(A) Any employee who believes that he or she has been aggrieved by any act or decision of the county may file a complaint with their department head within ten working days of the incident in accordance with the following procedure.
(1) An aggrieved person shall submit a written statement on the county grievance form to the department head setting forth the nature of the grievance and facts upon which the allegation is based. The written statement must be submitted within ten working days of the alleged grievance.
(2) The department head shall contact the complainant no later than ten working days after receiving the written statement to establish meeting with the objective of resolving the matter informally. However, in no case shall the informal meeting be conducted sooner than five working days nor more than 30 calendar days after receiving the written statement. There shall be prepared written documentation of the discussions at the informal meeting, which shall be preserved in the file of the employee.
(3) Within five working days of the informal meeting, if no decision has been made by the department head or the decision of the department head does not satisfy the complainant, he or she may request a meeting with the County Judge/Executive or a designee by submitting a written request.
(4) In this discussion of the grievance, the complainant may appear with counsel and participate in the discussion. The County Judge/Executive shall require the department head to participate in the discussion of the grievance, when it is brought before the County Judge/Executive. The County Judge/Executive shall issue a written decision on the matter within ten working days. Written documentation of the discussion at the meeting shall be preserved in the file of the employee.
(5) If the decision of the County Judge/Executive does not satisfy the complainant, he or she may request a hearing before the Executive Committee within five working days of the County Judge/Executive’s decision. The complainant may appear with counsel and participate in the discussion. The Executive Committee shall require the department head to participate in the discussion of the grievance.
(B) The decision of the Executive Committee shall be final. All complaints received by the department head and responses from the department head, the County Judge/Executive and the Executive Committee shall be kept by the county in the complainant’s personnel file.
(Ord. 4-2014, passed 7-31-2014, § 3.63)