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HR policy - Employee grievance procedures for University Staff
| Functional Owner | Chief Human Resources Officer |
| Executive Sponsors | Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance |
| Policy Contact | Assistant Director for Talent Management, Human Resources |
This policy applies to University Staff employees and is designed to be positive and corrective.
Policy Detail:
Policy:
This policy establishes grievance procedures for UW-La
Crosse university staff and includes requirements as indicated in Wis. Stat. §
36.115(4) and UW System Administrative Policy 1233. This applies to permanent and project
university staff who wish to file a grievance contesting dismissals, other
disciplinary action, or layoff if the employee alleges that the action was
taken without just cause. Grievances may also be filed for working conditions
or workplace safety. University staff
serving a probationary period may only file a grievance related to working
conditions/workplace safety.
Definition:
“Office of Human Resources” refers to the University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse Office of Human Resources.
Procedure:
Permanent and project employees wishing to file a formal grievance
must determine whether the action can be grieved and at what step the grievance
may be filed. The actions are processed through the following steps:
- Discipline and Layoff (begin at Step One and may proceed no further than Step Two)
- Dismissals (begin at Step Two and may proceed to Step Three)
- Working Conditions/Workplace Safety (processed through Step One only)
Working conditions refers to
the working environment and all existing circumstances affecting labor in the
workplace including, but not limited to, work hours and physical aspects of the
job.
Those actions that cannot be grieved include Wisconsin
Retirement System benefits, health insurance matters, verbal reprimands,
performance evaluations, and merit. In addition, working condition issues may
not be filed that pertain to:
- Utilizing personnel, methods and means to carry out the mission of the University of Wisconsin System or UW-La Crosse;
- Determining the size and composition of the work force;
- Managing and directing the employees of the University of Wisconsin System;
- Hiring, promoting, assigning or retaining employees; or
- Establishing reasonable workplace expectations. Grievance Steps
Prior to filing a grievance, an attempt should be made, if possible, to resolve the issue through discussion between the employee and supervisor. Employees may request assistance from the Office of Human Resources to facilitate a fair resolution. If an attempt to resolve a matter is not successful or appropriate, a grievance may be filed. All grievances must be filed by completing
Employee Grievance Report – see supporting resources and tools below.
|
REASON |
STEP ONE |
STEP TWO |
STEP THREE |
|
|
|
STEP TWO A |
STEP TWO B (employed prior to 7/1/15) |
|
|
|
*Dismissal |
|
X |
X |
X |
|
*Layoff |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
*Discipline |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
Working
Conditions |
X |
|
|
|
*Employees serving a probationary period do not have the right to file for these reasons.
Step One (for layoff, discipline, and working conditions) shall be filed with the Office of Human Resources. The Hearing Officer will be the appropriate division head or designee.
The grievance shall be filed no later than 30 calendar days from the date the grievant first became aware, or should have become aware (with the exercise of reasonable diligence), of the matter grieved. Within 30 calendar days of receipt of the written grievance, the division head or designee shall meet with the grievant to hear the grievance. The grievant shall receive a written decision no later than 7 calendar days after this meeting.
If the subject of the appeal is working conditions or workplace safety, there is no opportunity to appeal beyond Step One.
Note: Employees hired prior to July 1, 2015, may choose to use Step Two A or Step Two B appeal procedures. Employees hired July 1, 2015 or later may only use Step Two A procedures.
Step Two A (for dismissal, layoff, discipline). Shall be appealed to an impartial hearing officer. When an employee has filed a grievance alleging that a discipline decision was not based on just cause and is dissatisfied with the Step One decision, the employee must inform the Chancellor or Chancellor’s designee of the desire to appeal the Step One decision within ten (10) business days from receipt of the answer in Step One.
The impartial hearing officer shall be one of the following to be selected by the grievant:
a grievance review committee established by the University Staff Council that will consist of five (5) members. The employee shall select three (3) of the five (5) members to hear the grievance; or
- an arbitrator, acting as the impartial hearing officer, employed by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC); or
- an arbitrator, acting as the impartial hearing officer, from the WERC roster of neutral decision-makers not employed by the WERC. The arbitrator’s fee will be incurred by the grievant; however, if the
- impartial hearing officer’s recommendation to the Chancellor is found to be in the grievant’s favor, and the Chancellor accepts that recommendation, the employer shall be responsible for 100% of the cost. (There shall be no cost to the grievant when utilizing the grievance review committee.)
An appeal of dismissal of a university staff member will begin at Step Two and must be filed within 20 business days of written notice of dismissal.
The impartial hearing officer will determine whether just cause for the discipline or discharge exists. If the subject of the appeal is layoff, the issue before the impartial hearing officer will be whether the applicable layoff procedure was followed. The impartial hearing officer will be charged with hearing the case and making a report and recommendations to the Chancellor or Chancellor’s designee.
The hearing for a university staff employee shall include a right to representation, a right to offer witnesses, and a right to a written decision. The hearing shall be closed unless the grievant requests an open hearing. Within 20 business days of receipt of the report and recommendations, the Chancellor or Chancellor’s designee shall release a statement accepting or rejecting the findings of the impartial hearing officer and explaining how the decision will be implemented.
Step Two B (for dismissal, layoff, discipline). University staff who held permanent status in employment prior to July 1, 2015, may appeal a disciplinary action (i.e., a suspension, demotion, or reduction in base pay), layoff or discharge directly to the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commissions (WERC).
The grievant may appeal directly from Step One to the Chancellor or Chancellor’s designee within 10 business days from receipt of the Step One decision. If the employee is still dissatisfied with the decision as issued by the Chancellor or Chancellor’s designee, the employee may appeal the decision to the WERC under Wis. Stat. § 230.44(1)(c) within 30 calendar days from the date of the decision being appealed.
If an appeal to WERC is filed, no further steps in the grievance process will apply. The decision of the WERC may be subject to judicial review, but an appeal to the Board of Regents is not available using this procedure.
Step Three (for dismissal) – shall be filed with the Board of Regents. For matters that
involve dismissal only, a grievant who is dissatisfied with a Chancellor’s or Chancellor’s designee Step Two decision may appeal the decision to the Board of Regents. The appeal must be filed within 30 calendar days of receipt of the decision.
The Board of Regents Personnel Matters Review Committee will conduct a review based on the record of the matter created by the impartial hearing officer and will prepare recommended findings and a decision and transmit them to the full Board for final action. No further appeal shall be available to the parties.
A flow chart of the grievance steps are outlined in Attachment #2.
Representation
A grievant may designate a representative to be present at a
hearing. The representative has the right to observe and take notes. He or she
has a limited right to speak but can serve as an advisor to the employee
including repeating certain points stated by employee, explaining significance
of points made by the employee, and speaking about practices at the work site.
The representative has no right to speak for the employee in response to
questions.
Use of Paid Work Time for Grievances
The employee and his/her representative will be allowed a
reasonable period of time as determined by the Office of Human Resources to investigate,
prepare, and present a grievance during normal work hours without loss of pay.
Time spent preparing grievances outside the employee’s scheduled work hours, or
any travel or other expenses incurred by the grievant, are not the
responsibility of UW-La Crosse. Any expense incurred by the grievant or his/her
representative in investigating, preparing, or presenting a grievance shall be
the sole responsibility of the grievant or representative.
Deadlines
A grievance must be filed with and received by the
designated employer representative within the timeframe noted. If mailed, the
postmark denotes the date of submittal or response.
Grievances not appealed within the designated time limits at
any step of the grievance procedure will be considered as having been
adjudicated on the basis of the last preceding employer answer. Grievances
which are not answered within the time limits may be grieved to the next step
within 10 calendar days after the last day on which the grievance could have
been timely answered.
Retaliation
UW System and UW-La Crosse are prohibited from retaliating against a grievant, representative, witness, potential witness, or impartial hearing officer in the grievance proceedings.
- Wis. Stat. 36.115 (4) and UW System Administrative Policy 1233 (formerly Gen 14) inform employees on how Grievances upon dismissal may be administered. These rules outlined below in identify the process an employee may enact when dismissed. Certain employee classifications have the right to a hearing before an impartial officer prior to dismissal. The Board of Regents is the highest level of appeal.
- Grievance Employee Report Form: https://www.uwlax.edu/globalassets/offices-services/human-resources/grievance-report.pdf
- The Office of Human Resources will maintain this policy.
- Wis. Stat. § 36.115(4) – https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/36/115/4
- UW System Administrative Policy 1233 Grievance Procedures: https://www.wisconsin.edu/uw-policies/uw-system-administrative-policies/grievance-procedures/
- Academic Staff grievance procedures are covered under UWS and UWL Chapter 13: https://www.uwlax.edu/human-resources/unclassified-personnel-rules/
- Faculty grievance policies are covered under UWS and UWL Chapter 6: https://www.uwlax.edu/human-resources/unclassified-personnel-rules/
- Faculty grievance procedures are covered under the Faculty Senate's Complaints, Grievances, Appeals, and Academic Freedom Committee (CGAFF) documetns: https://www.uwlax.edu/facultysenate/committees/CGAAFindex.html