1. PURPOSE.

To provide a formal mechanism for the attempt to reconcile conflicts between employees and management.

2. SCOPE.

This policy shall apply to all employees.

3. PROCEDURE

Many employee conflicts with management can be resolved informally between the employee and his immediate officer, and employees are obliged to attempt a resolution before taking more formal steps.

Definition

A conflict is defined as the claim of an employee that there has been a violation, misinterpretation or misapplication of a departmental rule, policy, or procedure adversely affecting the employee.

employees may also claim discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex -- including sexual harassment -- age, disability, or veteran status.

Matters Excluded From This Conflict Resolution Procedure

• Verbal warnings, since no punitive action is taken.
• Discharge, since the department reserves the right to terminate employment in accordance with the corporate bylaws.
• Basic management rights such as, but not limited to, the right to manage, direct, assign, and promote employees, and determine staffing patterns and tasks to be performed.
• The absence of, or disagreement with, an existing policy, rule, or procedure.

Informal Resolution

Within one week of the time that the employee knows, or should know, of a conflict, the employee has a duty to make his supervising officer aware that a specific problem exists in order to afford him an opportunity to remedy the matter. Similarly, the officer is responsible for addressing the employee's concerns and responding to the employee within one week. This step of the process should be conducted verbally.

When an informal resolution is not successful or satisfactory, an employee may initiate a formal complaint by means of the following procedure.

Steps of the Conflict Resolution Procedure

First Step: Supervising Officer

The first step of a formal conflict resolution must be initiated within one week following notice to the employee that the matter cannot be resolved informally.

The employee shall submit written notice of the conflict to the supervising officer, stating the specific complaint, facts in support of the employee's position, and the relief requested.The supervisor shall consider the facts and circumstances of the conflict. He shall then, in writing, grant, deny, or propose a modification to the requested relief within one week following receipt of the employee's written notice. This response shall include notice of the employee's right to pursue the conflict resolution to the second step.

If the conflict involves a situation that is not under the control of the supervising officer, the employee may skip step one.

Second Step: Fire Chief

If the first step response is unsatisfactory, the employee may submit a second step notice of conflict to the fire chief in writing within one week of receipt of the first step response. The second step notice must state the specific complaint, the facts supporting the employee's position, and the specific relief requested.

The fire chief shall consider the facts and circumstances of the conflict and may develop additional facts as deemed necessary. He shall then, in writing, grant, deny, or propose a modification to the requested relief within one week following receipt of the second step notice of conflict. The response from the fire chief shall include advice to the employee of his right to pursue the conflict resolution to the third step.

Third Step: Conflict Resolution Hearing

If the second step response is unsatisfactory, the employee may submit in writing a third step notice of conflict within one week to the fire chief who then will convene a hearing board within one week of receipt of the third step notice. The third step notice must include whether a lawyer will be present and what witnesses are to be called. It must also include exactly what is the basis of the conflict; that is, which departmental rule, policy or procedure has been violated, misinterpreted or misapplied or, if there is an allegation of discrimination, what is the basis of that. The hearing board will include a firefighter, an officer, the fire chief, and a member of the board of directors, unless the fire chief is a party to the conflict, in which case he will not serve on the board.

Rules and Procedure Governing the Hearing

1. Witnesses appearing at the hearing shall present testimony and be questioned regarding their direct knowledge of relevant facts. Each witness shall be admitted to the hearing room only at the time his or her testimony is requested, and shall hold himself or herself available for testimony during the time the hearing is in progress unless excused earlier by the chairperson. Witnesses should appear in person to present evidence; however, if circumstances prevent their personal appearance, written statements may be obtained and used as evidence.
2. The hearing is closed to the public.
3. The hearing shall be recorded.
4. The board may impose reasonable restrictions on the participants that are necessary to assure the orderly presentation and resolution of the conflict, such as restrictions on the length of witness testimony and redundant statements.
5. All department employees are expected to appear and offer testimony at any administrative hearing to which they are called as a witness by either party to the dispute.
6. Employees who request a conflict resolution hearing shall represent themselves and present their own cases to the panel of the hearing board. They may be accompanied by an advisor, however.
7. An employee may have an attorney present at the hearing at his or her own expense, but only if the third-step notice included the employee's intention to use one. The attorney may advise the employee, but the attorney may not address the panel, question witnesses, or otherwise present the employee's case. In the event an employee chooses to have an attorney present at the hearing, the department representative may also have an attorney for advice and counsel, but the same restrictions which apply to an employee's attorney would be applied to the attorney advising a department representative. The department is not responsible for any cost or expense incurred by the employee in consulting or engaging a lawyer or other representative in relation to the conflict resolution.
8. Relevant evidence of the sort that reasonable people rely upon in the conduct of their business affairs shall be admissible at the hearing and relied upon by the panel.
9. The board findings shall be made on the basis that the facts found and relied upon are more likely than not to be true.
10. The board may make other rules or develop other procedures necessary to ensure an orderly, fair, and impartial hearing.
11. The fire chief serves as chairman of the hearing board unless the employee's conflict is with him; in which case, the board of trustees member serves as chair and the fire chief does not sit on the hearing board, the number of the hearing board being reduced from four to three.
12. The board will submit its ruling in writing to the parties of the conflict within one week of the hearing.

The decision of the hearing board is final and concludes the conflict resolution procedure.

General Provisions

No person shall use or threaten to use his or her official authority to influence in any manner or to discourage the use of the conflict resolution procedure.

The time limits specified herein may be extended by agreement of both parties to the conflict or at the discretion of the fire chief.

4. EFFECTIVE DATE

4/18/2000