23.35.040 Grievance Procedure.
(a) For employees in the classified service, the City shall promptly consider and equitably adjust employee grievances relating to employment conditions and relationships. Furthermore, the City desires to adjust the causes of grievances informally; both supervisors and nonsupervisory employees in the classified service are expected to resolve problems as they arise.
(b) The following steps shall be followed in submitting and processing a grievance for employees in the classified service:
(1) Step 1. The aggrieved employee in the classified service or group of employees in the classified service shall orally present the grievance to the immediate supervisor within five (5) working days of the occurrence, not including the date of presentation.
(2) Step 2. If the grievance is not settled in Step 1, it shall be prepared in detail, shall be reduced to writing, shall be dated, shall be signed by the aggrieved employee in the classified service or group of employees in the classified service, and shall be presented to the department head within five (5) working days after the supervisor’s oral reply is given, not including the day that the answer is given.
(3) Step 3. If the grievance is not settled in Step 2, the written grievance shall be presented along with all pertinent correspondence, records, and information accumulated to date to the City Manager within seven (7) working days after the department head’s response is given, not including the day that the response is given. The City Manager shall meet with the aggrieved employee or group of employees, the immediate supervisor and the department head. The City Manager shall reply to the grievance in writing within seven (7) working days of the date of presentation of the written grievance. The decision of the City Manager shall be final and binding on the employee or group of employees.
(c) If the grievance procedures are not initiated within the time limits established by this section, the grievance shall be considered not to have existed.
(d) Any grievance not taken to the next step of the grievance procedure shall be considered settled on the basis of the last reply made and received in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(e) If the City fails to meet or answer any grievance within the time limits prescribed for such action by this section, such grievance shall automatically advance to the next step. If the City fails to meet or answer any grievance on the last step of the grievance procedure within the time limits prescribed for such action by this section, it shall be deemed that the City has considered the grievance to be in favor of the grievant and shall resolve the matter accordingly.
(f) The time limits prescribed in this section for the initiation and completion of the steps of the grievance procedure may be extended by mutual consent of the parties so involved. Likewise, any step in the grievance procedure may be eliminated by mutual consent. Mutual consent shall be indicated in writing and shall be signed by all parties involved. No employee shall be disciplined or discriminated against in any way because of the employee’s proper use of the grievance procedure.
(Ords. 336, 537, 1347-89, 3018-2018)