Local Governments Must Now Provide Grievance Process for All Employees
2011-06/29 Dean R. Dietrich Printer Friendly PDF Version

Wisconsin Act 10 has become effective as of June 29, 2011.  One of the new provisions in Wisconsin Act 10 that impacts all local government units (cities, villages, counties, towns and school districts) is the adoption of Section 66.0509 of the Wisconsin Statutes.  While this statutory provision is found under the municipal law statutes, it covers all local government units, which include “a political subdivision of this state, a special purpose district in this state, an agency or corporation of a political subdivision or special purpose district . . . ”.

Under this new statute, a local government unit must establish a grievance system not later than October 1, 2011.  The local government unit can adopt a grievance system either as a civil service system under authorized law or establish a grievance procedure that may be used by all employees of the local government unit.  It is strongly recommended that a grievance procedure be established as required by the statute instead of adopting civil service requirements. 

Under Section 66.0509 (1m) (c) of the new statute, a grievance procedure must contain a procedure that addresses (1) employee terminations, (2) employee discipline, and (3) workplace safety.  It is recommended that the grievance procedure contain a definition of what constitutes workplace safety because of the lack of clarity about this topic.  It is also recommended that the grievance procedure clearly indicate that an employee is to continue to work while processing a grievance involving workplace safety unless there is a clear and present danger to the health or safety of the employee.

Under Section 66.0509 (1m) (d), the grievance procedure must contain all of the following elements:

“1.       A written document specifying the process that a grievant and an employer must follow;

  2.       (Procedures for) a hearing before an impartial hearing officer;

  3.       An appeal process in which the highest level of appeal is the governing body of the local
            government unit.”
 

Local governments may want to consider the grievance process that existed in a now-expired labor agreement and echo some of the provisions of that grievance process.  The area of most concern is the selection of “an impartial hearing officer.”  There is no requirement that the impartial hearing officer be an attorney or labor arbitrator although that appears to be a readily available source for finding an impartial hearing officer.  Individuals from the community or local representatives other than employees of the local government unit could be designated as the impartial hearing officer.  Another alternative is the American Arbitration Association and similar dispute resolution organizations that provide a list of arbitrators that would serve as impartial hearing officer.  It is also important for the local government unit to identify the standard that would apply when an impartial hearing officer conducts a hearing to address the grievance that has been filed by the employee. 

One of the most important elements of this new procedure is that it applies to all local government employees.  There is not a distinction between represented employees and non-represented employees.  Local government units should be addressing this issue and developing a grievance procedure that would be applicable to all employees of their organization.  Ruder Ware attorneys are available to assist with this process.

Please feel free to contact Dean Dietrich, the author of this article, or any of the attorneys in the Local Governments & Municipalities Focus Team, or the School Districts and Educational Institutions Focus Team of Ruder Ware: Steve Immel, Jeff Jones, Steve Lipowski, Randi Osberg, Ron Rutlin, Mary Ellen Schill, Bryan Symes, or Kevin Terry if you have questions in regard to this update.

© 2011 Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C. Accurate reproduction with acknowledgment granted. All rights reserved.
This document provides information of a general nature regarding legislative or other legal developments. None of the information contained herein is intended as legal advice or opinion relative to specific matters, facts, situations, or issues, and additional facts and information or future developments may affect the subjects addressed.