memorandum of Understanding. If an employee chooses to have representation on any formal grievance concerning a matter that directly involves the interpretation or application of the specific terms and provisions of this Memorandum of Understanding. If an employee chooses to have representation on any formal grievance concerning a matter that directly involves the interpretation or application of the specific terms and provisions of this Memorandum of Understanding, such representation must come from POA.

     D. The employee's or employee organization's first contact regarding job and working conditions is with the immediate supervisor and supervisors shall attempt to settle grievances informally at this level.

     E. A grievance will normally be presented and processed on City time, and a grievant attending a grievance meeting in his/her own behalf on City time will not lose pay. In scheduling the time, place and duration of any grievance meeting, the employee, a POA Representative and Management will give due consideration to all the participant's responsibilities in the essential operations of the department. Management has the unequivocal right to schedule hearings as convenient. Hearings may or may not be held during an employee's normal shift. No overtime pay will be given to the grievant. Representatives, witnesses, or other participants will receive overtime pay if ordered to be present by the appointing authority.

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     F. Waivers and Time Limits.

          1. Failure by management to reply to the employee's grievance within the time limits specified automatically processes the grievance to the next level.

          2. Any level of review, or any time limits established in this procedure, may be waived or extended for good cause and only by mutual agreement confirmed in writing.

          3. If an employee fails to appeal from one level to the next level, within the time limits established in this grievance procedure, the grievance shall be considered settled on the basis of the last decision and the grievance shall not be subject to further appeal or reconsideration.

          4. By mutual agreement, the grievance may revert to a prior level for reconsideration.

          5. If a grievant fails to appear for a scheduled grievance meeting, such failure without excuse approved without the appointing authority shall entitle Management to decide on the grievance without the presence of the grievant, or to schedule another meeting at the level (in which case the time requirements for hearing and decision are automatically waived.) Failure to appear at two meetings on the same grievance and it is deemed denied. The grievance shall then not be subject to further appeal or reconsideration.

          6. When a grievant is on approved leave the time limits established in this procedure shall be suspended for the period of the leave.

          7. No grievance shall be finally dismissed for an unexcused failure to appear at a scheduled hearing unless the grievant had been given 24 hours notice of the hearing.

     G. POA agrees to pursue all claims of violation of this MOU through the grievance procedure. Resort to other remedies shall not be pursued until all steps of the grievance procedure have been exhausted. If POA reasonably feels that an employee has suffered immediate and irreparable harm, the City and POA agree that the Association may directly contact the City Manager's Office to seek a resolution prior to pursuing remedies outside the City. Such contact will be considered to exhaust the grievance procedure in these cases.

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II. Definitions

     A. A grievance is a claim or charge of misunderstanding, or difference in interpretation, or violation of provisions of the Civil Service Rules, the Personnel Manual, this Memorandum of Understanding, or management policy or regulations including, but not limited to, Administrative and Departmental Regulations which affect wages, hours or other terms and conditions of employment.

     B. Actions which are covered in the City Rights Article of this Memorandum are not grievable, but this shall not preclude employees or their representatives from consulting with Management about the practical consequences such actions may have on wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. In addition, actions covered by another appeals process as described in the Civil Service Rules, Personnel manual, or this Memorandum are not grievable and shall not be processed through this Grievance Procedure.

     C. If the grievance system is abused by an unreasonable number of submittals by one individual or group obviously designed to thwart orderly processing or if the grievances are patently irrelevant, or incomprehensible, they shall be rejected as "nongrievable" and returned to the grievant.

     D. Wherever applicable, the term "working days" means the actual work days of the individual on whom the time limits are imposed.

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III. Procedures

     A. General

          1. Management of the department has the responsibility to inform an employee of any limitation of a given level of Management's authority to fully resolve the grievance. In this regard, Management shall:

               a. Supply the employee with the necessary information to process the grievance to the proper agency or authority.

               b. Advise an employee when any matter under submission is determined by Management as not grievable according to the definitions in Section II above. The "grievance" paperwork submitted by the employee shall be returned to the employee along with a memorandum explaining why the matter is not grievable and what alternative procedures, if any, the employee may follow to process his/her complaint.

          2. When a group of identical grievances develop, only one grievance form shall be submitted. The grievants may select not more that two (2) spokespersons who thereafter will be their representative "grievants". The acceptance of the decision by the spokespersons at any step (or final decision if the grievance moves to the fifth step) will be binding on all parties.

          3. A grievance shall be recognized if it is brought to the attention of the immediate supervisor either formally or informally within ten (10) working days of the incident's occurrence.

          4. If the grievance is between the employee and the immediate supervisor, the initial step may be to the second level supervisor.

          5. To be recognized, a grievance must state the nature of the problem and the remedy sought by the employee of POA.  In the event that the grievance is rejected for failure to clearly identify the problem or remedy, it may be amended by the grievant or POA.

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     B. Steps.

          Step 1: At the employee's or employee organization's sole option, grievances may be presented to the supervisor either orally or in writing. If the complaint is presented orally, the procedure is informal and may be settled by an oral answer given within five (5) working days. If the grievance is presented in writing, the procedure is formal and the answer must be given in writing within five (5) working days after submission. The written grievance must be clearly and precisely detailed including the specific grounds for the grievance, a listing of MOU articles or other City procedures that were allegedly violated, and the remedies sought. Grievances that fail to meet these requirements shall not be disqualified, but shall be returned to the grievant for compliance with the foregoing requirements. In such cases, the written answer must be given within five (5) working days after resubmission of the grievance.

          Step 2: If the problem cannot be solved at Step 1, the employee or employee organization may present the complaint in writing to the second level supervisor (if not done at Step 1) within five (5) working days. Within ten (10) working days of the receipt of the grievance, a hearing shall be held and the Management representative shall give a written decision to the employee and the POA representative.

          Step 3: If the problem is not resolved at Step 2, the employee or employee organization may submit the grievance to the division head within five (5) working days. Within ten (10) working days of the receipt of the grievance, a hearing shall be held and the division head shall give written decision to the employee or POA representative. In smaller departments, this step is deleted.

          Step 4: If the problem cannot be solved in Step 3, the employee or employee organization may present the grievance to the Department Head within five (5) working days. Within ten (10) working days of the receipt of the grievance, a hearing shall be held and the Department Head or his/her designee shall give a written decision to the employee or POA representative. In nonmanagerial departments this shall constitute the final resolution of a grievance involving management policy or regulations.

          Step 5: Final Resolution of Grievance: If the grievance is still in dispute after Step 4, the employee or employee organization may request a further hearing, which at the discretion of the Management Team will take place before the Civil Service Commission, on matters over which the Commission has authority, or before the City Manager or his designee, by submitting the grievance within five (5) working days. (If it is determined that the hearing should be held before the Civil Service Commission, a fact-finding hearing to define the issues in the grievance will be held by the Personnel Director with the employee and/or employee organization, prior to the date set for the Commission hearing. The grievance may be settled during such fact-finding hearing, if a mutually acceptable solution is developed.) The decision of the Commission shall be issued at its next regularly scheduled meeting following the hearing by the Personnel Director. In grievances answered by the Manager, a hearing shall be held and a written response given within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the appeal from the fourth step. If the City Manager's office does not render a decision within thirty (30) days, and if there is no waiver of the time limits, the grievance will be decided in favor of the grievant. The employee or employee organization may only request a hearing before the Civil Service Commission in matters solely involving Civil Service Rules or the Personnel Manual.

          Step 6: Grievances arising out of the disagreement on interpretation or application of this Memorandum shall follow the City-wide grievance procedure. The POA may formally request to continue the grievance, not later than ten (10) days following receipt of the answer at the final step of the grievance procedure (provided it was heard by the City Manager), by serving written notice upon the Management Team. The Management Team will refer the grievance to the City Council for hearing and decision.

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