3 FAM 4730
FORMAL GRIEVANCES
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(Office of Origin: HR/G)
3 FAM 4731 Filing a FORMAL grievance
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
a. An employee who is dissatisfied with the outcome of
the informal process described in 3 FAM 4720 may submit a formal
grievance to the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS), Bureau of Human Resources,
or to the Director of the Grievance Staff (HR/G).
b. A formal grievance may be filed only after
completion of the informal grievance process, except as provided by
3 FAM 4727.
3 FAM 4731.1 Time Limit
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
a. A formal grievance must be submitted in writing
within 10 days of completion of the informal grievance process.
b. Where the informal grievance process has been waived
as provided by 3 FAM 4727, a formal grievance must be submitted
within the timeframe specified in that section.
c. Any request for an exception to the filing deadline
must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Grievance Staff (HR/G) or
designated representative prior to the expiration of the formal grievance
filing period. An exception will be granted only for good cause.
3 FAM 4731.2 Submitting a Formal Grievance
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
a. A formal grievance must:
(1) Be in writing;
(2) State that the employee is filing a formal
grievance;
(3) Identify the matter of concern and include all
pertinent documentation. The grievance may not raise any new issue that was
not presented as part of the informal grievance;
(4) Cite the relevant law, regulation or policy
alleged to have been violated or misapplied;
(5) Include all documentation related to the informal
stage of the grievance process (i.e., the employees written informal grievance
submission(s) and response(s) from the Responsible Officials) unless the
informal grievance process was waived under 3 FAM 4727;
(6) State why the employee is dissatisfied with
managements responses; and
(7) State the personal relief desired.
b. A grievance that fails to meet the requirements
above may be rejected by the Grievance Staff.
c. Upon request, the supervisor or other appropriate
officer must grant the employee a reasonable amount of official time to prepare
the formal grievance. Generally, two hours of official time is sufficient
but up to eight hours may be warranted for more complex grievances. This period
of official time allowed may be rescheduled if necessitated by an urgent work
assignment.
3 FAM 4732 action on formal grievance
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
a. Upon receipt of a formal grievance, the Bureau of
Human Resources Grievance Staff will:
(1) Acknowledge its receipt;
(2) Determine whether the matter grieved is within the
scope of the administrative grievance system and resolve any question as to the
timeliness of the informal or formal grievance submissions. If the matter is
not covered or the grievance is untimely, the grievance will be rejected; and
(3) Provided the grievance is not rejected, forward a
copy of the grievance submission to the executive director of the employees
organizational unit to request a bureau report.
b. Upon receipt of the bureau report, the DAS may:
(1) Refer the grievance to a qualified grievance
examiner within 10 calendar days of receipt of the report; or
(2) Resolve the grievance in a manner acceptable to
the employee.
3 FAM 4733 ACTIONS BY GRIEVANCE
EXAMINER
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
a. The grievance examiner must conduct a review of the
issues involved in the grievance. At the examiners discretion, the review may
include one or more of the following:
(1) Securing documentary evidence;
(2) Personal interviews; or
(3) A group meeting;
b. Upon completion of the inquiry, the grievance
examiner will provide a copy of the findings to the employee (and the
employees representative, if any) for review and comment. The grievant and/or
grievants representative must be allowed seven days to review the
findings unless the grievance examiner determines an extension is appropriate.
c. The grievance examiner must establish a grievance
file containing all documents developed during the review.
d. Within 60 days of receipt of the grievance
assignment, the grievance examiner must prepare a report of findings and
recommendations and must submit that report and the grievance file to the
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Human Resources, or designated
representative.
3 FAM 4734 FINAL GRIEVANCE DECISION
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
a. Within 15 days of receiving the grievance examiners
report and recommendations, the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Human
Resources, or designated representative, must issue a final decision that
accepts or rejects the examiners recommendations, in whole or in part. The
decision will address whether the requested relief should be granted.
b. The final grievance decision will be issued to the
grievant, with a copy provided to the executive office of the appropriate
organizational unit. The decision will be accompanied by a copy of the grievance
examiners report and recommendations, if any.
c. Issuance of the final grievance decision marks the
conclusion of the formal grievance process.
3 FAM 4735 CANCELLATION OF GRIEVANCE
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
The Grievance Staff or DAS will cancel a grievance:
(1) At the grievants request;
(2) Upon termination of the grievants employment with
the Department, unless the personal relief sought by the grievant may be
granted after termination of employment;
(3) Upon death of the grievant, unless the grievance
involves a question of pay or other money allegedly owed to the decedent by the
Department; or
(4) For failure on the part of the grievant to furnish
required information and duly proceed with the grievance.
3 FAM 4736 NO FURTHER APPEALS
(CT:PER-703; 07-30-2013)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees)
Decisions under the Department's administrative grievance
system are not subject to any further administrative or judicial review.
3 FAM 4737 THROUGH 4739 UNASSIGNED