Whenever people work together, problems and misunderstandings
are inevitable, and they cannot be resolved without good communications. All
regular employees are encouraged to use MSPA's grievance procedure. It is
designed to call attention to these problems so that they can be rationally
resolved. These procedures do not modify the employment-at-will relationship
between MSPA and its employees. These grievance procedures are intended as
guidelines and examples only and are not intended to limit MSPA's ability to
consider the circumstances of each case and to determine an appropriate
procedure that may be more or less restrictive. This manual in no way limits
the discretion of the MSPA to administer discipline in a manner which is
different from what is described herein, and reserves the right to discipline
employees in any fitting manner, including termination, for any conduct which
the MSPA, in its sole discretion deems inappropriate.
A. Step One:
1. Upon recognizing a problem that an
employee cannot resolve at the employee's level of responsibility, the employee
then should present the matter to the immediate supervisor.
2. This is to be done in an informal, verbal,
person to person meeting with the immediate supervisor.
3. If the grievance is not solved by the
employee's immediate supervisor, or if the grievance is against the immediate
supervisor, then the employee should request a meeting with the supervisor's
next higher authority, within three (3) working days, which takes the grievance
to Step Two.
B. Step
Two:
The meeting with the next higher authority is also verbal and
person to person. Within three (3) business days, the supervisor will advise
the employee of his/her decision. If the employee does not agree with the
decision, he/she may take the grievance to the next step by reducing the
grievance to writing and delivering it to the HRO within three (3) working days
of the time he/she is informed of the decision.
C. Step Three:
1. The HRO receives the grievance and advises
all parties involved in the process, now in motion, that a formal hearing will
take place within seven (7) working days from receipt of the grievance. The
hearing will be scheduled and all parties to the grievance will be advised of
the time and place.
2. The HRO will
conduct the hearing using a tape recorder to insure all information is received
as given during the hearing.
3.
After hearing both sides of the grievance and interviewing the parties
involved, the HRO then must issue a decision within seven (7) working days from
the hearing date. This decision will be in writing to the principal parties
involved with a copy to the grievance file. If the decision is still not
acceptable to the employee, then the process moves to Step Four.
D. Step Four:
1. In order to initiate Step Four
proceedings, the employee must request in writing a review of the grievance by
the Executive Director within three (3) working days after receipt of the HRO
decision.
2. The HRO provides the
Executive Director with a transcript of the Grievance Process including the
tape recording of the Step Three Hearing, and all written information pertinent
to the grievance.
3. The Executive
Director will make a decision based on the information available without
personal interviews unless the Executive Director determines interviews would
be helpful in making the final decision.
4. The Executive Director has seven (7)
working days from receiving the review request to hand down his written
decision after reviewing the grievance process transcript and file.
5. The Executive Director's decision is final
and that decision is the final step in the grievance process.
