8-30-328 - Grievance procedures.
8-30-328. Grievance procedures.
(a) (1) The department, with the concurrence of the commission, shall promulgate regulations establishing a grievance procedure for regular employees.
(2) A regular employee is an employee who holds a civil service position of a permanent nature after satisfactorily completing an initial probationary period.
(3) Any employee may file a grievance or complaint within fifteen (15) work days after its cause.
(4) Any employee will be given every opportunity to resolve bona fide complaints or grievances through established procedures. Every reasonable effort shall be made to resolve complaints at the lowest possible step in the procedure.
(5) Any employee using or participating in this procedure is entitled to process complaints or grievances without fear, interference, discrimination or reprisal.
(6) All notices of an appointing authority's final decision concerning a grievance or complaint shall be in writing, shall include specific reasons for such decision and shall be sent to the affected employee by certified mail with return receipt requested.
(7) The final step of this grievance procedure for regular employees shall be a request for review to the commission, and all decisions by the commission upon such requests for review shall be final. For all other employees, the final step shall be the appointing authority.
(8) At the informal hearing before the appointing authority, an attorney or a representative of an employee may speak on behalf of the employee.
(9) An employee may be represented by a state employee representative of the employee's choice at any step before a Level 4 hearing.
(b) Any regular employee who desires the commission to review an appointing authority's final decision concerning a grievance must file a written request for review stating the basis for such request within thirty (30) calendar days following the employee's receipt of the appointing authority's final written decision.
(c) For purposes of this section, the final decision of an appointing authority is the action taken by the appointing authority at the last grievance proceeding held prior to the review of the commission. Filing shall be considered complete for purposes of determining timeliness upon mailing the request for review. An appeal shall be heard within one hundred twenty (120) days of filing unless a continuance is granted under the provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
(d) The provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, regarding the procedure for contested cases, apply only to the final step of the grievance procedure which is a request for review to the commission.
(e) When the commission rules in favor of an appealing employee, it shall order the employee to be reinstated or made whole, or both, without loss of pay or benefits. The commission shall retain jurisdiction, for purposes of interpretation and enforcement, over a final order until such time as the provisions of the order are carried out and all claims for penalties or interest, or both, as provided in subsection (i) are settled.
(f) The commission may, in its discretion, award attorney's fees and costs to a successfully appealing employee. Attorney's fees awarded by the commission shall be awarded at the same rates established for the defense counsel commission. Fees established by this section shall apply to disciplinary actions consisting of suspension of ten (10) days or more, demotion or termination of employment. Disciplinary actions consisting of suspensions of less than ten (10) days and all other grievable matters shall continue to follow the schedule outlined in the rules of the department for reimbursement of attorney's fees.
(g) In all contested cases, the final decision of the commission shall be issued no later than one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of the grievant's request for agency review by the commission. The commissioner may deny agency review at the commissioner's discretion. Such denial shall constitute adoption of an initial order as a final order which will become effective on entry.
(h) In the event that a grievant is successful in obtaining reinstatement to a position from which the grievant has been terminated, the grievant shall be reinstated to a position in the county in which employed at the time of termination. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis, by the commissioner, based on a demonstrable cause committed to writing.
(i) In any case in which a successful grievant has been awarded reinstatement, back pay or attorney's fees, the governmental department involved shall have a period of thirty (30) days from the date of the final order within which to provide reinstatement, back pay and/or attorney's fees. In the event that this time limit is not met by the governmental department involved, the grievant shall be entitled to an additional day of pay for each work day that reinstatement or payment is delayed beyond the limit set forth above. The attorney for the grievant is entitled to an annual interest rate of eighteen percent (18%) on the unpaid balance of the fee which has been awarded in the event that attorney's fees are not paid within thirty (30) days.
(j) The commissioner or director of each state agency, and every division thereof, and the warden or director of each correctional or mental health institution, shall designate an employee as agent who shall have the authority and the obligation to receive and accept service of commission subpoenas on behalf of persons employed within that agency, department, division or institution. Service of a commission subpoena upon the designated agent shall have the same effect as service upon the individual to whom the commission subpoena is directed. It is the responsibility of the designated agent to inform the employee to whom a commission subpoena is directed of the receipt of the commission subpoena and obligations imposed under such commission subpoena.
(k) (1) Any regular or permanent state employee may file a grievance within fifteen (15) work days after the receipt of any final performance evaluation on procedural grounds under the provisions of this section.
(2) Grievances filed under this subsection (k) are limited to the provisions of the informal procedure with the final step being the appointing authority.
(3) Employees who are dissatisfied with the appointing authority's decision may submit such decision, with all documentation, to the commissioner for review.
(4) Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, the decision of the commissioner shall be final and not subject to further review.
[Acts 1980, ch. 701, § 9; 1983, ch. 79, §§ 1-4; 1984, ch. 842, § 1; 1986, ch. 869, §§ 10, 13, 15; 1989, ch. 44, § 1; 1990, ch. 723, § 1; 1991, ch. 238, § 1; 1992, ch. 729, § 1; 1998, ch. 736, § 1.]