Grievance Procedure Full-Time

Download: OPSEU Grievance Form

18.3.1 Grievance Procedure – Working Conditions and Terms of Employment

18.3.1.1 Grievances:  A complaint shall be taken up as a grievance in the following manner and sequence provided it is presented within fifteen (15) days after the circumstances giving rise to the complaint have occurred, or have come or ought reasonably to have come to the attention of the employee.

18.3.1.2 Step 1: An employee shall present a signed grievance in writing to the Department Head of the Department in which he/she is employed stating the nature of the grievance, the remedy sought and shall be sufficiently specific to identify the alleged violation(s) of the Collective Agreement. The Department Head shall give his/her decision, in writing, to the grievor within ten (10) days of the presentation. It is agreed, however, that where an employee’s immediate Supervisor and his/her Department Head are one and the same person, Step 1 shall be dealt with at the next level of supervision.

18.3.1.3 Step 2: Where the grievor is not satisfied with the decision at Step 1, he/she shall present his/her grievance in writing within ten (10) days of the date he/she received the decision to the President of the College. The President or his/her designee shall convene a meeting concerning the grievance, within fourteen (14) days of the presentation, at which the grievor shall have an opportunity to be present, and shall give the grievor his/her decision, in writing, within ten (10) days following the meeting.

18.3.2 Grievances – Unsuccessful Competition: In cases of a grievance regarding an unsuccessful competition, the procedures described under Articles 18.3.1.2 and 18.3.1.3 shall apply, except that the Department Head referred to in the foregoing shall be the Department Head of the position for which the applicant was unsuccessful and where subsequently necessary, the President or his/her designee.

18.3.3 Group Grievance: Where a number of employees in any College have identical grievances and each employee would be entitled to grieve separately, they shall present a group grievance in writing signed by each employee to the Director of Human Resources, or as designated by the College, within fifteen (15) days following the occurrence or origination of the common circumstances giving rise to the grievance commencing at Step 2 of the grievance procedure. The grievance shall then be treated throughout the balance of the grievance procedure as a single grievance. 18.3.4 Multi-College Issues: Where the grievance pertains to a number of Colleges, separate grievances shall be sent to the Directors of Human Resources or designated persons of each College affected with copies to the Chief Executive Officer of the Council. Failing settlement following the Step 2 meeting, such grievance may be referred to mediation/arbitration providing such referral is within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of the Step 2 reply.

18.3.5 Union Grievance: The Union shall have the right to file a grievance based on a difference arising directly out of the Agreement concerning the interpretation, application, administration or alleged contravention of this Agreement. However, such grievance shall not include any matter upon which an employee is personally entitled to grieve and the regular grievance procedure for a grievance peculiar to an individual employee shall not be bypassed except where the Union establishes that the employee has not grieved an unreasonable standard that is patently in violation of this Agreement and that adversely affects the rights of persons in the bargaining unit. A Union grievance shall be presented in writing, signed by the Local Union President or his/her designee to the Director of Human Resources or as designated by the College concerned, within thirty (30) days after the circumstances giving rise to the complaint have occurred, or have come to or ought reasonably to have come to the attention of the Union. The grievance shall then be processed in accordance with Step 2 of the grievance procedure.

18.3.6 College Grievance: The College shall have the right to file a grievance based on a difference arising directly out of the Agreement concerning the interpretation, application, administration or alleged contravention of this Agreement. Such grievance shall be presented in writing, signed by the President or his/her designee to the Local Union President of the College concerned with a copy to the Union President within thirty (30) days following the occurrence or origination of the circumstances giving rise to the grievance. The grievance shall then be processed in accordance with Step 2 of the grievance procedure with the appropriate changes. Failing settlement following Step 2 meeting, such grievance may be referred to mediation/arbitration providing such referral is within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of the Step 2 reply.

18.3.7 Grievances Procedure: Dismissal, Suspension, Layoff or Reassignment

18.3.7.1 General: Articles 18.3.7.2 and 18.3.7.3 apply to an employee covered by this Agreement who has completed his/her probationary period, it being understood that the dismissal, suspension or release of an employee during the probationary period shall not be the subject of grievance.

18.3.7.2 Grievance: An employee who claims he/she has been dismissed or suspended without just cause or improperly laid off or reassigned shall, within fifteen (15) days of the date he/she is advised in writing of his/her dismissal, suspension, layoff or reassignment present his/her grievance in writing to the President, commencing at Step 2 and the President, or his/her designee shall convene a meeting and give the grievor and the Union Steward his/her decision in accordance with the provisions of Step 2 of Article 18.3.1.3. A Union Staff Representative may be present at such meeting at the request of either the College or the Local Union.

18.3.7.2.1 Layoff Grievance: An employee claiming improper application of Article 15.4.3, shall state in the grievance the position(s) and name of incumbent, if any, to which the employee claims entitlement. The College will provide the current PDFs of the positions, named in the grievance, to the employee within three (3) days after the filing of the grievance. If the grievance is not resolved, then the written referral to mediation/arbitration shall specify, from the position(s) originally designated, no more than four (4) positions which shall thereafter be the subject matter of the grievance and the arbitration.

18.3.7.3 Mediation/Arbitration: If the grievor is not satisfied with the decision of the President, the grievor shall, within ten (10) days of receipt of the President’s decision by notice in writing to the Director of Human Resources or College’s designee, refer the matter to mediation/arbitration, for the purpose of resolving the grievance in an expeditious and informal manner, as provided in this Agreement.