The purpose of this policy is to provide a timely and orderly process for the resolution of employee complaints. The Board of Regents intends that, whenever feasible, complaints be resolved at the lowest possible administrative level. No reprisals or retaliation of any kind shall be taken at any level against any employee for bringing a complaint.
A complaint is an informal verbal or written disagreement or dispute about College policy or practice as it pertains to an individual employee's wages, hours, or conditions of work. The definition of complaint shall also include specific allegations of unlawful discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, age, gender, national origin, or disability, or on the basis of the employee's exercise of constitutional rights, and sexual harassment. The complaint must establish the harm the individual has suffered.
The College coordinators for compliance with federal non-discrimination laws are found in DAA. Issues specific to sexual harassment complaints are found in DIAA.
"Whistleblower" Complaints Employees who allege unlawful discrimination in retaliation for reporting a violation of law to an appropriate authority shall invoke this policy not later than 15 days after the date the alleged violation occurred or was discovered by the employee through the use of reasonable diligence. The complaint shall begin at the Presidents Cabinet level. If the complaint is not resolved at that level, the College President shall investigate the matter. If the complaint is not resolved at that level, the Board will review the complaint. Time lines for the employee and the College set out in this policy may be shortened to ensure that the Board's final decision is made within 30 days of the initiation of the complaint.
Employees who allege they sustained adverse personnel action in retaliation for reporting, in good faith, a violation of law by Amarillo College to an appropriate authority, as prescribed by law, shall invoke this policy not later than 90 days after the date the alleged violation occurred or was discovered by the employee through the use of reasonable diligence. The complaint shall begin at the Presidents Cabinet level. If the complaint is not resolved at that level, the College President shall investigate the matter and render a decision in an attempt to resolve the matter. If the complaint is not resolved at that level, the Board of Regents will review the complaint. Time lines for the employee and the College set out in this policy may be shortened to ensure that the Boards final decision is made within 30 days after the initiation of the complaint.
Some topics governed by other review processes are not subject to this policy. Employee termination and suspension procedures are found in policy series DMA - Separation of Employment. The termination, suspension, or non reappointment of an employee shall not be the subject of a grievance under this policy. Evaluation procedures are found at DL- Status of Employment and shall not be a subject of a grievance under this policy. Complaints of discrimination can be found in DH - Employee Standards of Conduct and of sexual harassment are found at DIAA - Title IX Policy and shall not be a subject of a grievance under this policy.
Should an employee grievance not be resolved at the lowest possible level the Board of Regents hereby establishes a formal grievance procedure. All time limits shall be strictly complied with, unless extended by mutual consent in writing. All references are to working days. The grievance shall be considered concluded if the employee does not appeal within the stated time limits.
All grievances arising out of an event or related series of events must be addressed in one grievance. An employee is precluded from bringing separate or serial grievances concerning events about which the employee has previously complained. Costs of any grievance shall be paid by the party incurring them.
When the College President or designee determines that two or more individual grievances are sufficiently similar in nature and remedy to permit their resolution through one proceeding, the grievance may be consolidated.
The employee filing a grievance or any employee who is the subject of a grievance may be represented at his or her own expense by a fellow employee, attorney, or other person or organization that does not claim the right to strike. The representative may only consult with and advise the employee and may not otherwise participate in the proceedings. The College may be assisted in processing grievances as it deems appropriate.
Meetings or hearings related to an employee's grievance and not involving the Board of Regents will not be open to the public unless all parties involved agree that it be public.
Grievance procedures (other than those alleging discrimination) for appointed faculty are as follows:
1. Faculty members who have a grievance must first present the grievance to his/her department chair or other immediate supervisors. Throughout the process all grievances and responses must be in writing and signed.
2. If faculty members are not satisfied with the decision of his/her chair/supervisor, they may appeal the decision within five working days of the receipt of such decision.
3. To appeal, the faculty member must resubmit the grievance to the department chair/supervisor with a request that it be forwarded without alteration to the appropriate dean.
4. The department chair must forward the grievance to the appropriate dean within five working days.
5. After the dean receives the grievance, the faculty member concerned must be notified within two working days that the grievance has been received, and the faculty member shall have an opportunity to present his/her case to the appropriate dean.
6. If a satisfactory resolution of the problem is still not achieved, the process may be repeated within the same time constraints through the appropriate Presidents Cabinet member with copies going to the interested parties at each step of the appeal. The faculty member shall have an opportunity to present his/her case to the President's Cabinet member.
7. If a satisfactory resolution of the problem is not achieved through appeal to the appropriate Presidents Cabinet member, the faculty member may appeal to the Professional Relations and Standards Committee. The appeal must be within five working days of the receipt of the decision of the appropriate Presidents Cabinet member.
8. A faculty member may not present grievances to the Professional Relations and Standards Committee before receipt of a proposed resolution from the appropriate Presidents Cabinet member.
9. The Faculty Senate shall convene as the Professional Standards and Relations Committee within five working days following the receipt of the grievance. The Senate shall present findings of fact and recommendation to the College President within ten working days following the receipt of the grievance.
10. If the Faculty Senate is unable to formulate a recommendation, the Senate shall request an extension of no more than five additional working days from the petitioner and/or College President. If the request for an extension is denied, the Senate may forward the grievance without recommendation to the College President.
11. If the matter is still not resolved by the College President to the satisfaction of the faculty member, he/she may bring an appeal to the Board of Regents within five working days of the receipt of the College President's decision by utilizing the procedure outlined in DGBA - Appeals to Board of Regents.
Grievance procedures (other than those alleging discrimination) for full-time classified personnel and appointed administrators are as follows:
1. Should a complaint not be resolved and the employee wishes to file a formal grievance,it must be submitted to the immediate supervisor. The grievance must specify the alleged harm and include a recommended remedy. Both parties will try to resolve the difference at this level. Within five working days of the receipt of the grievance, the immediate supervisor is required to present the resolution to the employee. Throughout the process all grievances and responses must be in writing and signed.
2. If a resolution is not achieved, the employee may submit a grievance to the next higher level of supervision. The grievance must be submitted by the employee within two working days from the date of receipt of the supervisor's proposed resolution. Within two working days after receiving the grievance, the second-level supervisor will prepare a resolution of the grievance and submit the resolution to the immediate supervisor and employee.
3. If the second-level supervisor's proposed resolution is not acceptable, the employee may continue the grievance by appealing to the appropriate Presidents Cabinet member representing the employee's division within two working days of receiving the proposed resolution.
4. When the grievance is appealed to the Presidents Cabinet member, the Presidents Cabinet member will give the employee an opportunity to be heard within five working days of the receipt of the grievance. Recommended disposition of the grievance shall be submitted to the employee and all involved supervisory personnel not more than ten working days from receipt of the grievance.
5. If the disposition of the grievance by the Presidents Cabinet member is not acceptable to the employee, an appeal must be submitted to the Director of Human Resources within ten working days of receipt of the President's Cabinet member's proposed solution. The Director of Human Resources will notify the President, who will appoint a grievance board. The grievance board, composed of three members shall, be appointed and convened as promptly as possible. The President may consult with the Classified Employee Council and/or the President's Cabinet in order to take recommendations for grievance board members. The grievance board shall conduct a hearing within ten working days after receipt of the grievance.
Within five working days after the conclusion of the hearing, the grievance board will submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the President.
Within ten working days after receiving the report from the grievance board, the President will give a decision to the employee, the appropriate supervisory personnel, the grievance board, and the Director of Human Resources.
The decision of the President is final except in grievances involving appointed administrative personnel.
6. Appointed administrators may bring the matter to the Board of Regents within five working days of the receipt of the Presidents decision if the situation has still not been resolved. Refer to DGBA - Appeals to Board of Regents.
Grievances from any employee alleging discrimination based upon race, color, religion, age, sex (including sexual harassment), national origin, or disability shall be submitted, in writing, directly to the Director of Human Resources. Refer to DH - Employee Conduct. Immediately upon receipt, the Director of Human Resources will notify the President, who will convene a grievance board to hear the grievance and make a recommendation to the President under the same time lines as indicated in Steps 5 and 6 of the Classified and Administrative Grievance Procedure.
Upon the completion of all grievance procedures an appointed faculty or administrative employee may appeal to the Board of Regents by filing written notice to do so with the President within five working days after receipt of the decision of the grievance board. The President shall notify the Board of Regents Chair who may set reasonable time limits on grievance presentations. The Board of Regents shall listen to the grievance, but is not required to respond or take any action on the matter, unless in its sole discretion it determines some response is warranted. By taking no action, the Board upholds the decision presented.
If a hearing is granted, that hearing will either be with the Board of Regents in a meeting that includes the hearing as an item in the posted agenda or with the Board's designee. If the Board of Regents conducts the hearing, it shall make and communicate its decision at any time up to and including the next regularly scheduled Board meeting. If the Board's designee conducts the hearing, he/she shall make a recommendation to the Board of Regents at the first regular meeting following the hearing that affords adequate time to prepare a written recommendation. The employee shall be provided a copy of the recommendation five working days before the meeting and shall be given an opportunity at the meeting to respond to the recommendation either orally or in writing. The Board of Regents shall then make and communicate its decision at any time up to and including the next regularly scheduled Board meeting.
Upon completion of any grievance the immediate supervisor will ensure that a complete copy of all correspondence, documents, recommendations, dispositions, Board of Regents actions, and the like pertaining to the grievance will be forwarded to the Director of Human Resources to be maintained in a separate file. Grievances shall not be documented in an employee's personnel file unless so requested by the employee.