CCR2011127-Grievance Procedure
COMMON COUNCIL - CITY OF MUSKEGO
RESOLUTION #127-2011
CITY OF MUSKEGO
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
WHEREAS, with the adoption of Wisconsin Act 10, local municipalities are required to
establish a grievance procedure by October 1, 2011; and
WHEREAS, the following procedure is intended to address issues concerning
workplace safety, discipline and termination.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council of the City of
Muskego hereby establishes the following grievance procedure:
Discipline
Discipline may result when an employee’s actions do not conform with generally
accepted standards of good behavior, when an employee violates a policy or rule, when
an employee’s performance is not acceptable, or when the employee’s conduct is
detrimental to the interests of the City of Muskego. Disciplinary action may call for any
of four steps – verbal warning, written warning, suspension (with or without pay) or
termination of employment – depending on the problem and the number of occurrences.
There may be circumstances when one or more steps are bypassed. Certain types of
employee problems are serious enough to justify either a suspension or termination of
employment without going through progressive discipline steps. Disciplinary actions
such as oral or written evaluations, counseling, meetings, coaching, placing employee
on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation and a change in job
assignments should be excluded. The City of Muskego reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to impose disciplinary action as may be appropriate to the particular
circumstances as outlined in the City Employee Discipline Policy adopted by Resolution
#019-2010 on March 9, 2010.
Grievance Procedure
This policy is intended to comply with Section 66.0509, Wis. Stats., and provides a
grievance procedure addressing issues concerning workplace safety, discipline and
termination. This policy applies to all employees covered under Section 66.0509, Wis.
Stats., other than police and fire employees subject to Section 62.13(5), Wis. Statutes
and grievance procedure within Article 5 of the Muskego Police Association agreement.
An employee may appeal any level of discipline under this grievance procedure. For
purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:
1. "Employee discipline" includes all levels of progressive discipline, but shall not
include the following items:
Placing an employee on paid administrative leave pending an internal
investigation;
Counselings, meetings or other pre-disciplinary action;
Resolution #127-2011 Page 2
Actions taken to address work performance, including use of a
performance improvement plan or job targets;
Demotion, transfer or change in job assignment; or
Other personnel actions taken by the employer that are not a form of
progressive discipline.
2. "Employee termination" shall include action taken by the employer to terminate
an individual's employment for misconduct or performance reasons, but shall not
include the following personnel actions:
Voluntary quit;
Layoff or failure to be recalled from layoff at the expiration of the recall
period;
Retirement;
Job abandonment, “no-call, no-show”, or other failure to report to work; or
Termination of employment due to medical condition, lack of qualification
or license, or other inability to perform job duties.
3. "Workplace safety” is defined as conditions of employment affecting an
employee’s physical health or safety, the safe operation of workplace equipment
and tools, safety of the physical work environment, personal protective
equipment, workplace violence, and training related to same.
Any written grievance filed under this policy must contain the following information:
The name and position of the employee filing it,
A statement of the issue involved,
A statement of the relief sought,
A detailed explanation of the facts supporting the grievance;
The date(s) the event(s) giving rise to the grievance took place,
The identity of the policy, procedure or rule that is being challenged;
The steps the employee has taken to review the matter, either orally or in
writing, with the employee’s supervisor; and
The employee’s signature and the date.
Steps of the Grievance Procedure
Employees should first discuss complaints or questions with their immediate supervisor.
Every reasonable effort should be made by supervisors and employees to resolve any
questions, problems or misunderstandings that have arisen before filing a grievance.
1. Step 1 – Written Grievance Filed with the Department Head. The employee must
prepare and file a written grievance with the Department Head within five (5)
business days of when the employee knows, or should have known, of the
events giving rise to the grievance. The Department Head or his/her designee
will investigate the facts giving rise to the grievance and inform the employee of
his/her decision, if possible within ten (10) business days of receipt of the
grievance. In the event the grievance involves the Department Head, the
employee may initially file the grievance with the City Mayor who shall conduct
the Step 1 investigation.
Resolution #127-2011 Page 3
2. Step 2 – Review by City Mayor. If the grievance is not settled at Step 1, the
employee may appeal the grievance to the City Mayor within five (5) business
days of the receipt of the decision of the department head at Step 1. The City
Mayor or his/her designee will review the matter and inform the employee of
his/her decision, if possible within ten (10) business days of receipt of the
grievance. In the event the grievance involves the Mayor, the employee may
appeal the grievance to the City Council President who shall conduct the Step 2
investigation.
3. Step 3 – Impartial Hearing Officer. If the grievance is not settled at Step 2, the
employee may request in writing, within five (5) business days following receipt of
the City Mayor or Council President’s decision, a request for written review by an
impartial hearing officer. The City Finance Committee shall select the impartial
hearing officer. The hearing officer shall not be a City employee. In all cases, the
grievant shall have the burden of proof to support the grievance. The impartial
hearing officer will determine whether the City acted in an arbitrary and
capricious manner. This process does not involve a hearing before a court of
law; thus, the rules of evidence will not be followed. Depending on the issue
involved, the impartial hearing officer will determine whether a hearing is
necessary, or whether the case may be decided based on a submission of
written documents. The impartial hearing officer shall prepare a written decision.
4. Step 4 – Review by the Governing Body If the grievance is not resolved after
Step 3, the employee, City Mayor or Council President shall request within five
(5) business days of receipt of the written decision from the hearing officer a
written review by the Governing Body. For Library employees, the appeal shall
be filed with the Library Board. For all other employees, the appeal shall be filed
with the City Common Council. The City Common Council shall not take
testimony or evidence; it may only determine whether the hearing officer reached
an arbitrary or incorrect result based on a review of the record before the hearing
officer. The matter will be scheduled for the City Common Council’s next regular
meeting. The City Common Council will inform the employee of its findings and
decision in writing within ten (10) business days of the City Common Council
meeting. The City Common Council shall decide the matter by majority vote and
this decision shall be final and binding.
An employee may not file a grievance outside of the time limits set forth above. If the
employee fails to meet the deadlines set forth above, the grievance will be considered
resolved. If it is impossible to comply with the deadlines due to meeting notice
requirements or meeting preparation, the grievance will be reviewed at the next possible
meeting date. An employee will not be compensated for time spent in processing
his/her grievance through the various steps of the grievance procedure.
Resolution #127-2011 Page 4
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this procedure is subject to review and approval of
the City’s labor attorney.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this procedure shall become effective upon adoption
of this resolution by the Common Council.
TH
DATED THIS 13 DAY OF SEPTEMBER , 2011.
SPONSORED BY:
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Ald. Neome Schaumberg
Ald. Noah Fiedler
Ald. Keith Werner
This is to certify that this is a true and accurate copy of Resolution #127-2011 which
was adopted by the Common Council of the City of Muskego.
_________________________
Clerk-Treasurer
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