ARTICLE X: GRIEVANCE PROVISIONS

SECTION A: Purpose

The purpose of these provisions is to provide for the orderly and expeditious adjustment of grievances.

SECTION B: Definitions

As used in these grievance provisions:

1. "Grievance" means a claim based upon an event or condition which affects the conditions or circumstances under which an employee works, allegedly caused by the misinterpretation or inequitable application of written SPS regulations, rules, procedures, or SPS practices and/or the provisions of this Agreement.

2. "Grievant" means an employee or employees of the SPS covered by this Agreement having a grievance or the SEA.

3. "SEA" has the meaning attributed to an employee organization in Chapter 41.59 RCW.

4. "Day" means a calendar day.

5. "Working day" means a day on the student calendar excluding holidays and winter and spring vacations.

SECTION C: Initial Grievance Provisions

The adjustment of grievances shall be accomplished as rapidly as possible in order to resolve the grievance promptly.

1. To expedite resolution, the grievance shall be initiated within sixty (60) days following the events or occurrences upon which it is based, except that grievances related to salary may be filed within two (2) years of when the situation occurred.

2. The number of days within which each step is prescribed to be accomplished shall be considered as maximum and every effort shall be made to expedite the process.

3. At Steps 1, 2 and 3, failure of the appropriate SPS administrator to hold the grievance conference within the prescribed time limits shall be cause for the grievant to proceed to the next step by submitting a Grievance Review Request.

4. If, after a hearing, further investigation and data are required before an administrator can respond in writing, the administrator shall contact the grievant, inform the grievant of the need for additional time to respond, and request agreement for a time extension.

5. The time limits prescribed in these provisions may be extended by a written mutual agreement between the grievant and person or persons by whom the grievance is being considered.

6. Failure of the grievant to submit a timely Grievance Review Request for the next step or to submit a timely Demand for Arbitration within the time limits shall result in the grievance being dropped unless the time limits have been extended by mutual agreement as provided above.

7. Grievances which have been submitted and processed and which have resulted in the grievance being adjusted satisfactorily, dropped, or withdrawn by the employee in writing shall be deemed closed. Grievances which are identified by mutual agreement of the grievant and the appropriate SPS administrator to have been changed at Step 3 shall be deemed withdrawn and resubmitted at Step 2.

SECTION D: Grievance Procedure

1. Step 1: Informal Discussion: An employee shall first take up a complaint or problem with his/her immediate administrative supervisor in private informal discussion(s) and every effort shall be made to adjust the complaint or deal with the problem in an informal manner. The informal conference shall occur within ten (10) working days of the employee's request for the conference.

a. The employee must notify the immediate administrative supervisor before the end of the informal discussion that he/she considers the informal discussion to constitute Step 1 of the grievance process, thereby notifying the immediate administrative supervisor that he/she is expected to adhere to the grievance process as outlined below.

b. The immediate administrative supervisor may make a determination during the informal discussion and communicate his/her decision orally during that meeting. The immediate administrative supervisor will provide the employee with a Step 1 response letter that documents the decision no later than ten (10) working days after the meeting. One copy of the response letter will be retained by the administrative supervisor and one copy will be forwarded to the Department of Labor relations.

c. The immediate administrative supervisor may elect to provide his/her decision after the meeting. A written response shall be given or addressed and mailed to the grievant by the immediate administrative supervisor within ten (10) working days after the meeting.

2. Step 2: If the employee is dissatisfied with the outcome of Step 1, he/she may, within ten (10) working days after the receipt of the Step 1 response, request review, conference, and action at Step 2 by presenting a Grievance Review Request form to the Department of Labor Relations with a copy to the immediate administrative supervisor.

a. Every effort should be made in the Step 2 conference to develop an understanding of the facts and the issues in order to create a climate which will lead to a solution.

b. The Step 2 conference shall occur within ten (10) working days of the receipt of the written request by the Department of Labor Relations.

c. A written response shall be given or addressed and mailed to the grievant by the immediate administrative supervisor within ten (10) working days after the Step 2 conference, and copies shall be filed with the Department of Labor Relations and the SEA.

3. Step 3: If the grievance is not adjusted to the satisfaction of the grievant under Step 2, the grievant may request review, conference and action at Step 3 by submitting a completed Grievance Review Request form to the Department of Labor Relations within ten (10) working days after receipt of the copy of the Step 2 response by the SEA.

a. The Department of Labor Relations will assign the grievance to an appropriate Central administrator for review and conference at Step 3.

b. The conference at Step 3 shall occur within ten (10) working days of the receipt of the Grievance Review Request by the Department of Labor Relations.

c. A written response shall be mailed/given to the grievant by the designated Central administrator within ten (10) working days after the formal conference, and copies shall be filed with the Department of Labor Relations and the SEA.

4. Step 4, Arbitration: If the grievance is not adjusted to the satisfaction of the grievant under Step 3, within sixty (60) days after receipt of the copy of the Step 3 response by the SEA, the SEA may, within that time constraint, submit the grievance to final and binding arbitration by filing a written notice of intention to arbitrate (Demand) with a copy to the Department of Labor Relations. The arbitration shall be conducted by an arbitrator under the rules and administration of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or the Federal Mediation Conciliatory Services (FMCS). If the SEA does not notify the SPS and the AAA/FMCS of intention to arbitrate (Demand) (by AAA/FMCS Rules) within sixty (60) days after receipt of the copy of the Step 3 response by the SEA, the grievance shall be deemed withdrawn. During arbitration under this step, neither the SPS nor the grievant will be permitted to assert any grounds not previously disclosed to the other party.

SECTION E: Expedited Arbitration

Procedure: Upon mutual consent of the SEA Executive Director and the SPS's General Counsel, the following expedited procedure may be used. After selection of the arbitrator to hear the grievance, the arbitrator shall hold a hearing within twenty (20) days of his/her selection. The hearing shall be preceded by at least ten (10) working days' notice to both parties of the time and place of the hearing. The arbitrator may have up to twenty (20) days to render a final and binding decision to the parties. The arbitrator's decision shall be in writing in "letter form" and shall briefly set forth his/her finding of fact, reasoning and conclusions of the issues submitted. No court reporter(s) will be used.

SECTION F: Powers of the Arbitrator

It shall be the function of the arbitrator, after due investigation and hearing, to make a written decision subject to the following limitations:

1. The arbitrator shall have no power to alter, add to, subtract from, or modify the terms of this Agreement between the SPS and the SEA or the rules, regulations, policies or resolutions of the SPS.

2. The arbitrator is empowered to include in his/her award the financial reimbursement as the arbitrator judges to be proper.

3. The decision or award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the employee involved and the SPS.

SECTION G: Expenses of Arbitration

Each party shall bear the full costs for its side of the arbitration and the cost of any transcript(s) it requests, and will pay one-half of the costs for the arbitrator and American Arbitration Association/FMCS administration.

SECTION H: Supplemental Conditions

1. All individuals who might possibly contribute to the acceptable adjustment of a grievance are urged to provide any relevant information they may have to the grievant and/or SPS administration, with full assurance that no reprisal will follow by reason of their involvement in the grievance.

2. All documents/communications/records dealing with the processing of grievances shall be filed separately from the grievant's personnel file.

3. At each step of the procedure for adjusting grievances the grievant may request to be accompanied by a representative of the SEA, provided that any employee at any time may present his/her grievance to the appropriate SPS administrator and have the grievance adjusted without the intervention of the SEA, as long as the SEA has been given a reasonable opportunity to be present at any grievance adjustment hearing and to make its views known, and as long as that adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of this Agreement, pursuant to RCW 41.59.090.

4. No known agent of an organization in competition with the SEA shall be allowed to process or monitor grievances unless the agent is the grievant or possesses relevant information which may contribute to adjustment of the grievance.

5. Excluded from the grievance procedure shall be matters for which law mandates another method of review.

6. The Labor Relations Department may maintain a grievance file which holds documents relevant to the grievance.