Employee Grievance Policy - Human Resources Policy and Procedures

  1. Back to Policies and Procedures Page
  1. Purpose
    1. To provide policy and procedures to ensure fair treatment for Davis Technical College (College) employees who seek to resolve work-related grievances. This grievance policy in no way changes the at-will status of College employee nor does it confer employee rights upon any employee of the College.
  2. References
    1. Utah System of Higher Education Policy and Procedure R831, Minimum Requirements for Non-Faculty Staff Employment Grievances Policy
  3. Definitions
    1. Grievance - A complaint by a College employee concerning interpretation or application of personnel policies or practices; working conditions; disciplinary sanctions, or termination or non-retention, or other personnel matters. Certain employment issues not eligible for employee grievances include position descriptions, classification of positions, and establishment of salaries commensurate with classifications.
    2. Final and Binding Decision - A final administrative decision. The complainant cannot take the matter any further administratively.
    3. Final and Binding Decision-Maker - The President or cognizant Vice President of the College, or their designee, empowered to render the final decision of the College. If the grievance is against a College Vice President, or a member of the College President’s Office, the final and binding decision maker is the College President, or their designee.
    4. Immediate or First-Level Supervisor – The employee’s direct supervisor; the lowest level of exempt salaried supervision of the employee as defined in the Fair Labor Standards Act and Department of Labor regulations.
    5. Grievance Hearing - A meeting before a Grievance Hearing Committee with the purpose of hearing from all parties and gathering information necessary to make a decision.
    6. Human Resource Office - The office or individual in the College charged with the administration and record maintenance of personnel matters, or such other person as may be specially designated by the College President to act as a neutral party to assist with the resolution of grievances at the College.
    7. Grievance Hearing Committee - An ad-hoc committee assembled for the purpose of hearing a grievance. The Associate Vice President of Human Resources, with input from the College President or cognizant Vice President, may assemble the participants of the committee. The committee may be comprised of a minimum of three participants and a chairperson will be appointed. Examples of Grievance Hearing Committee members might include a representative from the Human Resource office, supervisor(s) from within the employee’s supervisory chain of command, or other College employees or administrator(s) deemed to be neutral and familiar with the policy or matter in question.
    8. Employee – A person who receives compensation for work or services from funds controlled by the College, regardless of the source of the funds, the duties of the position, the amount of compensation paid, or the percent of time worked.
    9. Temporary Employee – An employee in a temporary position. A temporary position is one not expected to be available after 12 months. Temporary employees are eligible to bring a civil rights-related grievance under this policy but are otherwise limited to informal discussions under section 4.3. of this policy.
  4. Procedures
    1. It is the policy of the College to engage in open and candid resolution to complaints and grievances.
    2. Retaliation Prohibited - Adverse employment actions taken against any employee who brings forward a grievance under this policy or employees who participate in the grievance process, is prohibited. Retaliation may include intimidation, reprisal, disciplining, changing work assignments, providing inaccurate work information to, or refusing to cooperate or discuss work-related matters with any employee because that employee has taken action or participated in a grievance-related matter.
    3. Informal Discussions with Supervisor – Employees should first attempt to resolve their employment complaints through informal discussions with their immediate supervisor. The Human Resource Office may be available to assist both parties in the informal resolution of complaints. The College Ombuds may also assist with informal resolution of complaints. Reasonable efforts should be made to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement at the lowest level possible. A dated written response may be provided to the employee within a reasonable timeframe following the conclusion of informal discussions which may contain the outcome of informal discussions.
    4. Status of Terminated Employee - In cases where the aggrieved party is a former employee who is grieving their termination, it is to be understood that the former employee’s status will remain terminated unless the College reverses the former employee’s termination at stages 4.3. or 4.8. or unless the termination is overturned by the Final and Binding Decision-maker under section 4.11. This section in no way confers any rights upon the terminated employee.
    5. Grievance Review Process – An employment grievance review process, including appropriate timelines, is available to all employees who are not satisfied with the results of informal discussions under section 4.3.
    6. Standing to Request Grievance Hearing - The employee who originated the complaint under section 4.3. is the employee who may request a Grievance Hearing.
    7. Written Grievance - An aggrieved employee with standing under this policy may request a Grievance Hearing by providing written notice to the Human Resources office or to the employee’s next level supervisor within ten (10) days of the College’s written response under section 4.3. The aggrieved employee’s written grievance should include dates, facts, why the employee disagrees with the application of the policy/practice, the policy or practice in question, preferred outcome…
    8. Pre-Hearing Conference - The Associate Vice President of Human Resources (or their designee) may, at their discretion, request a pre-hearing conference with appropriate parties to the complaint as a further attempt to gather or review information or reach resolution.
    9. Grievance Hearing - A Grievance Hearing may be scheduled with the aggrieved employee. Each party to the complaint shall be notified, has the right to be accompanied at the Grievance Hearing by a support person of their choice. The College Ombuds may also be a support person at the employee’s choosing. This person is not to be considered a representative of the employee. The Committee will hear presentations from each party. The person appointed to be the chairperson of the Grievance Hearing Committee shall be in control of the meeting and shall set all hearing protocols and procedures. The Grievance Hearing Committee has the right to directly address and receive an answer from both parties without interference. The College Ombuds may attend the Grievance Hearing in a capacity to ensure appropriateness of proceedings.
    10. Reasons to Excuse a Committee Member from Participation - A Grievance Hearing Committee member shall be excused from participation by the Associate Vice President of Human Resources (or their designee) at any time if the committee member may be influenced by personal relationships with the parties, by bias concerning the circumstances giving rise to the grievance, or by any other material influence which would appear to inhibit the member's ability to render an unbiased judgment.
    11. Final and Binding Decision – After a Grievance Hearing is held, the Committee shall provide findings and recommendations. Based upon such review and without conducting further meetings, the Final and Binding Decision-maker shall take one of the following actions:
      1. Ratify the Committee's findings and adopt its recommendations.
      2. Return the report to the Committee for reconsideration or clarification.
      3. Reject all or parts of the Committee's findings and recommendations for reasons including, but not limited to:
        1. The Committee's recommendations are not supported by the record, or,
        2. The Committee's recommendations are based on a misinterpretation of applicable law or policy.
      4. Notification of Final Decision - Written notification of the final and binding decision shall be communicated by the Final and Binding Decision-maker to all parties concerned.
      5. Grievance Limitations - An employee may not institute more than one grievance procedure based on the same facts, circumstances, or events.
Policy migration in progress

Davis Tech is in the process of migrating our policies from PDF to HTML format to conform to Title II (ADA) requirements. During this transition period, the latest approved version of the policy is available (below) in pdf format, but may contain ADA Compliance errors.

Printable PDF

Effective Date: 29 May 2025

  • Approvals and Notes
  • Revised Expanded President’s Council Approval: 12 May 2025
  • Board Approval: 01 December 2022
  • Revised Board Approval: 28 June 2018
  • Revised President’s Council Approval: 23 April 2018
  • Revised Board Approval: 22 January 2015
  • Revised Board Approval: 26 January 2006