School District of Winter
Bylaws & Policies
 

4340 - GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

It is the policy of the District to treat all employees equitably and fairly in matters affecting their employment. Each employee of the District shall be provided an opportunity to understand and resolve certain matters affecting employment that the employee believes to be unjust. This section shall apply to all regular full-time, part-time, limited, temporary, and seasonal employees

This procedure is available in the case of any employee's disagreement with discipline or termination of employment, as well as any matter relating to workplace safety.

A grievance shall mean a dispute concerning an employee's discipline or termination of employment, or a dispute concerning workplace conditions that affect workplace safety. Only one subject matter shall be covered in any one grievance. A written grievance shall contain:

 

A.

the name and position of the grievant;

 
 

B.

a clear and concise statement of the grievant;

 
 

C.

the issue involved;

 
 

D.

the relief sought;

 
 

E.

the date the incident or violation took place;

 
 

F.

the specific section of the Policy Manual alleged to have been violated;

 
 

G.

the signature of the grievant and the date.

All employee grievances must be filed by the aggrieved employee(s). The grievance must be filed within five (5) working days after the employee knew or should have known of the cause of such grievance. The following procedures shall be followed:

 

A.

District Administrator

 
 

In the event the Principal's decision does not resolve the problem, the employee may, within five (5) working days of the date the Principal's written decisions is issued, present his/her grievance in writing to the District Administrator. This grievance shall fully state the details of the problem and suggest a remedy. The District Administrator shall, within five (5) working days of receipt of the grievance, meet and discuss the grievance with the employee and then reply in writing within ten (10) working days. This step does not apply to any grievance related to action by the Board of Education that directly affects the grievant.

 
 

B.

Hearing Before an Impartial Decisionmaker:

 
 

In the event the matter is not resolved to the employee's satisfaction by the District Administrator, the employee may, within five (5) working days of the date of the written decision of the District Administrator, request in writing that the matter be referred for a hearing before an impartial hearing officer. The Board of Education shall appoint a hearing officer for the purpose of conducting the hearing. The Board may appoint a hearing officer or panel of potential hearing officers from which to select an officer for this purpose either on an ad hoc basis or by resolution adopted for a school year and delegate to the District Administrator the responsibility to arrange for such hearing with one of the selected officers. Each grievance shall be heard by a single hearing officer and such hearings shall be private. The employee and the District may present witnesses, and each side may select one individual to attend the hearing as a representative. Any employee representative selected shall be at no expense to the District.

 
 

The Hearing Officer may only consider the matter presented to him/her in the initial grievance filed by the employee. The decision will apply exclusively to the employee presenting the grievance.

   
 

C.

Board of Education:

 
 

In the event that either party is dissatisfied with the hearing officer's decision, that party may

This procedure constitutes the exclusive process for the redress of any employee grievances. However, nothing in this grievance procedure shall prevent any employee from addressing concerns regarding matters not subject to the grievance procedure with administration and employees are encouraged to do so. Matters not subject to the grievance procedure that are raised by employees shall be considered by administration which has final authority, subject to any applicable Board policy or directive, to resolve the matter.

Time limits contained in this grievance procedure outlined above may be extended by mutual consent of the parties. If any applicable time limit for advancing the grievance to the next step in the process is not met, the grievance shall be deemed resolved. Each employee shall be afforded any opportunity to be represented at each step of the grievance procedure by a representative of the employee's choice and at no expense to the District.

For purposes of this grievance procedure, the following definitions shall apply:

 

A.

"Workplace safety" refers to any condition of employment or duty, responsibility, or environmental hazard that may reasonably be viewed to affect an employee’s health or the health of other employees. Workplace safety matters expressly include workplace harassment, including sexual harassment. In the event that an employee believes the safety of the workplace is compromised by harassment, s/he must first make a complaint concerning the matter and follow the procedures outlined in the District's Harassment Policy 3362. Grievance timelines associated with workplace harassment do not begin to run until completion of an investigation and final action on the compliant by the administration.

     
 

B.

"Termination" does not include the nonrenewal of an employment contract pursuant to 118.22 and 118.24 Wis. Stats., nor does it include reduction in force under Policy 3131 and Policy 4131.

 
 

C.

"Employee discipline" refers to unpaid suspensions and written reprimands, but excludes performance conferences/evaluations, staff assignments, oral reprimands (unless a written record of the reprimand is placed in the employee’s file).

Adopted 7/11/11
Revised 5/18/15

© Neola 2014