Sec. 560.2. Grievances; procedural requirements

The head of each State department or agency shall establish formal procedures for submission of grievances by employees or their representatives (subject to the provisions of section 1 of the Executive order) and for prompt and orderly consideration and determination of such grievances by supervisors and the department or agency head, subject to the approval of the grievance appeals board. Procedures for such department or agency shall include provision for no more than three procedural steps as follows:

(a)

(1) Step 1.

The employee, or his representative, shall present the grievance orally or in writing on forms to be provided by the State to the employee's immediate supervisor or to the department or agency representative at the appropriate local level, not later than 45 calendar days after the date on which the act or omission giving rise to the grievance occurred. The department or agency representative may require the grievant to meet with the grievant's immediate supervisor in an effort to settle the grievance informally. The person receiving the grievance shall take any other steps necessary to insure that a proper disposition of the grievance is made and shall reply to the employee or his representative orally or in writing on forms to be provided by the State, within five working days following the date of submission.

(2) Step 2.

In the event the employee or his representative wishes to appeal an unsatisfactory decision at step 1, the appeal must be presented in writing on forms to be provided by the State, within 15 working days of the receipt of the step 1 decision, to the person designated by the department or agency head for such purpose. A copy of such appeal shall also be sent to the person who passed upon the grievance at step 1. Such appeal shall contain a short, plain statement of the grievance. The person designated to process the appeal at step 2 shall meet with the employee and/or his representative within 20 working days after receipt of the appeal for a review of the grievance and shall issue a written decision to the employee or his representative by the end of the fifteenth working day following the day on which the review was held.

(3) Step 3.

An appeal from an unsatisfactory decision at step 2 shall be presented by the employee or his representative in writing, on forms to be provided by the State, to the department or agency head or his designated representative within 15 working days of the receipt of the step 2 decision. The department or agency head or his duly designated representative shall meet within 20 working days after receipt of the appeal with the employee and/or his representative for a review of the grievance and shall issue a written decision by the end of the twentieth working day following the day on which the step 3 review was held.

(4) Step 4.

An appeal from an unsatisfactory decision at step 3 shall be presented in writing by the employee or his representative within 15 working days of receipt of the step 3 decision to the grievance appeals board. The grievantshall also furnish a copy to the department or agency head. The chairman of the grievance appeals board or his designee within 20 working days of receipt of a request for an appeal of the step 3 decision shall schedule a step 4 review and shall issue a decision in writing to the employee and to his representative within 20 working days after the day on which the review was held or the date the hearing was closed. The appeal to the grievance appeals board shall contain a copy of the decisions at steps 1, 2 and 3, together with all documents which the grievant relies upon in the appeal.

(b) Departmental or agency procedures shall provide that the grievance forms provided by the State shall be readily available to all employees. The locations where these forms are available shall be specifically identified.

(c) The time limits contained in this section may be extended for a specific grievance by consent of the grievant or his representative and the department or agency. Departments and agencies are authorized, subject to approval by the grievance appeals board, to combine steps 2 and 3 or to vary the time limits in steps 1, 2 and 3 of the grievance steps. The time for presenting a step 1 grievance shall be extended by the time an employee is absent from the job through illness or disability, provided such illness or disability extends for at least 10 calendar days.

(d) A settlement or award recommended by the Board may or may not be retroactive as the equities of each case demand, but in no event shall such a resolution be retroactive to a date earlier than 45 days prior to the date the grievance was first presented in accordance with these regulations and the executive order or the date the grievance occurred, whichever is the later date.

(e) Failure of the department or agency representative to answer a grievance within the time limit prescribed in any step of the grievance procedure shall permit the employee or his representative to progress the grievance to the next step for decision.

(f) Any grievance not appealed by the employee or his representative to the next step of the grievance procedure within the time limit prescribed shall be considered settled on the basis of the last decision and is not subject to further appeal or consideration.

(g) Employee information.

Each department or agency head shall take such steps as may be necessary to insure that all employees and supervisors under his jurisdiction may be fully informed of the grievance procedures adopted pursuant to the executive order and of their rights and obligations thereunder.

(h) The grievance appeals board shall publish and distribute copies of the executive order, its regulations and other pertinent information to the end that employees shall be informed of their rights under the executive order.