Article 43
Grievance Procedure
History

The parties wish to foster an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect between supervisors and employees. To that end, supervisors and employees are encouraged to communicate regularly with each other and discuss any problems or concerns and try to resolve them informally. If such informal efforts are unsuccessful, employees may utilize the grievance procedure as prescribed in this Article.

Section 1. Purpose

a. The purpose of this Article is to provide a mutually acceptable method for a prompt and equitable settlement of grievances.
b. This shall be the procedure through which a just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of such grievances are secured. Therefore, the parties agree that grievances processed through this procedure should be resolved as early as feasible and at the lowest organizational level practicable.
c. This shall be the exclusive procedure available to the parties and employees in the unit.

Section 2. Coverage and Scope

a. A grievance means any complaint:

(1) by any employee concerning any matter relating to the employment of the employee;
(2) by Local 12 concerning any matter relating to the employment of any employee; or
(3) by an employee or Local 12 concerning:
(a) the effect or interpretation, or a claim of breach, of this Collective Bargaining Agreement; or
(b) any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of any law, rule, or regulation affecting conditions of employment.

b. The procedure in this Article shall be available to all employees in the bargaining unit, except that those employees on temporary limited appointment and those who have not completed probation may submit a grievance only with respect to:

(1) working conditions; or
(2) rights expressly granted them elsewhere in this Agreement.

c. An employee who alleges a prohibited personnel practice under 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1) which also falls under the scope of this Article may raise the matter under a statutory procedure or this Article, but not both. Similarly, with respect to adverse actions and performance-based actions, employees may raise such matters under applicable appellate procedures or this Article, but not both.

Section 3. Exclusions

a. Excluded by Statute from the grievance procedure are:

(1) any claimed violation of Subchapter III of Chapter 73 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code (relating to prohibited political activities);
(2) retirement, life insurance, or health insurance;
(3) a suspension or removal under Section 7532 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code;
(4) any examination, certification, or appointment; or
(5) the classification of any position which does not result in the reduction in grade or pay of an employee.

b. Further, this Article does not apply to:

(1) a binding decision made by an authority outside the Department;
(2) the filling of a position which is in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
(3) the judgment of a merit staffing panel or qualifications rating examiner;
(4) non-selection from a properly prepared merit staffing certificate;
(5) failure to recommend and/or disapproval of a quality step increase, performance award, or other kind of honorary or other discretionary award;
(6) failure to adopt a suggestion submitted under the incentive awards program;
(7) termination of an employee on a temporary appointment;
(8) separation of an employee during the probationary period; or
(9) filling of a position outside the bargaining unit except for a position which is threshold to the unit.

Section 4. Rights

a. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as precluding discussion between an employee and his/her immediate supervisor of a matter of interest or concern to either of them. Once a matter has been made the subject of a grievance under this procedure, nothing herein shall preclude either party from attempting to resolve the grievance informally at the appropriate level.
b. An employee or group of employees in the bargaining unit filing a grievance under this procedure may be represented by a Union representative. Any employee or group of employees in the bargaining unit may present a grievance under this procedure without representation and have it resolved without intervention of the Union as long as the resolution is not inconsistent with the terms of this Agreement and the Union is given an opportunity to be present during the grievance proceeding.
c. In presenting a grievance, the grievant and the duly designated Union representative, if any, shall be free from restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, and reprisal.
d. If in an active duty status, a grievant and/or a duly designated Union representative shall, upon request, be allowed a reasonable amount of official time during regular working hours without charge to leave, when such time is required for obtaining, preparing, and assembling information pertinent to the presentation of the grievance. For this purpose, "reasonable time" is construed to be that amount of time actually needed to accomplish the above.
e. Similarly, a reasonable amount of official time shall be allowed for the presentation of the grievance to the appropriate Management official or third party. For this purpose, "reasonable time" is construed to be that amount of time actually needed to appear and present pertinent documents and information relating to the grievance. This includes a reasonable amount of time to travel to and from such presentation.

Section 5. Definitions

a. "Employee" means an employee in the bargaining unit or such former bargaining unit employees who have a timely grievance.
b. A "personnel action" is an action which requires issuance of a formal document (SF-50) through which a change in the employment conditions or status of an employee is requested, recorded, and documented.

Section 6. Grievance Form

a. The negotiated standard form is to be used for the filing of grievances under this Article except where the circumstances are such as, by reasonable view, to preclude the use of the form. The grievance is to be signed by the grievant(s), dated, and shall include the information specified in Section 7.a.(3) for Step 1 and Section 7.b.(1) for Step 2.
b. Trivial or clearly mechanical errors not affecting the substantial rights of a party shall be disregarded at every stage of the proceedings under this Article. A properly filed grievance form shall be accepted and processed promptly. An incomplete form will not be a basis for rejecting the grievance, but will be returned to the grievant or the Union for proper completion before processing. For purposes of timeliness, the grievance will be considered filed when the form is first received by the appropriate Management official. However, the time for response will not begin until the properly completed grievance form is received by the appropriate official.
c. A grievance is properly filed when prepared in accordance with Subsection a. of this Section and shall be accepted by the Department when it is postmarked or personally delivered to the appropriate official within the time limits established in this Article.

Section 7. Procedures

a. Step 1

(1) A grievance must be filed within twenty (20) workdays of when an employee and/or the Union has learned of the alleged violation. A grievance concerning a continuing condition may be filed at any time during the existence of that condition.
(2) All grievances other than those concerning merit staffing shall ordinarily be filed with the immediate supervisor, unless it is mutually determined that the immediate supervisor does not have authority to deal with the grievance and that it should be filed elsewhere. This mutual determination is to be made between the servicing Labor Relations Officer and the Local's Agency Chief Steward. All grievances concerning merit staffing shall be filed with the servicing Personnel Officer at Step 2, with Step 1 being automatically waived.
(3) When filing a grievance at Step 1, the grievant shall provide the basic facts, issues, or concerns on the grievance form. The supervisor, the aggrieved employee, and the Union steward shall have five (5) workdays from the filing of the grievance to meet and discuss the grievance. The meeting shall be arranged with the Union steward. The supervisor will communicate the decision on the grievance either orally at the conclusion of the meeting or in writing within five (5) workdays from the date of the meeting.
(4) Representation at Step 1 shall be provided by any steward in the same Agency as the grievant, unless a steward from another jurisdiction is appointed by the President in accordance with Article 41, Section 3.
(5) If no decision is rendered in a timely fashion, the grievant or Union may appeal to Step 2 or the Union may notify the Office of Employee and Labor-Management Relations (OELMR), which will ensure that a decision is rendered within three (3) workdays.

b. Step 2

(1) A grievance may be appealed to Step 2 of this procedure within ten (10) workdays of receipt of a decision unsatisfactory to the aggrieved employee(s) and the Union representative at Step 1 or, if no timely decision is issued at Step 1, within ten (10) workdays after the grievance reply was due at Step 1. An appeal shall be filed on the negotiated grievance form and shall indicate:

(a) date of appeal;
(b) name of grievant;
(c) official to whom appealed;
(d) basic facts, issues, or concerns submitted at Step 1 and any additional or amended information;
(e) provisions of the Agreement alleged to have been violated;
(f) remedy sought; and
(g) name of Union representative.

(2) The Step 2 appeal shall be filed with the senior career program official in the same program as the grievant. The Step 2 appeal shall be considered filed when it is postmarked or personally delivered to the appropriate Agency official in a timely manner. The grievant or the Union will provide a courtesy copy to the immediate supervisor and the Agency Labor Relations Officer. If the appeal is filed with the wrong Agency official, Management shall forward it to the correct official and so notify the grievant and Union. A merit staffing grievance is filed at Step 2 with the servicing Personnel Officer within twenty (20) workdays of when an employee and/or the Union has learned of the alleged violation.
(3) At Step 2, the grievant shall be represented by the Chief Steward of the grievant's Agency or by another steward in that Agency designated by the Chief Steward, unless the designation is made by the President of Local 12 in accordance with Article 41, Section 3. For those Agencies other than the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management that are serviced by the National Capital Service Center, the Chief Steward may designate any steward from among those Agencies.
(4) The Agency official, grievant, and Union shall have ten (10) workdays from the filing of the Step 2 appeal to meet and discuss the grievance. The meeting shall be arranged with the Union representative. The Agency official shall render a written decision to the grievant and Union representative within five (5) workdays of the Step 2 meeting. If no decision is rendered in a timely fashion, the Union may appeal to arbitration or the Union may notify OELMR, which will ensure that a decision is rendered within three (3) workdays.

Section 8. Union Grievances

a. A grievance initiated by the Union must bear one signature of an official(s) or representative(s) designated by the President or First Vice President of Local 12.
b. Union-Filed Institutional Grievances
A grievance filed by Local 12 which does not seek personal relief for a particular employee or group of employees, but rather expresses Local 12's disagreement with Management's interpretation or application of the Agreement and which seeks an institutional remedy, shall be processed as follows:

(1) On a matter involving more than a single DOL Agency, the grievance shall be filed with OELMR at Step 2. If the matter has not been resolved after ten (10) workdays of the receipt of the grievance, Local 12 may invoke arbitration within the next twenty-five (25) workdays.
(2) On a matter specific and limited to a single DOL Agency, the grievance shall be filed with the Administrative Officer at Step 2. If the matter has not been resolved after ten (10) workdays of the receipt of the grievance, Local 12 may invoke arbitration within the next twenty-five (25) workdays.
(3) A grievance filed in accordance with paragraphs (1) or (2) above must be filed within twenty (20) workdays of the occurrence of the alleged violation.

c. Union-Filed Employee Grievances

(1) If the Union files a grievance seeking personal relief for an individual employee or group of employees, the grievance(s) should be filed in accordance with the procedures delineated in Article 43, Section 7, just as if the affected employee(s) had initiated the grievance(s).
(2) Where mutually agreeable by the parties, Union-filed grievances on the same matter on behalf of two (2) or more employees may be processed as a single grievance for the purpose of resolving the grievances.

(a) If the employee grievants are under the supervision of a single supervisor, the Step 1 grievances may be consolidated as a single grievance with that supervisor.
(b) If the employee grievants are under the supervision of different supervisors within a single DOL Agency, the grievances may be consolidated with the Agency Administrative Officer at Step 1.
(c) If the employee grievants are under the supervision of different supervisors in more than one (1) DOL Agency, the grievances may be consolidated and filed at Step 2 with OELMR. If the matter has not been resolved after ten (10) workdays of the consolidation, Local 12 may invoke arbitration within the next twenty-five (25) workdays.

Section 9. Invocation of Arbitration

Upon receipt of the Step 2 decision or if no decision is rendered in a timely fashion, the Union may, within twenty-five (25) workdays, invoke arbitration by giving notice of such intent to the Director of OELMR as provided in Article 44 of this Agreement.

Section 10. Grievability/Arbitrability

If the Department considers a grievance non-grievable or non-arbitrable, it should communicate such determination at the earliest possible time. In order to raise the issue at arbitration, the Department shall advise the Union no later than twenty (20) workdays after invocation and at least ten (10) workdays before the hearing.

Section 11. Termination of Grievance

A grievance shall terminate only at the employee's request, with Union approval, or for failure to proceed to the next step in a timely fashion, or if an arbitrator renders a decision, or a final decision is rendered on an appeal from the arbitrator's decision.

Section 12. Modification of Procedures

a. The time limits delineated in this Article may be modified by mutual written agreement of the parties.
b. The parties may mutually agree in writing to waive Step 1 or 2 of this procedure.

Section 13. Stays of Certain Personnel Actions

a. Upon timely filing of a grievance within five (5) workdays after receipt of a decision to suspend or remove a bargaining unit employee under 5 U.S.C. 4303 or 7512 or to suspend an employee under 5 U.S.C. 7502, the Department agrees to stay such action for three (3) months or until an arbitrator makes an award, whichever comes first. In such cases, Step 1 of the grievance procedure is waived and the grievance immediately goes to Step 2; however, if the Union represented the employee during the notice and response period, Step 2 of the grievance procedure may also be waived. This Section does not apply to emergency suspensions where retention of the employee in an active duty status may be injurious to the employee, his/her fellow workers, or the general public, or may result in damage to Government property. In such cases, the Department may waive the advance written notice period; if the Department waives the advance notice period, the employee will be placed in a non-duty status with pay, for such time, up to ten (10) days, as necessary to effect the suspension.
b. Upon timely filing of an appropriate grievance concerning a disputed performance appraisal, or a personnel action to reduce in grade or pay under 5 U.S.C. 4303 or 7512, the Department agrees to stay such action for six (6) months or until an arbitrator makes an award, whichever comes first. In such cases of reduction in grade or pay, the same principle of waiving Steps 1 or 2 of the grievance procedure, as stipulated in Subsection a. above, will apply.
c. Upon timely filing of a grievance, the Department agrees to stay disputed merit staffing actions for four (4) months or until an arbitrator makes an award, whichever comes first. However, each Agency head, at his/her discretion, may lift up to five (5) such stays at any time in a contract year.
d. With respect to Subsection a. or b. of this Section, such stays shall not be applicable to employees in the excepted service. With respect to Subsection c. of this Section, such stays shall not be applicable to non-bargaining unit threshold positions or to positions in the excepted service.