Editor's notes: POLICY TITLE: Staff Relations, Volume VI of the Carnegie Mellon's Staff Handbook: A Human Resources Guide
DATE OF ISSUANCE: The staff handbook was most recently revised on July 1, 2000.
ACCOUNTABLE DEPARTMENT/UNIT: Employment Office. Questions on policy content should be directed to Jill Diskin, director, human resources services, x8-4747.
For the remainder of the handbook, see:
There is also an index for the staff handbook.
ABSTRACT: Staff handbook volume VI: Contains information on solving work-related problems, including using the staff grievance procedure.
Your supervisor can give you feedback about your work performance in a variety of ways. On a daily basis, for example, your supervisor may give you positive feedback about a task that you performed particularly well, or suggest ways that you could perform a certain aspect of your job better. In some departments, supervisors may schedule regular meetings with each staff member to review the staff memberís progress in completing assignments and to give the staff member an opportunity to ask questions.
Your supervisor may conduct a performance review during the provisional period and another at its conclusion. Ongoing communication between you and your supervisor about your work performance helps to build effective working relationships.
An annual performance review is another way that supervisors can give staff members feedback about their overall work performance. Annual performance review information normally is communicated to the staff member in a meeting with the supervisor and is summarized in writing by the supervisor. A supervisor may send a copy of the written performance review to the human resources representative to be included in the staff memberís central personnel file.
In the annual performance review meeting, the staff memberís strengths are discussed and plans are developed for addressing any shortcomings. As part of this process, the supervisor and staff member also may determine performance goals for the next review period.
Your first line of communication on job-related matters is your supervisor. Since open communication facilitates fair treatment, you are encouraged to ask questions and to offer opinions and suggestions. Discussion with your supervisor usually can solve problems that may have developed and often leads to a better working relationship.
If discussion with your supervisor does not resolve a job-related issue, your human resources representative is available to consult with you. Staff members can obtain information about university policies affecting their employment, request feedback about their particular situation and explore alternatives with their human resources representative. Staff members can schedule a meeting by sending e-mail to the Human Resources Service Center or calling x8-4747.
Staff members with work-related problems also can obtain information from these sources:
When a work-related issue cannot be resolved through discussions between the individuals concerned, the staff member can file a grievance. The grievance procedure is available to all staff members who have completed an initial six-month provisional period of employment. Staff members who have not completed an initial provisional period cannot file a grievance unless the issue involves alleged discrimination. Staff represented by a union and faculty are not covered by this procedure. However, any staff member (including those represented by a union and faculty) may be subject to this procedure if they are named a respondent in the grievance.
Staff members can use the grievance procedure without fear of reprisal or retaliation. It is a clear violation of university policy for a supervisor to retaliate against a staff member who uses the grievance procedure.
The grievance procedure deals with cases involving an individual staff member and applies to problems involving employment (e.g., hiring, salary, job classification, promotion, discipline, probation and termination); failure to apply university policy; or alleged discrimination in gender, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation or marital status.
If there is more than one grievant on a particular matter, each grievant is required to file a separate grievance. Staff members who wish to file a formal charge of sexual harassment should refer to the formal complaint procedure for sexual harassment.
Staff members may have another university staff member or faculty member assist them in preparing a grievance statement or accompany them at any time during the grievance process. This individual can be from the staff memberís department, Human Resources, Equal Opportunity Services, or a member of Staff Council or the Faculty Senate. Since the grievance procedure is provided for the internal resolution of problems and is not a legal forum, staff members may not be accompanied by outside counsel.
Information about the Staff Council Grievance Committee--founded to support and accompany staff members who are investigating and participating in the grievance process at Carnegie Mellon--is available on the Staff Council web site.
To file a grievance, the staff member submits a written statement summarizing the issue to the university ombudsman. Because it is more difficult to resolve outdated issues, grievances must be submitted to the ombudsman in a timely manner, normally within one month of the failure to resolve the issue through informal channels. The following information should be included:
Staff members cannot modify or expand a grievance once it has been submitted for consideration. If a staff member who has already filed a grievance wishes to pursue new issues, a new grievance must be filed. Staff members can, however, supplement their initial grievance statement with additional information in order to clarify the issues further. The staff member can stop the grievance process at any time by giving written notice to the ombudsman.
The staff grievance procedure, which is illustrated in this flowchart, consists of three steps.
The ombudsman schedules a meeting with the staff member and the respondent named in the staff memberís grievance statement within five working days of receiving the written statement from the staff member. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the issues raised by the staff member and consider possible solutions. Another staff member or faculty member may accompany the grievant at this meeting or at any time during the grievance process.
Prior to this meeting, the ombudsman arranges for the respondent named in the grievance to receive a copy of the staff memberís grievance statement. In addition, the ombudsman notifies the dean or division head administrator of both the grievant and the respondent that a grievance has been filed.
The respondent named in the grievance is required to respond in writing to the staff member within five working days following the meeting with the staff member and the ombudsman. The respondent also gives a copy of this communication to the ombudsman.
If the respondent named in the grievance refuses to attend the meeting or does not respond to the staff memberís grievance in writing within five working days following the meeting with the staff member and the ombudsman, the staff member can orally request that the ombudsman refer the grievance to the supervisor of the respondent named in the grievance.
If the grievant does not agree that the grievance has been satisfactorily resolved, the grievant can request in writing to the ombudsman that the grievance be referred to the supervisor of the respondent named in the grievance. This request must be submitted to the ombudsman within 10 working days of the Step 1 meeting, if it occurs, and include the reasons for referring the grievance to the next step. Otherwise, the grievance is considered to be resolved.
If the respondent named in the staff memberís grievance is the staff memberís immediate supervisor and the staff member believes that it is not appropriate for the grievance to be referred to that person, the staff member can request that the ombudsman bypass this step.
In response to the staff memberís written request, if the problem is not resolved at Step 1, the ombudsman arranges a meeting with the next higher-level manager. This process continues until the administrator at the vice president or dean level has been consulted. At each level, the procedures and time limitations contained in Step 1 apply.
If, after consulting with the highest-level manager as stated above, the staff member judges that the grievance has not been resolved satisfactorily, the staff member can request that the grievance be referred to the Grievance Panel for final review. This request must be submitted to the ombudsman in writing within seven working days after the meeting with the highest level manager and the ombudsman.
An impartial Grievance Panel is responsible for hearing grievances that cannot be resolved at Step 2 in the grievance procedure. The decision of the Grievance Panel is reached by a majority vote and is communicated to the staff member within 20 working days of receiving the grievance from the staff member.
This decision is final unless additional information is discovered that would cause the case to be reconsidered. If this occurs, the staff member or the respondent named in the grievance can request in writing to the ombudsman that the grievance be referred to the Grievance Panel again for further consideration.
Note: In certain circumstances, as determined by the ombudsman, the time limitations imposed at Steps 1, 2 and 3 may need to be revised to accommodate unforeseen situations, such as travel commitments or the illness of the person lodging the grievance, the respondent, or others involved in the grievance process.
The Grievance Panel is composed of six members. The selection of the three voting members is conducted as follows:
The remaining three panel members do not vote, but serve as resources to the three voting members. They are:
The Grievance Panel normally schedules a preliminary organizational meeting to determine how the panel will operate. For example, the panel can schedule meetings with the grievant and the respondent named in the grievance when deemed necessary. A person who witnessed the situation leading to the grievance may accompany the grievant or the respondent named in the grievance. The Grievance Panel also can request records and other documents necessary to settle a dispute, except that, where such records may violate the privacy of a university staff member, student or other person, the personís permission must be obtained.
Once the Grievance Panel has gathered and reviewed all of the information necessary to make a decision, the panel members meet to discuss the grievance. Following this discussion, which is a closed meeting, the voting members of the panel vote whether or not to find in favor of the staff member who has filed the grievance, including whether to grant, modify or deny what the staff member has requested a resolution in the grievance statement. A majority vote is required.
The panelís decision is communicated to the staff member in writing within 20 days of receiving the grievance, unless a revised timeline has been granted by the ombudsman. A copy of this decision also is sent to the staff memberís dean or division head administrator, the respondent who was named in the grievance, and the named respondentís dean or division head administrator.
The decision of the Grievance Panel is binding. The dean or division head administrator of the respondent who was named in the grievance is responsible for ensuring that the Grievance Panelís decision is implemented within a reasonable time.
If a staff memberís work performance is not satisfactory, or if the staff member has violated university policy, it is the supervisorís responsibility to take corrective action. To determine an appropriate course of action, the supervisor considers the staff memberís status (whether the staff member is serving a provisional period or is on probation), the nature and severity of the work performance issue, the frequency with which the problem has occurred and any extenuating circumstances.
Some situations, for example, may prompt a supervisor to take disciplinary action (including suspension or termination of employment, or both) without following all of the steps outlined below. The steps identified in items C, D, E and F are generally undertaken only after the supervisor has discussed the performance issue with his or her manager and the human resources representative.
Both imposed probation and termination are subject to appeal through the staff grievance procedure. (Staff members who have not completed an initial provisional period cannot file a grievance unless the issue involves alleged discrimination.)
Under certain circumstances a staff member may request that records of disciplinary actions be removed from his or her central personnel file. At your written request, warnings and notices of suspension or probation that are more than three years old may be removed from your central personnel file. Other materials may not be removed from this file; however, an addition or correction to the file can be requested in writing if you believe it is in order.
For further information, please refer to Provisional Period, Termination of Employment, and Personnel Records in the Employment Status section, and the Staff Grievance Procedure in this section.
The following disciplinary guidelines have been developed.
Constructive feedback is often an effective means of resolving work-related problems while promoting mutual respect between staff members and supervisors. As part of this ongoing process, the supervisor identifies areas that need to be improved and specifies a method of improvement. When discussing work performance, the supervisor provides specific feedback to the staff member about how performance should improve. If constructive feedback does not result in improved performance, the supervisor can issue a verbal warning.
A verbal warning directs a staff memberís attention to a work performance issue or other work-related problem by giving the staff member specific information about the nature of the problem, the improvement needed, a timetable for future review, and the consequences of continued unsatisfactory performance.
If a staff member does not meet the performance standards communicated by the supervisor in the verbal warning, a formal written warning can be issued. Normally, this step is undertaken only after the supervisor has discussed the performance issue with his or her manager and the human resources representative. The written warning is given to the staff member following a meeting between the staff member and the supervisor.
This disciplinary letter contains specific information about the nature of the problem, the improvement needed, a timetable for future review and the consequences of continued unsatisfactory performance. A copy of the letter is placed in the staff memberís central personnel file.
Although a written warning is generally issued to an employee after a verbal warning has been given, in some cases the nature of the performance issue and other circumstances justify giving the employee a written warning without providing a prior verbal warning.
A probationary period may be imposed by the supervisor if the staff member does not respond to verbal or written warnings to improve work performance, or if the staff member has committed a serious violation of university policy. This step is usually undertaken only after the supervisor has discussed the performance issue with his or her manager and the human resources representative.
Following a meeting between the supervisor and the staff member, the staff member will receive written notification specifying the performance standards to be met and methods to achieve them, the duration of the probationary period, and the consequences of failure to improve and maintain satisfactory performance. The progress of the staff member will be monitored closely during the probationary period. Staff members who fail to improve their performance during a probationary period normally have their employment terminated.
A copy of the communication imposing the probationary period is included in the staff memberís central personnel file.
Normally, salary increases will not be approved for staff members who are on probation.
Staff members who commit serious infractions of university policy or procedure may be suspended for a period of one to ten working days. (Note: Exempt staff members may not be suspended in increments of less than a week.) In addition, suspension may be imposed to permit an investigation prior to taking final action. This step is normally undertaken only after the supervisor has discussed the performance issue with her or his manager and the human resources representative. Suspensions are confirmed to the staff member in writing, stating whether it will be a paid or unpaid suspension, the length of the suspension and when to report back to work. A copy of this communication is placed in the staff memberís central personnel file.
Staff members who are not performing satisfactorily are subject to termination of their employment. This step is normally undertaken only after the supervisor has discussed the performance issue with his or her manager and the human resources representative. All employment terminations must be confirmed to the staff member in writing. A copy of this communication is placed in the staff memberís central personnel file.
