Grievance Procedure: A step by step Guide
The grievance procedure outlined in the negotiated agreement (Section 6) is a problem solving tool. When you encounter a workplace problem, work yourself through the following steps:
Step 1: Get informed. For an issue to qualify as a grievance, there must a violation of some policy. Decide if the situation is a violation of one of the following:
If you are having difficulty deciding if a violation has occurred, contact your AR or a member of the Advocacy & Grievance Committee (see below) for further guidance. Perhaps no violation has occurred, but the issue is something we need to look at including in our next negotiated agreement.
Step 2: Informal level - First, seek to resolve it in an informal way at the lowest level possible. This typically means you just have a conversation with your immediate supervisor where you bring the violation you identified above to her/his attention. In many cases, your supervisor simply doesn't know that a violation has occurred. It is your right to have an MVEA representative at this meeting (either your AR or a member of the Advocacy & Grievance Committee) if you feel uncomfortable going alone. 95% of all problems are resolved at this informal level.
Step 3: Level One - If you are unable to resolve the problem on an informal level, then it's time to get your AR and the Advocacy & Grievance Committee involved quickly as there is a maximum of twenty days given from the time the situation occurred to file a Level One grievance. The Advocacy & Grievance Committee, together with you and your AR, will write and send a formal, Level I letter to your administrator. A meeting must then be scheduled by the administrator within four days of receiving the letter. Your AR &/or a member of the Advocacy & Grievance Committee will attend that meeting with you. If the results of this Level One meeting are positive (and most are), then the grievance ends.
Step 4 & 5: Level Two and Level Three - It is extremely rare that a grievance reaches this level. However, if you are unsatisfied with the outcome of the Level One grievance, these levels provide the employee an opportunity to seek relief at the level of the Superintendent's Office or, if necessary, have a hearing with an outside arbitrator.
Email questions to: Tara Niederkorn or Brian Dickes (co-chairs)
Step 1: Get informed. For an issue to qualify as a grievance, there must a violation of some policy. Decide if the situation is a violation of one of the following:
- The negotiated agreement,
- a school board policy,
- a state law (look in Title 22) or federal law, or
- past practice (are we doing it in a different way than we used to?).
If you are having difficulty deciding if a violation has occurred, contact your AR or a member of the Advocacy & Grievance Committee (see below) for further guidance. Perhaps no violation has occurred, but the issue is something we need to look at including in our next negotiated agreement.
Step 2: Informal level - First, seek to resolve it in an informal way at the lowest level possible. This typically means you just have a conversation with your immediate supervisor where you bring the violation you identified above to her/his attention. In many cases, your supervisor simply doesn't know that a violation has occurred. It is your right to have an MVEA representative at this meeting (either your AR or a member of the Advocacy & Grievance Committee) if you feel uncomfortable going alone. 95% of all problems are resolved at this informal level.
Step 3: Level One - If you are unable to resolve the problem on an informal level, then it's time to get your AR and the Advocacy & Grievance Committee involved quickly as there is a maximum of twenty days given from the time the situation occurred to file a Level One grievance. The Advocacy & Grievance Committee, together with you and your AR, will write and send a formal, Level I letter to your administrator. A meeting must then be scheduled by the administrator within four days of receiving the letter. Your AR &/or a member of the Advocacy & Grievance Committee will attend that meeting with you. If the results of this Level One meeting are positive (and most are), then the grievance ends.
Step 4 & 5: Level Two and Level Three - It is extremely rare that a grievance reaches this level. However, if you are unsatisfied with the outcome of the Level One grievance, these levels provide the employee an opportunity to seek relief at the level of the Superintendent's Office or, if necessary, have a hearing with an outside arbitrator.
Email questions to: Tara Niederkorn or Brian Dickes (co-chairs)