Section One. Definition. Grievance. A grievance is defined as, and limited to, a written complaint involving an alleged violation of or a dispute involving the application or interpretation of a specific provision of this Agreement inclusive of letters of understanding entered into by the State and Union as clarification of cited contractual provisions.

Section Two. Format. Grievances shall be filed on mutually agreed forms which specify: (a) the facts; (b) the issues; (c) the date of the violation alleged; (d) the controlling contract provision; and/or letter of understanding; and (e) the remedy or relief sought.

A grievance may be amended up to the time of filing at Step 2 of the grievance procedure as long as the factual basis of the complaint is not materially altered.

Section Three. Grievant. A Union representative, with or without the aggrieved employee, may submit a grievance, and the Union may in appropriate cases submit an "institutional" or "general" grievance in it’s own behalf. When individual employee(s) or group of employees elect(s) to submit a grievance without Union representation, the union’s representative or steward shall be notified of the pending grievance, shall be provided a copy thereof, and shall have the right to be present at any discussions of the grievance, except that if the employee does not wish to have the steward present, the steward shall not attend the meeting but shall be provided

with a copy of the written response to the grievance. The steward shall be entitled to receive from the employer all documents pertinent to the disposition of the grievance and to file statements of position.

Section Four. Informal Resolutions. The grievance procedure outlined herein is designed to facilitate resolution of disputes at the lowest possible level of the procedure. It is therefore urged that the parties attempt informal resolution of all disputes and to avoid the formal procedures.

Section Five. A grievance shall be deemed waived unless submitted at Step I within thirty (30) days from the date of the cause of the grievance or within thirty (30) days from the date the grievant or any Union representative or steward knew or through reasonable diligence should have known of the cause of the grievance.

Step 1. A grievance may be submitted within the thirty (30) day period specified in Section Five to the agency head or his/her designee. Within fourteen (14) days after receipt of the grievance a conference will be scheduled with the employee and his/her representative and a written response shall be issued within five (5) days after the conference is held. The grievance may be appealed to Step 2 if no conference has been held within twenty-five (25) days of submission to Step 1.

Step 2. All proceedings at Step 2 and/or Step 3, held hereunder, shall be deemed confidential and closed to the public unless the parties mutually agree otherwise. An unresolved grievance may be appealed to the Office of Labor Relations within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the Step 1 response. The Office of Labor Relations shall hold a conference within forty-five (45) days of receipt of the grievance and issue a written response within fifteen (15) days of the conference.

Step 3. Arbitration. Within ten (10) working days after the state’s answer is due at Step 2, or if no conference is held at Step 2, within ten (10) working days after the expiration of the forty-five (45) period an provided in Step 2 an unresolved grievance may be submitted to arbitration by the Union, but not by an individual employee(s), except that individual employees may submit to arbitration in cases of dismissal, demotion or suspension of five (5) or more working days.

Section Seven. For the purpose of the time limits hereunder, "days" shall mean calendar days unless otherwise specified. The parties by mutual agreement may extend time limits or waive any or all of the steps hereinbefore cited.

Section Eight. In the event that the State employer fails to answer a grievance within the time specified, the grievance may be processed to the next higher level and the same time limits therefore shall apply as if the State employer’s answer had been timely filed on the last day.

The grievant assents to the last attempted resolution by failing timely to appeal said decision or by accepting said decision in writing.

Section Nine. Arbitration. (a) Submission to arbitration shall be by certified or registered letter from the grievant to the State (Office of Labor Relations). The parties shall establish a permanent panel of mutually acceptable arbitrators from which a single arbitrator will be selected to hear and render a decision on each grievance submitted to arbitration. By mutual agreement, grievances may be combined and submitted to a single arbitrator.

In cases involving the dismissal or demotion of an employee, the arbitrator shall be contacted within twenty (20) days of the request for arbitration and must be available to schedule the beginning hearing within forty-five (45) days of his/her appointment. In all other cases, the arbitrator will be contacted within thirty (30) days of the request and an

arbitration schedule shall be arranged. If the arbitrator selected is not available to schedule the hearing in a timely fashion the next arbitrator in rotation shall be selected. The expenses for the arbitrator’s service and for the hearing shall be shared equally by the State and the Union, or in dismissal or suspension cases when the union is not a party one-half the cost shall be borne by the State and the other half by the party submitting to arbitration. The Office of Labor Relations shall provide to the Union upon request a monthly summary of the arbitrator designations and the cases offered/scheduled with each.

On grievances when arbitrability has been raised as an issue the arbitration shall be bifurcated at the demand of either party. In such cases separate arbitrators may be utilized to hear the arbitrability issue and the merits in the event the case is determined to be arbitrable.

(b) The arbitration hearing shall not follow the formal rules of evidence unless the parties agree in advance, with the concurrence of the arbitrator at or prior to the time of his/her appointment.

In cases of dismissals, demotions or suspensions in excess of five (5) days, either party may request the arbitrator maintain a cassette recording of the hearing testimony. Costs of transcription shall be borne by the requesting party. A party requesting a stenographic transcript shall arrange for the stenographer and pay the cost thereof.

The State will continue its practice of paid leave time for witnesses of either party.

(c) The arbitrator shall have no power to add to, subtract from, alter, or modify this Agreement, nor to grant to either party matters which were not obtained in the bargaining process, nor to impose any remedy or right of relief for any period of time prior to the effective date of the Agreement, nor to grant pay retroactivity for more than thirty (30) calendar days prior to the

date a grievance was submitted at Step 1. The arbitrator shall render his/her decision in writing no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the conclusion of the hearing unless the parties jointly agree otherwise the arbitrator’s decision shall be final and binding on the parties in accordance with the Connecticut General Statutes Section 52-418, provided, however, neither the submission of question of arbitrability to any arbitrator in the first instance nor any voluntary submission shall be deemed to diminish the scope of the judicial review over arbitral awards, including awards on arbitrability, nor to restrict the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction to construe any such award as contravening the public interest.

(d) Late Arbitration Awards. On those cases in which an arbitrator fails without permission of the parties to render a decision within the contractual time limits: the award shall be void, the arbitrator shall be dropped from the panel and the arbitrator shall not be paid.

Section Ten. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this Agreement, the following matters shall be subject to the grievance procedure but not subject to arbitration:

(a) Disputes over an employees job classification (reclassification grievances);

(b) compliance with health and safety standards and COSHA except where specifically mandated by this Agreement.

(c) disputes over claimed unlawful discrimination in violation of Article 3 (Non-Discrimination Affirmative Action), Section 1 (Non-Discrimination) shall be subject to the grievance procedure but shall not be arbitrable in any case where the Human Rights Commission has asserted jurisdiction;

The following matters shall not be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure.

(a) the decision to lay off employees;

(b) classification and pay grade for newly created jobs; however, this clause shall not diminish the Unions right to negotiate on pay grades, hours of work and working conditions;

(c) dismissal of employees during the initial working test period;

(d) non-disciplinary termination of employment.

Section Eleven. The existing procedures for handling appeal of rejection from admission to examination and disputes over reclassification shall remain in force, except that the final step of the reclassification procedure shall be the same as the final step of the appeal of rejection from admission to examination.

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