1. Employee Grievances School Investigations & Job Descriptions
What Charter School Leaders Should Know

3. Introduction This session will:
Review common scenarios that can be avoided with a good grievance policy/procedure, well- communicated;
Describe components of a quality grievance policy/procedure;
Overview how to properly conduct a workplace investigation;
Review best practices for drafting quality job descriptions – and why it matters.
Introduction

4. Grievance Policy Scenario 1
Mr. Farmer does not get along with Mr. Williams. For over 6 months the two of them have had personality conflicts and disagreements over issues, big and small. Mr. Farmer meets with an assistant principal over the grade level he and Mr. Williams teaches, and spends an hour telling the AP all about it. The AP offers to do a mediation between the two to help them work out their differences.
A month goes by and nothing is scheduled.
One day Mr. Williams makes a comment to Mr. Farmer and he loses it. He marches into the Principal’s office and spends an hour and a half telling the principal all about it. In the end the principal tells Mr. Farmer to go and meet with the Assistant Principal to discuss the matter. Mr. Farmer says, oh… I already did.
Grievance Policy Scenario 1

5. Grievance Policy Scenario 2
Ms. Farmer has been Googling, and she believes that the health insurance coverage she is being provided with is not ACA compliant. She decides she wants to do something about, so she s a member of the school board to complain that the school is breaking the law. The school board member is busy and never responds. At the next board meeting, Ms. Farmer signs up for public comment and begins to accuse the school and the board of breaking the law with regards to ACA and ignoring her inquiries into the matter.
The school’s attorney is at the meeting and is able to explain to Ms. Farmer why the school’s insurance is ACA compliant. Ms. Farmer is satisfied and everyone calms down.
Grievance Policy Scenario 2

6. Grievance Policy Scenario 3
Ms. Farmer is being sexually harassed by the school principal. She looks in the employee handbook and it says that the principal will be the final decision-maker in all grievances or complaints, including complaints about sexual harassment. She needs her job, so she decides not to say anything to anyone.
Grievance Policy Scenario 3

7. Important Components of Grievance Policy
MAKE SURE IT IS WELL COMMUNICATED
First step, address the issue with those directly involved or with those most likely to provide the desired outcome.
Formal grievance procedure, with a form, explaining how working with those directly involved didn’t produce satisfactory outcome.
Chain-of-command process.
A plan and written outcome at the end of each step that the grievant can “appeal” to the next level.
Specified timelines.
Ability to circumvent certain steps if individual is part of the complaint. If head of the school, the complaint goes to the Board.
Board should have an opportunity to review any complaint.
Process?
Board decision is final, or head of school’s decision if Board doesn’t review.
Process must be as confidential as possible
Important Components of Grievance Policy

8. Conducting Workplace Investigations
Types of investigations:
Discrimination complaints
Harassment complaints
Co-worker conflicts
Violence/Threats against others
Violations of work rules
Safety concerns
Theft/illegal activity
Make sure you conduct an investigation!
Conducting Workplace Investigations

9. Components of Investigations
Select an investigator
Knowledgeable about state and federal laws and/or school policies
Can be in-house if there are no conflicts
Not close to either party
Ability to be neutral
Seeking an outside investigator in certain circumstances
Serious accusation
Involves high-level person
No one on staff is familiar with law in question
No one on staff is detached enough from people involved
Investigator prepares
Reviews complaint/evidence/record
Develops a likely witness list
Develops questions – Make sure you, at least, ask the questions that need to be asked.
Components of Investigations

10. Components of Investigations
Meet with the accused.
Provide light details about the accusation.
Warn against retaliation.
Inform him/her that they will have an opportunity to defend or tell their side of the story.
Interview complainant
Assure them there won’t be any retaliation.
Ask questions about the complaint, in different ways, confirm and re- confirm if all of the elements of misconduct have been met.
Ask for a witness list; who are the most important witnesses.
Interview witnesses
Interview the accused
Re-interview as necessary
Draft a report
Summary of complaint.
Summary of facts not in dispute.
Summary of disputed facts; how disputed? Various testimonies.
Analyze each element of each claim.
Draw conclusions.
Refrain from making recommendations.
Components of Investigations

11. Components of Investigations
Interview Tips
start the interviews ASAP after incident
hold individual interviews to uphold confidentiality and minimize peer pressure
Inform witnesses that they can’t be retaliated against; help them feel comfortable
maintain objectivity/poker-face
take good notes, or record if appropriate
hold the interview in a private, quiet location
never promise absolute confidentiality (because the company may have to release documents and names of witnesses due to legal requirements), but go ahead and tell witnesses that the school will do its utmost to protect employees' privacy unless forced by a court or agency order to do otherwise
do not interrupt witnesses while they are coming out with relevant information
start out with general questions, then graduate to more closely-focused questions to pin witnesses down on the details
repeat important questions, but with different wording, to see whether the witness sticks with the same answer
avoid confrontational or accusatory questions
pay attention to witnesses' body language
use silence after a question as a technique to encourage reticent witnesses to start talking - people often feel a need to "fill in" periods of silence
be ready with follow-up questions if needed
Components of Investigations

12. Job Descriptions Why even have them? Crucial piece of evidence:
Discrimination
ADA
Misclassification
Not Dispositive
Job Descriptions

13. Job title. Develop a job title that accurately reflects the nature of the position. There is no value, from a legal perspective, to inflating an employee’s job title to make it sound more important than it is. For example, don’t label an employee as a “director” unless they are genuinely overseeing a substantive program, potentially supervising other employees, and have autonomy to make certain decisions without seeking approval. It is also a best practice to have uniformity in job titles for similar positions.
Job Descriptions

14. Exempt/Non-Exempt. Include if the position is exempt (generally means salary, no overtime) or non-exempt (generally means hourly, with overtime) from the Fair Labor Standards Act. Be sure that the position meets the criteria for exemption, if it is being treated as such.
Job Descriptions

15. Job title. Develop a job title that accurately reflects the nature of the position. There is no value, from a legal perspective, to inflating an employee’s job title to make it sound more important than it is. For example, don’t label an employee as a “director” unless they are genuinely overseeing a substantive program, potentially supervising other employees, and have autonomy to make certain decisions without seeking approval. It is also a best practice to have uniformity in job titles for similar positions.
Job Descriptions

16. Schedule. Include whether the job is a 10 month position (just during the school year, with summers off) or a 12 month position. Also, include whether or not the position is part-time or full-time.
Job Descriptions

17. Job summary. Draft a “position summary” or “overview” that describes what the real essence of the job will be, and what the employee can expect their role to be on a day to day basis and how it interacts with the rest of the organization. A good question to think of when drafting this paragraph is “Why does this job exist?”
Job Descriptions

18. Essential Functions. Develop a list of the “Essential Function, Responsibilities, and Duties” of the job. It is important to focus on the truly essential functions of the job, not “What-ifs” or hypotheticals.
The general rule of thumb is that if it will take less than 5% of the employee’s time, then it is not essential, unless that small task truly is necessary to complete the job.
It is also typical to list the essential functions in descending order, starting with the most important first.
If there is ever a discrimination claim brought, the complainant will need to prove that they can perform all of the essential functions of the job, which is why this can become crucial. However, there is no legal benefit to being superfluous in this list, as a judge or hearing officer will still toss out items on the list if it appears the employer was just trying to list everything under the sun to protect itself, when really many of the items were not “essential” to performance of the job.
It is important to be thoughtful and genuine when making this list. Only list things that are critical to the successful performance of the job.
Job Descriptions

19. Minimum requirements. Include minimum required skills, which are truly a minimum for getting the job, meaning a candidate who does not meet these requirements will not be hired. A best practice is to think of this as three separate areas:
1) Academic Skills (degrees, certifications, evidence of content area mastery, etc.);
2) Behavioral Skills (time management, leadership, experience managing others, etc.); and
3) Physical Skills (ability to lift 20 pounds, prolonged sitting/standing, communication, etc.)
Job Descriptions

20. Preferred skills. Optionally, you can include preferred skills that aren’t absolute requirements for the job, like the minimum required skills, but that go above and beyond the minimum requirements and articulate the skills that a model candidate would possess.
Job Descriptions

21. Salary and benefits. It is a good practice to include information about salary and benefits, including PTO, so that there is no confusion, or potential claims of discrimination, about what the compensation for the position is planned to be from the outset.
Job Descriptions