Administrative and Staff Employee Grievance

1. Purpose

This policy helps Brigham Young University–Hawaii ("BYU–Hawaii" or "university") employees and their line leadership work together to resolve grievances in harmony with the collegial nature and cooperative spirit of a university community. Most grievances can be resolved informally. In rare cases where informal resolution is not successful, this policy provides a defined framework for resolution.

2. Policy

BYU–Hawaii employees may grieve action taken by the university that involves, for instance, demotion, pay reduction, reassignment, reduction in resource allocations, downgrade of work environment, infringement of faculty academic freedom (see Academic Freedom Statement policy), denial of leave of absence applications, or transfer or termination of employment.

The Human Resources department assists staff, administrative, faculty, and student employees and their respective supervisors in the grievance process.

3. Implementation

All employee grievances against the university or its personnel that are related to employment but not governed by a more specific policy are governed by this policy.

Grievances based on actions covered by specific policies (e.g., disability grievances, continuing faculty status reviews and rank advancement, illegal discrimination) that have their own grievance or appeal procedures are governed exclusively by those policies. Those policies include, but are not limited to, the following:

3.1 INFORMAL RESOLUTION PROCEDURE

The university urges each employee with a grievance to discuss the matter first with his or her direct supervisor to attempt to reach an acceptable resolution. All grievances not involving adverse employment action or an alleged violation of law or university policy should be handled informally. The employee and/or the supervisor can contact Human Resources for information and assistance at any time in the case of informal resolution of a grievance.

3.2 FORMAL RESOLUTION PROCEDURE

An employee with a complaint regarding demotion, pay reduction, reassignment, or transfer or termination of employment (or other similar adverse employment action) may file a written grievance no later than 15 calendar days after the action occurs. The employee should file the written grievance with his or her direct supervisor, the department head, and Human Resources. If the department head is the employee’s direct supervisor, the employee should also file the written grievance with the next-level manager of the department head. In the case of faculty members, the employee should file the written grievance with his or her dean, the associate academic vice president for faculty, and Human Resources. If the associate academic vice president for faculty is the employee’s direct supervisor, the employee should also file the written grievance with the academic vice president.

3.3 GRIEVANCE STATEMENT

The written grievance statement should include the following:

The employee’s name, department, and position;
A detailed outline of the specific circumstances and issues leading to the adverse employment action; and
The requested resolution of the complaint.

Upon receiving the written grievance statement, Human Resources will take the steps deemed necessary to investigate the grievance and report the findings to line management. The department head (or, in the case of faculty members, the associate academic vice president for faculty) will then issue a decision. The decision of the department head (or the associate academic vice president for faculty) is final. In the case that the department head, associate academic vice president for faculty, or their respective line management is the subject of the grievance, then the final decision will be issued by the next-level manager.

3.4 TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

Before action is taken to terminate employment, Human Resources should consult with the vice president (or, in the case of a direct report of the vice president, the president) having line authority over the affected employee and must receive approval for the termination. The decision to terminate employment is final unless the employee timely appeals the action by submitting a signed, written request to Human Resources within 15 calendar days of being informed of the termination decision. The appeal request must describe the grievance, the efforts made to resolve the complaint, and the resolution sought by the employee, and should include any supporting materials the employee thinks are applicable. Human Resources will review the appeal request and may confer with the employee. They will then conduct any further investigation deemed appropriate and report the results to the vice president (or, as applicable, the president). The decision of the vice president (or president) is final in all cases.

In the event an appeal of termination of employment is filed against the president of the university, the matter will be investigated by Human Resources in consultation with the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees decides the matter.

Decisions on appeal are final and not subject to further appeal.

3.5 APPLICABILITY

This policy applies to all university faculty, staff, administrative, and student personnel.