Transcript Effective Grievance Procedures in Local Government

Red Tape, Green Tape & Grievance Policy
in Local Government
Leisha DeHart-Davis, UNC-School of Government
Research Overview
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Importance of Grievance Policy
Research Questions
Research Design
Results
Recommendations
Next Steps
Importance of Grievance Policy
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Manage legal risk
Data
Fairness
Employee voice
Potential conflict resolution
Research Questions
 How common are grievance
policies & rates?
 How are grievance policies
designed?
 What factors influence
grievance rates?
 How do grievances affect local
government organizations?
Research Design
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NC cities and counties
Research-for-training swap
Interviews
Surveys
– Online Qualtrics survey
– 78% county response rate
– 19% city response rate
How Common Are Grievance Policies?
 Almost all counties
 84% of responding
cities
– 40% have just cause
standard for termination
How Many Grievances Were Filed?
 Average 1%-2% of
workforce grieves
 Average 4 weeks to
resolve
 Wrongful termination
most common
How Are Grievance Policies Designed?
 Retaliation protection
 Opportunity for employee
to provide evidence
 Maximum timeframes
 Purpose of grievance policy
How Are Grievance Policies Designed?
 Peer review committees
(25%)
 Mediation (62%)
 Bypass supervisor (62%)
Key Findings
 Lack of basic HR data
 GrievanceTurnover
 Training 
– Upheld decisions
– Departmental resolution
Key Findings
 Employee
surveys/performance
appraisalsgrievances
 Grievance policies effective,
sometimes not understood
 Policy revisions correlate with
perceptions of better
grievance policies
Grievance-Related Innovations
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Mediation
Ombuds
Zero-Fault Grievances
Employee-Driven Policy Design
Recommendations
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Collect HR data
Periodically revise grievance policy
Train
Employee-centered workplace
Limitations of the Research
 Small sample and item response size
 Correlation≠causation
 Generalizability to union settings
Questions Raised By Research
 Are grievance processes really conflict
resolvers?
 Does mediation truly have no affect on
grievance outcomes?
 What key outlets for employee voice are most
effective for reducing grievance?
Questions About Research