Grievance Procedures

A grievance is a complaint by an employee regarding the interpretation or application of College rules and regulations, working conditions, or alleged improper treatment.

  • Informal Grievance Procedure 
  • Formal Grievance Procedure 
  •  
  You should make every attempt to resolve issues you encounter at work informally, through discussion with the persons involved, and in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation.  If you address potential problems early, they are less likely to escalate into grievances.  Your supervisor or department head may be able to help you resolve complaints and other problems informally and with as little disruption and distress possible. 
  1. You should first attempt to resolve grievances with your immediate supervisor and as necessary, with the supervisor of your immediate supervisor.
  2. All supervisors, to the best of their ability, are required to inform, listen to and counsel employees on all matters affecting them and to resolve informally, if possible, all grievances.  In the event the informal attempts to resolve the grievance are not successful and you wish to pursue the matter, you should initiate a meeting with the Director of Human Resources.
  3. The Director of Human Resources shall work with the appropriate parties in an attempt to resolve the grievance informally.  If this process fails to bring about a satisfactory resolution, you may initiate the formal grievance procedure.
  A formal grievance is one that has not been resolved satisfactorily in an informal manner between the employee and the immediate supervisor.  These should be taken up in the following manner: 
  1. You must present the grievance in writing to your immediate supervisor, clearly identifying this action as a formal complaint and as the first step in the grievance procedure and describing the resolution desired.  You must present the written grievance to your immediate supervisor within 10 working days of the last informal meeting to resolve the grievance.  Upon receipt of the written grievance, the immediate supervisor shall have 30 working days in which to provide you with a written answer to your grievance.  (Should your grievance involve your immediate supervisor, you should proceed to step #2)
  2. If you are not satisfied with the answer from your immediate supervisor, you may, within the next 10 working days of receiving the reply from your immediate supervisor, present the grievance in writing to your immediate supervisor’s supervisor and/or the department head, with a copy forwarded to the Director of Human Resources.  Upon receipt of this written grievance, this administrator shall have 30 working days in which to provide you with an answer in writing, with a copy forwarded to the Director of Human Resources.
  3.  If good faith efforts to resolve the grievance within the department are not successful, you should, within the next 10 working days, direct the complaint to the Office of Human Resources.  The Director of Human Resources will review the complaint in an objective, confidential manner and attempt to mediate the situation in light of all the relevant facts and their relation to College policy.
  4. The Director of Human Resources will communicate his/her response to you within ten working days.
  5. If upon receipt of the answer from the Director of Human Resources you remain unsatisfied, you may take the grievance to the final level of review by the Vice President in charge of your area.  To do so, you must provide written notification of such dissatisfaction to the Vice President in charge of your area, with a copy to the Director of Human Resources within 10 days after receiving the answer from the Director of Human Resources.  The Vice President in charge of your area shall promptly investigate and, if necessary, conduct a hearing upon the grievance.  The Vice President in charge of your area shall render a written decision concerning the matter within 30 calendar days and furnish copies thereof to the parties involved, including the Director of Human Resources.  The decision of the Vice President in charge of your area will be final unless the President of the College exercises the right to review the decision and to modify or reverse it.
  6. If at the conclusion of this formal grievance procedure, you are still not satisfied with the outcome and you want to seek legal recourse, the case may be brought to arbitration.
By mutual agreement, the time limits provided for in this procedure may be extended.  If you are involved in the grievance procedure and still on the job, you will be expected to maintain acceptable performance levels in the discharge of your duties and departmental responsibilities, and are assured freedom from reprisal as a result of the airing of your grievance.  Faculty members should refer to the most recent edition of the Faculty Handbook.  Union employees should refer to their bargaining agreement.