University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The University’s classified employee grievance procedure is designed to assist you in resolving certain job-related matters which might cause you dissatisfaction. The procedure, in its entirety, is listed below along with definitions of key terms and policies.

I. Policy:

A. Definitions

1. Grievance - An employee’s expressed feeling of unfair treatment with some aspect of his/her work situation which is subject to the control of the University and has not been satisfactorily resolved through normal administrative channels.

a. Grievable matters include but are not limited to:

1. Unsatisfactory performance evaluation which is based on unsubstantiated information or performance standards which are unknown before rating is conducted
2. Verbal abuse, physical abuse, or harassment
3. Denial of promotion
4. Demotion
5. Termination
6. Disciplinary action
7. Acts of reprisal based on participation in a grievance

b. Non-grievable matters include:

1. Matters set out by law or matters which are outside the scope of the University’s authority or control.
2. Equal Employment Opportunity discrimination complaints — These must be handled under the provisions of EEO Complaints.
3. Supervisor’s failure to nominate for extra-meritorious salary increase.
4. Failure to be selected for extra-meritorious salary increase once nominated

2. Days - Regularly scheduled work days, excluding holidays.

3. Employee - Any classified employee who has completed his/her initial probationary  employment period.

4. Grievance Officer - An employee(s) recommended by the Cabinet and designated by the Chancellor to:

1. Assure the grievance procedure is followed
2. Assist the individual involved in the grievance in reaching a solution
3. Attend all meetings as set out in this procedure
4. Write the summaries of such meetings
5. Take no direct action to resolve the problem

5. Grievance Review Board - An autonomous board consisting of one member designated by the Chancellor, one member designated by the grievant, and a third member designated by the grievant’s supervisor. All Grievance Review Board members are selected with the advice and approval of the UALR Human Relations Officer and are notified of their selection by the Grievance Officer. The Board members mutually agree which of them will serve as chairperson.

6. Peer - An employee who is not the grieving employee’s supervisor, manager, or within his/her chain of command.

B. Rights/options

1. Classified employees are entitled to fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory treatment in every aspect of employment. Classified employees (except classified Department Directors) have the right of access to the grievance procedure.
2. The use of this procedure does not prevent the employee from filing a complaint with any Federal Agency responsible for handling discrimination complaints.
3. The employee must make every effort to resolve job-related problems with his/her immediate supervisor or other supervisors within the chain of command before filing a grievance as described in this procedure.
4. When an employee feels he/she has a job-related problem and wishes to resolve the problem through the grievance procedure, he/she must give written notification to the Grievance Officer within 5 days after the problem occurs. If such contact is not made, the problem is considered resolved and cannot be grieved.
5. A grievance may not be filed against a peer of the employee.
6. The employee or supervisor may submit or request others to submit relevant documents to the Grievance Officer at any step during the grievance procedure.
7. With prior approval by the UALR Human Relations Officer, the Grievance Officer has the authority to modify the Grievance Procedure in order to fulfill the intent of the procedure. The Grievance Officer must submit justification for any variation from the procedure to the UALR Human Relations Officer.
8. The Chancellor may intervene at any point prior to the selection of the Grievance Review Board if it is decided that administrative action is necessary to resolve the grievance.
9. The Chancellor has the option of hearing the grievance even if the employee does not appeal the decision of the Grievance Review Board.
10. The time limit at any step may be extended by mutual consent of the parties involved. However, every effort must be made to resolve a grievance within 40 calendar days of initial receipt of the grievance by the Grievance Officer.
11. Upon completion of the grievance procedure, the file containing all material related to the grievance must be sent to the UALR Human Relations Officer by the Grievance Officer. This record will be sealed and only the appropriate University officials shall have access to information contained in the file.

C. Grievance Review Board

1. The Grievance Review Board referred to in the following procedure must be made up of employees of the University.
2. Employees of the University who may not serve on the Grievance Review Board are:
   1. 1. Chancellor
   2. Assistant to Chancellor
   3. Vice Chancellors
   4. Department Directors
   5. Human Relations Staff
   6. Human Resource Services Staff
   7. A supervisor or manager to whom the grievant reports
   8. An employee in the grievant’s or supervisor’s administrative area
3. Responsibilities of the Grievance Review Board are to:
   1. Hear and review the facts of the grievance — not to defend the supervisor or the employee;
   2. Determine whether University policies and procedures, including the grievance policy, have been followed — not to dictate policy; and
   3. Make a recommendation to the Chancellor after re-viewing all evidence and hearing all parties.
4. The Grievance Review Board takes no more than 5 working days to hear all parties, to review all evidence, and to make a recommendation to the Chancellor.
5. The Grievance Review Board has the right to:
   1. Interview all individuals who might provide relevant information concerning any aspect of the problem or complaint upon which the grievance is based. This includes past as well as present employees. However, events occurring after the incident causing the grievance are not considered relevant and are not presented to the Grievance Review Board.
   2. Consult with parties not involved in the grievance situation (e.g., the Director of Human Resource Services, Human Relations Officer, etc.)
   3. Review the employee’s personnel file and/or performance file in the employee’s work unit and make copies of any documents or other evidence relating to grievance.

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   Last revision 11/1995