GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE A. A grievance shall be defined as an alleged violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of this Agreement or written Board policies affecting working conditions of the member. Should a member/Association feel that there has been a violation, he/she will take the following steps:
Step 1: The member/Association, with or without a designated representative, shall discuss the grievance with the Supervisor informally within five (5) work days of the alleged violation and, if not resolved, shall file a written grievance with the Supervisor within fifteen (15) work days of the alleged violation and discuss the written grievance with the Supervisor within five (5) work days after the grievance is filed. If no satisfactory conclusion is reached within five (5) work days following the discussion of the written grievance with the Supervisor, the member/Association shall submit the written grievance within five (5) work days of the discussion with the Supervisor to Step 2. A grievance which is not within the scope of a Supervisor's authority may be filed initially at step 2. The written grievance, as required herein, shall contain:
a. it shall be signed by the grievant(s)/Association.
b. it shall be specific;
c. it shall contain a synopsis of the facts giving rise to the alleged violation;
d. it shall cite the section or subsections of this contract or written Board policy alleged to have been violated;
e. it shall contain the date of the alleged violation;
f. it shall specify the relief requested;
g. it shall indicate approval or disapproval by the Association.
Step 2: The Superintendent or his/her designated agent shall arrange a meeting with the grievant and/or the designated Association representative within ten (10) work days after receipt of the grievance to discuss the grievance. Within ten (10) work days of the discussion, the Superintendent or his/her designated agent shall render his/her decision in writing, transmitting a copy of the same to the grievant, the Association representative, and appropriate Supervisor, and place a copy of same in a permanent file in his/her office. If the decision of the Superintendent is unsatisfactory to the Association, the Association may appeal same to the Board of Education by filing a written grievance, along with the decision of the Superintendent, with the officer of the Board in charge of drawing up the agenda for the Board's meeting, within ten (10) work days of receipt of the Superintendent's decision.
Formal Grievance Procedure 1. In the event that a complaint cannot be resolved informally, the parties shall pursue the first step in the formal grievance procedure before making any application for arbitration, unless the College and the AAUP agree in writing to alter the procedure or waive one or more of the steps by proceeding directly to arbitration.
2. Upon written request of the AAUP Contract Compliance Officer, the College shall submit any requested documents in its possession which may be necessary for investigation of the grievance. The College shall deliver such documents as soon as is reasonably possible, but no later than seven (7) days after receipt of a written request.
3. Internal Steps in the Procedure
a. Step One: The Director of Human Resources
(1) Within thirty (30) days of when the AAUP learns of, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have learned of, an alleged violation of the provisions of this Agreement, the AAUP shall submit to the Director of Human Resources a completed Faculty Grievance Form or a dated, signed, written description of the grievance, clearly labeled "grievance" containing substantially the same information as provided for on the Faculty Grievance Form.
(2) Within eight (8) days of receipt of the written grievance, the Director of Human Resources shall convene a meeting to discuss the grievance. Such meeting shall include the grievant(s) and/or the designated representative(s) of the AAUP and shall be scheduled at a time which is mutually convenient to the parties.
(3) The Director of Human Resources shall attempt to determine the facts pertaining to the grievance and shall notify the grievant and the AAUP in writing of his/her decision within eight (8) days in a Grievance Disposition Form or in a document containing substantially the same information as contained in a Grievance Disposition Form, which shall include written details of the reasons which support the decision.
(4) Within eight (8) days after receipt of the disposition of the Director of Human Resources, the AAUP may appeal the decision in writing to the College Grievance Officer, by submitting a Grievance Disposition Reaction Form or a document containing substantially the same information as contained in a Grievance Disposition Reaction Form.
(5) By agreement, the parties may decide to advance the grievance to step two of the procedure, or to appeal directly to arbitration at step D(4) of this article.
PROFESSIONAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE A. A claim by a teacher or the Association that there has been a violation, misinterpretation or misapplication of any provision of this Agreement or any rule, order or regulation of the Board may be processed as a grievance as hereinafter provided.
B. The grievant may invoke the formal grievance procedure on the form set forth in annexed Schedule C, signed by the grievant and a representative of the Association, which form shall be available for the Association representative in each building. A copy of the grievance form shall be delivered to the principal or supervisor. If the grievance involves more than one school building, it may be filed with the superintendent or a representative designated by him.
C. Within five (5) school days of receipt of the grievance, the principal or supervisor shall meet with the Association in an effort to resolve the grievance. The principal or supervisor shall indicate his disposition of the grievance in writing within five (5) school days of such meeting, and shall furnish a copy thereof to the Association.
D. If the Association is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance, or if no disposition has been made within five (5) school days of such meeting or ten (10) school days from the date of filing, whichever shall be later, the grievance shall be transmitted to the Superintendent. Within five (5) school days the superintendent or his designee shall meet with the Association on the grievance and indicate his disposition of the grievance in writing within five (5) school days of such meeting, and shall furnish a copy thereof to the Association.
E. If the Association is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance by the Superintendent or his designee, or if no disposition has been made within five (5) school days of such meeting or ten (10) school days from the date of filing, whichever shall be later, the grievance shall be submitted to the Board within ten (10) working days by filing a written copy thereof with the Secretary or other designee of the Board. The Board, no later than its next regular meeting or two (2) calendar weeks, whichever shall be later, shall hold a hearing on the grievance, and give such other consideration as it shall deem appropriate. Disposition of the grievance in writing by the Board shall be made no later than seven (7) days thereafter. A copy of such disposition shall be furnished to the Association.
F. The Association may request arbitration of any unresolved grievance which is arbitrable by filing the Arbitration Request Form with the American Arbitration Association and delivering a copy of this Form to the Employer through the Superintendent's Office within thirty (30) working days following the receipt of the Board's written disposition. If the Board fails to answer a grievance within the time limits set forth in Paragraph E, the Association may request arbitration by filing the Arbitration Request Form with the American Arbitration Association and delivering a copy of this Form to the Employer through the Superintendent's Office not later than thirty (30) working days following the date the Board's written disposition was due. The grievance may thereafter be submitted to arbitration. If the Association does not request arbitration in the manner or within the time limits established herein, the grievance shall be considered settled on the basis of the Employer's last disposition. If a grievance is to be submitted to arbitration, the arbitrator shall be selected from a panel submitted by the American Arbitration Association pursuant to their rules The fees and expenses of the arbitrator and all hearing location costs shall be shared equally by the Association and the Employer. Each party shall pay the fees, expenses, wages, and any other compensation of its own representatives and legal counsel. The arbitrator's powers shall be limited to the application and interpretation of this Agreement as written. The arbitrator shall at all times be governed wholly by the terms of this Agreement and shall have no power or authority to amend, alter or modify this Agreement either directly or indirectly, or to rule upon a specific grievance considered settled. In addition, the following may not be considered by the arbitrator:
1. The termination of service of or failure to reemploy any probationary teacher.
2. Any action involving a tenured teacher, including but not limited to discharge, demotion, layoff or failure to recall, if that action when timely raised is subject to review before the Michigan Teacher Tenure Commission. If the issue of arbitrability is raised, the arbitrator shall not determine the merits of any grievance unless arbitrability has been affirmatively decided. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding upon the Association, the Employer and employees in the bargaining unit; provided, however, that each party may have its legal remedies if the arbitrator exceeds the jurisdiction provided in this Agreement.
G. If any teacher for whom a grievance is sustained shall be found to have been unjustly discharged, he shall be reinstated with full reimbursement of all professional compensation lost. If he shall have been found to have been improperly deprived of any professional compensation or advantage, the same or its equivalent in money shall be paid to him.
H. The time limits provided in this article shall be strictly observed but may be extended by written agreement of the parties. In the event a grievance is filed after May 15 of any year and strict adherence to the time limits may result in hardship to any party, the Board shall use its best efforts to process such grievance prior to the end of the school term or as soon thereafter as possible.
I. If an individual teacher has a personal complaint which he desires to discuss with a supervisor, he is free to do so without recourse to the grievance procedure. However, no grievance shall be adjusted without prior notification to the Association and opportunity for an Association representative to be present, nor shall any adjustment of a grievance be inconsistent with the terms of the Agreement. In the administration of the grievance procedure, the interests of the teachers shall be the sole responsibility of the Association.
J. Filing time for an alleged violation is limited to twenty (20) teaching days from the date of an alleged incident.
Informal Grievance Procedure Employees are encouraged to act promptly to attempt to resolve disputes with their manager/supervisor through an informal procedure. A meeting between the manager/supervisor and the employee should take place whenever requested by either party to assist, to clarify or resolve the grievance. The employee may be accompanied by his/her Union representative at the informal meeting. Any resolution reached at the informal step must be in accordance with the provisions of this agreement, or other rule or ordinance and shall not set precedent.