HR says grievance ordinance will be revised to meet NC statute timelines and streamline appeals

HR Director Emily Provance outlined proposed changes to the city's grievance ordinance to ensure compliance with North Carolina statutory timelines and to make the process more efficient and accessible to employees. Provance said the code currently does not align with the statute's requirement and that the proposed ordinance reduces procedural steps so grievances will generally go directly to department directors with an appeal to the city manager and, for classified service members, an appeal path to the Civil Service Board.

Provance detailed the new timeline: 15 calendar days from an incident to file a grievance, five days for a director to hold a meeting and five days to issue a written decision, seven days to appeal to the city manager, and timelines for Civil Service Board appeals. She said HR and legal will coordinate a communication plan and publish an administrative grievance policy when the ordinance is adopted; the ordinance is scheduled for August 25.