The first and best thing you can do is to connect them with CASE Staff right away. CASE’s professional staff is comprised of seasoned professionals with decades of experience enforcing the MOU and resolving workplace problems.

You can always help members get to know the MOU a little better. When a member believes they have a grievance, take a moment to review the MOU to see if there’s an article covering the issue. Did your department fail to pay the appropriate amount for local bar dues? Unit 2 employees are guaranteed a specific amount of bar dues reimbursement under Article 12.8 of the CASE MOU. Dues are an express term of the contract, so this issue is grievable. You can also advise the member to collect all relevant documents (like their initial email or TEC requesting dues reimbursement and their supervisor’s per personnel analyst’s email denying the payment). The more written evidence we have, the stronger the grievance will be.

BUT, CASE staff have worked long and hard to forge relationships with state labor relations professionals at every department where CASE members work. This means we can often resolve issues without ever having to file a grievance – which usually saves a lot of time and ensures members get what they are owed much sooner. This is another reason why we encourage you to connect the member with CASE Staff as soon as possible: if we can resolve the issue with a phone call, then you (or the member) don’t need to draft a thing. 

Yes! Just like most legal actions, the grievance process comes with its own “statutes of limitation” under the MOU.  Article 7 of the CASE MOU lays out the four-step grievance process. Here’s the timeline:

• • Informal Discussion (Article 7.6): This is the informal step requiring an employee to discuss their problem with their supervisor. A supervisor has 14 days to give the employee a response. Usually, this step has happened without an employee even noticing. It can be the first time they ask for their bar dues reimbursement, for example. When they hear “no,” they are prompted to come to you or to reach out to CASE Staff.
    
    
  • Step 1 (Article 7.7): This is the first formal step in the process. If the informal response from the supervisor isn’t satisfactory, a formal grievance can be filed within 21 days after receiving the unsatisfactory informal response OR 30 calendar days after the employee can reasonably be expected to known or have known of the event occasioning the grievance. Grievances must be filed on a CalHR Form 630. The department has 30 days to respond.
    
    
  •  Step 2 (Article 7.8): If the Step 1 response is still unsatisfactory, the grievance can be appealed to the department head or designee within 21 calendar days. The department has 30 days to respond.
    
    
  •  Step 3 (Article 7.9): If the Step 2 response doesn’t cut it, the grievance can be appealed to CalHR within 21 days. CalHR must respond within 30 days.
    
    
  •  Step 4 (Article 7.11): If the CalHR response is unsatisfactory, CASE can submit the grievance to arbitration within 30 days of the receipt of the CalHR response (or 30 days from when that response was due, if not mutually extended).
    
    
  •  Arbitration (Article 7.11): Arbitration is not guaranteed for every grievance, even if the grievant isn’t satisfied with the CalHR response. Arbitration – like any litigation – can be costly and comes with uncertain outcomes and certain risks. The CASE Board approves matters to proceed to arbitration. Settlement is always possible and, as  you know, can be a desirable, certain outcome as well.
    
    
  •  Special Kinds of Grievances: The CASE MOU also contains specific provisions for Health and Safety Grievances (Article 7.12), which, because of their nature demand expedited timelines, and Out-of-Class Grievances (Article 15.3). Health and Safety issues should be brought to the attention of CASE Staff as soon as possible. Out-of-Class Grievances are described in greater detail below.
    
    

It’s not uncommon for CASE and the State to grant extensions to either party at various points in the grievance process. Though it may seem counterintuitive, extensions can lead to a speedier, positive result, as the parties work to resolve the issue. As we’ve mentioned several times, a basic grievance running according to the timelines in the MOU could take over 4 months just to get through the process (without even considering the wait time to get on an arbitrator’s schedule and receive a decision). This is another reason to involve CASE Staff early when there’s a potential MOU dispute. Resolving issues favorably without ever having to start this process is a win for the member.

If we haven’t made the point enough times yet: another advantage of connecting members to CASE staff as soon as possible: we can identify emerging problems at departments across offices or regions, or emerging problems across departments. Rather than file many separate grievances, sometimes it makes more sense to file a grievance for “all similarly situated” employees – this ensures no one is left behind.

Yes, it is – and Out-of-Class grievances have some special rules attached. First, in addition to the CalHR Form 630, employees also need to complete a Form 651 which asks specific questions about their job description and the work they are preforming. It can be helpful to provide the Form 651 to employees as you send them on to CASE Staff (who will ask them to complete the form). Out-of-Class Grievances are covered in Article 15.3. Working out of class is defined as spending more than 50% of one’s time over the course of at least 2 consecutive work weeks performing the duties and responsibilities that are solely contemplated in the higher-level classification. Duties that overlap with an employee’s current class don’t count towards that calculation.

No, any employee has the right to file a grievance on their own behalf. The right to arbitrate a dispute, however, lies solely with CASE since the outcome of arbitrations can impact every Unit 2 employee. But while anyone can go it alone on a grievance, we always recommend contacting CASE. As mentioned previously, CASE staff can frequently resolve issues without ever filing a grievance and, even if that’s not possible, why not take advantage of the professional staff with expertise in this area? Especially if you’re a dues-paying member, this service is part of your member benefits.

The Unit 2 MOU covers all Unit 2 employees, regardless of membership status. Because it is in CASE’s interest to ensure the MOU is being correctly applied, CASE assists members and non-members alike when it comes to MOU enforcement issues. We encourage any Unit 2 employee with MOU concerns to contact CASE.

Supervisor and Manager Members (and only members) can contact CASE staff for assistance with an Excluded Employee Grievance (CalHR Form 631). While the Unit 2 MOU does not apply to Supervisors and Manager, they still have specified rights under statute, regulation, and CalHR policy. Unlike rank-and-file Unit 2 employees, however, ONLY Supervisor and Manager members will get expert help from CASE Staff.

Not exactly. There is not express contract term requiring supervisors or anyone in your chain of command to be better at supervising or managing, or to be nice or kind. If they violate an express term of the MOU, the grievance lies in that deviation from what is required. Grievances are filed against the State, not against individuals personally.

If a supervisor is treating someone differently based on their status in a protected class, the individual experiencing the harm should contact their department’s EEO Office, the California Civil Rights Department, or the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and explore available complaint processes. CASE does not provide representation for the filing of complaints.

A complaint is a dispute between the State and CASE involving the application or interpretation of a written rule or policy not covered by the MOU and not under the State Personnel Board’s jurisdiction (Article 7.2(B)). While CalHR has a complaint form, it can only be elevated to the department level.