MONITORING REPORT
2006/2007
POLICY TYPE: EXECUTIVE DIRECTIONS
POLICY TITLE: TREATMENT OF STAFF
POLICY NUMBER: A.030
A review of the data for 2006/2007 related to this policy indicates that the conditions set forth by the board in this policy area have been met for paid and volunteer staff.
With Respect to the treatment of paid and volunteer staff, the president shall:
1. Policy: Operate with written personnel policies that clarify rules for staff, provide for effective handling and redress of grievances, and protect against wrongful conditions.
Report: The College operates within written personnel policies pertaining to wages, hours, and working conditions that are spelled out in the appropriate collective bargaining agreements or in the management working conditions document. Additional information concerning personnel policies and rules is accessible to paid and volunteer staff through the College Online Policy and Procedures System (COPPS). Significant revisions and improvements have been made regarding the personnel policies in COPPS covering payroll and accrued leave guidelines based upon self-serve efficiencies linked to the Banner information system.
The respective collective bargaining agreements and the management working conditions document have provisions for the effective handling and redress of grievances on all mandatory working conditions. The 2006/2007 academic year has been a particularly busy year for union grievance activity. LCCEF has filed and processed over twenty-five (25) formal grievances, with the vast majority of these grievances resolved by mutual agreement. At years’ end, there remain several pending classified grievances and zero of the LCCEF grievances have been referred to arbitration. LCCEA has filed and processed fifteen (15) formal grievances, as well as numerous official information requests during 2006/2007. Most of the LCCEA grievances have been resolved or settled by mutual agreement, with two (2) pending resolution at years’ end. None of the LCCEA grievances has been referred to arbitration. The College has not used outside consultants to process union grievances for the past four (4) academic years. HR and College managers plan to engage both LCCEF and LCCEA leadership during 2007/2008 to enhance practices and protocols that support informal problem solving.
In addition to the formal collective bargaining agreements, college employees and volunteers are covered by the College’s Sexual Harassment and Racial/Ethnic Harassment Policies. There are both formal complaint processes and informal complaint processes available for employees and volunteers. With regard to informal complaint resolution, the individual chooses not to seek relief under any of the existing formal procedures including grievance, sexual or racial/ethnic harassment.
Formal Processes: Six (6) formal harassment/discrimination/hostile work environment complaints were processed by the College during 2006/2007. One complaint of racial harassment and a second complaint of hostile work environment, plus an alleged ethics violation, were filed against the same staff member. These complaints were investigated by an outside independent fact finder and were resolved via personnel changes.
In addition, three (3) complaints of sexual harassment were filed, two of which also alleged retaliation. All three of these complaints were investigated by an independent fact finder, and the investigations resulted in findings of no sexual harassment and no illegal retaliation. These three complaints also involved union advocacy and were fully resolved via mutual resolutions acceptable to all parties, as well as resulting in a commitment by the College to provide “respectful work environment” training in at least one instructional division, and this training is scheduled for November, 2007. In addition, the College conducted mandatory harassment, discrimination and workplace retaliation risk management training for all Lane managers. The mandatory training for Lane managers occurred on March 16, 2007.
One (1) formal complaint alleged harassment based upon sexual orientation. This complaint was investigated by an independent fact finder and was found to have no substantive basis.
There were zero (0) formal racial/ethnicity/national origin complaints filed or processed against the College through BOLI or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during 2006/2007.
Informal Processes: Eight (8) informal sexual harassment or hostile work environment complaints were filed and processed during 2006/2007. Three (3) of the eight informal sexual harassment/hostile work environment complaints were gender-based. All three were resolved through intervention and dialogue. One (1) of the eight involved potential racial bias and threatening language by a student against a faculty member and this was resolved through the Student Code of Conduct, as well as safety planning for the faculty member. Two (2) of the eight complaints alleged hostile work environment or harassment but did not involve protected class status. These were referred to managers for resolution. One (1) complaint alleged bias based on ethnicity and this was resolved through intervention to prevent future unacceptable behaviors. Finally, one (1) harassment complaint by a staff member alleged harassment by a student and this complaint is pending. Concerning racial/ethnic harassment issues, President Spilde has assigned a responsible College manager or department for implementation of each of the Response Team recommendations from spring 2005, and the President has also directed that the Diversity Council examine the recommendations by the Response Team and that the Diversity Council should make appropriate policy or planning recommendations where necessary and indicated based upon the Response Team recommendations.
In addition to the above, two (2) informal complaints were processed citing offensive comments based upon sexual orientation. One of these two informal complaints was resolved successfully, and the other is in the process of being resolved. Finally, two (2) informal hostile work environment complaints that were not based upon any protected class status were processed and successfully resolved.
The mandatory training conducted with College managers on March 16, 2007, will be expanded during 2007/2008, to inform, train and educate Lane staff concerning appropriate and respectful and behaviorial expectations in the workplace.
There were zero formal and zero informal complaints concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) from staff during 2006/2007. HR staff and all College managers continue diligent efforts to work with employees and volunteers to provide reasonable accommodations for staff with documented medical, disability and health conditions that are covered by the ADA. College employees and volunteers are also protected by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) guidelines and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). To the very best knowledge of HR, no EEOC or BOLI complaints are currently pending.
2. Policy: Never discriminate against any staff member for expressing an ethical dissent.
Report: During the past twelve months there have been no complaints filed by staff citing this condition.
3. Policy: Not prevent staff from addressing the board when internal grievance procedures have been exhausted and the employee alleges that board policy has been violated to his or her detriment. Report: During the past twelve months no staff member has attempted to address the board, or been prevented from doing so, for the reasons noted in this policy.
4. Policy: Operate within a collaborative and participative environment. Report: During the past twelve months the President has continued to implement agreements with all employee groups concerning the College governance model. The governance model incorporates both participative and representative principles, and it is predicated on high levels of collaboration between represented employees and College administrators/managers in the structure and function of the respective governance councils.
In the collective bargaining area, as the Board is aware employees represented by both of the unions and the management steering committee “stepped up” to collaborate in saving the College personnel expenditures and health insurance costs to assist with efforts to balance the FY’08 budget. In addition, labor/management committee meetings have been conducted on a regular basis with leadership from both LCCEA and LCCEF during the entire 2006/2007 academic year.
5. Policy: Acquaint staff with their rights under this policy. Report: During the past twelve months, the President has worked with the responsible managers and the proper governance venues to implement and widely distribute the “You are Protected” posters to alert staff and students concerning College Policies and their rights, as well as to specify to whom allegations and complaints are to be directed. These “You Are Protected” notice posters should be properly and prominently posted in every College building and facility.
New College staff also attend a mandatory new employee orientation conducted by Human Resources that covers everything from wages, hours and working conditions to policies concerning complaints and harassment claims. New employees are informed that Board Policies are accessible through the College’s web site and new employees are specifically instructed how to access employee information and resources through the College’s homepage. It is the responsibility of department/division and program managers to provide volunteers with an orientation to the College and to their rights and responsibilities as volunteers at the College.
6. Policy: Makes results a measure of staff success. Report: The accreditation follow-up visit in spring 2007 went extremely well with acknowledgement from the review committee that Lane has made significant progress consistent with the accreditation recommendation on assessment, as well as noting progress on the documentation and tracking of part-time faculty evaluations. The management performance based evaluation system has now been fully implemented with several managers receiving “outstanding performance” acknowledgement for their performance. Through effective work within HR/Professional & Organizational Development, improvements to the classified evaluation form, criteria and process were previewed for staff during the spring 2007, in-service. The improved classified performance review forms will be fully implemented in 2007/2008, and LCCEF leadership has been extremely collaborative in this work to update the classified performance assessment instrument.
