(c)    An employee complaining about a job performance review may complain directly to the employee's department head and if the employee, department head, and supervisor cannot reach agreement, the human resources director will attempt to conciliate the matter. If the human resources director's recommendation does not resolve the problem, all documentation shall be forwarded to the city manager for final determination.

    (d)     All other grievances or complaints must be taken to the person who issued the discipline . Unresolved grievances or complaints will proceed through the department's chain of command as established by the department head.

(1)     Grievances or complaints must be taken to the person who issued the discipline within seven (7) working days following knowledge of the occurrence of the problem. If possible, the grievance or complaint should be settled at this level through discussions with the involved parties. If informal discussions do not resolve the issue, the employee may sign and submit a written grievance or complaint to the human resources department within this same seven-day time period. The human resources department shall assign the grievance or complaint a number for tracking purposes and immediately forward it to the relevant supervisor. The written grievance or complaint must describe specific circumstances and state the remedial action requested. The person who issued the discipline shall have five (5) working days from receipt of the grievance or complaint to respond in writing.

(2)    If step (1) does not resolve the situation, the employee may forward the grievance or complaint to the next supervisory level within five (5) working days following receipt of the supervisor's response. Each supervisor shall have five (5) working days to respond in writing except that when a grievance or complaint is referred to the department head, the department head shall have seven (7) working days to respond.

(3)    If step (2) does not satisfactorily resolve the grievance or complaint, the employee or department head may forward all written documentation concerning the case to the director for assistance within five (5) working days following step (2). The director will provide a  response to the parties involved within seven (7) working days of receipt of the request.

Organized employee groups may arrange to modify this step, allowing the negotiating teams an opportunity to meet and resolve the grievance or complaint. The city's representative would be the director, and the duly authorized and recognized employee representative(s) would represent the employee(s). If the negotiating teams do not resolve the  grievance or complaint, the documentation may be forwarded directly to the city manager or in cases of suspensions, dismissals, or disciplinary demotions, to the personnel advisory board pursuant to section 19-239.

    (4)    Unresolved grievances or complaints involving concerns other than suspensions, dismissals, or disciplinary demotions may be filed with the city manager's office within seven (7) working days of receipt of the director's response. The city manager shall render a decision within fifteen (15) working days, and this decision shall be final and binding.

    (5)    Prior to the expiration of reply deadlines set out herein, the human resources director may,  under reasonable circumstances, grant extensions to such deadlines.

    (6)    Grievances or complaints which are not specifically resolved and not continued by the employee within the aforementioned time sequences shall be considered as satisfied and not subject to further consideration. Grievance or complaint responses by duly authorized management representatives which are contrary to established time sequences shall automatically proceed to the next higher authority or step in the grievance/complaint procedure.

    (7)     Employees may, at their discretion, give written permission on a form to be provided by the human resources department to be represented at any stage of the grievance or complaint procedure by representatives of their choosing. A represented employee shall participate fully at all stages of the grievance.  All documents and other submissions by employee’s representative shall be read and signed by the employee to verify that submission is truthful and accurate.   Employees and their representatives may, with the permission of their supervisors, be granted time off with pay for the purpose of necessary discussions and conferences with city supervisors and administrators relating to the resolution of specific grievances and complaints.