How to handle a grievance

Ruskanen

We have an employee who always seems to be on the border of being disciplined...leaving his work area without permission (we are a manufacturing plant), disappearing and then saying, "Oh, I was in the bathroom, I didn't hear the page", using his cell phone during his shift in the work area, slower than average work speed, etc. The supervisor is quite frustrated by him.

The employee called me yesterday to say he wanted to file a grievance. We are not a union facility so I told him he needs to follow our problem resolution policy, which is to document his problem and turn it in to me. His grievance is that the supervisor called a meeting last week and brought up that many things are coming up missing. The employee stated he started to laugh. The supervisor asked him if he had anything to share with the group that was so funny it was causing him to laugh. He stated no, he was just laughing. The supervisor stated in front of the group that whenever this topic comes up, this employee has some sort of reaction and that could make him look a little suspicious of stealing. A joke was made to the employee the next day that, "You're not the one stealing those things, are you?" The employee feels that the supervisor insinuated in front of everyone that he was the one stealing and that it was a slanderous comment, and in his words, "Something should be done."

At this point we have not confronted the supervisor to see if he made this comment or not. But, knowing his character, I wouldn't be surprised if he did. How would you handle this situation and what action, if any, would you take? It is a difficult situation because the employee has not done a good job of putting himself out there as a good employee, and the supervisor is a long term respected employee in the company, which is not to say that occasionally he can let his frustrations with his employee get in the way and make a comment that may not be appropriate for a group setting.

We don't often have many employees follow our problem resolution policy. When I tell them they need to either step 1, confront their supervisor or step 2, if the supervisor is involved document the problem in writing and turn it in to upper management, they lose interest and just get on with things. Any advice is appreciated.

Whatever

This has to be treated like any other grievance...meaning an impartial and thorough investigation to determine the facts. This ee may be trying to avoid being disciplined but the grievance may be true. If there is no investigation, the lawyers could have a field day in the future.
This are several things in this posting that bother me. One, at the beginning of the third paragraph you state "We have not confronted the supervisor". That is rather strong language since the grievance hasn't been proven (or disproven).
You state in the first paragraph that the ee uses his cell phone in the work area. Our company rules state that all cell phones must be off in the manufacturing area and not used. This is considered a safety rule (meaning in this case, that the first violation brings a written warning and the second a suspension).

Don D

I would randomly interview five people who were in attendance at the meeting to get from them what was said and what transpired. Then I would interview the manager against whom the complaint is lodged. Handle it as any routine disciplinary investigation. If he did imply to a group of ees that one particular one is suspect, then he should be disciplined. An employee laughing in a meeting may be problematic and may need to be dealt with, but it's no cause to openly point an accusatory finger at the ee. If it rises to that level, a three day suspension without pay is in order to protect the company.

I would also discipline the phone situation, but separately and swiftly.......always timely, never in reaction to other events or situations. Consistency and fairness across the board in policy enforcement should be the rule of thumb.

System

You began with a number of performance issues but you are not addressing them in this post. I'm assuming you provide that information to us to give us a snapshot of your employee. You then tell us that your supervisor is a long term respected employee. I believe you've already found favor with the supervisor for this grievance or that you'd like to avoid handling it.

There's nothing wrong with a pre-grievance conference. It may not need to go through the grievance/complaint process. You may be able to handle it quickly by meeting with the supervisor. If your supervisor did address the group as the employee claims he did, he needs some coaching. If he did it because the ee is a bad ee anyway, he still needs coaching in how to handle a difficult employee. He can't very well go back and add up those incidents now without looking retaliatory. Your supervisor seems like a nice guy who doesn't know how to supervise.

bsa

If your investigation confirms that the supervisor did make an inappropriate comment in the meeting, discipline should follow, probably a verbal or 1st written warning. The complaining ee would be told that appropriate action was taken to correct the problem.

Since the supervisor has chosen to ignore bad behavior, when addressing it now it he should have a witness (such as you or another supervisor). Your bad boy thinks he has protected himself from discipline by filing a grievance, he hasn't ... but you should be careful with documentation.

Crout

Where's the slanderous statement? Did the supervisor say the EE was a suspect, or that by laughing he made himself look suspicious? Don't get me wrong...if it happened as you say it was a bonehead play for the supervisor to make, and he/she should get some feedback, but I wouldn't overreact either. Tell the supervisor that since the comment was made in a group setting he should offer an apology/clarification (e.g; Mr. So-and-so is not a suspect) to the same group with the EE present. End of story.

Don D

Aha! But........what if he IS a suspect?

ray a

I'm with Crout. The supervisor didn't make a direct accusation, he merely reacted to the "open door" the ee gave him when the ee starting laughing which implies he did not take the supervisor seriously or he was trying to hide something. I wouldn't be too quick to jump on the supervisor, maybe just a little reminder to maintain his composure. But personally, I would do much as Don suggested, discreetly interview a few other ee's who attended the meeting to get their slant.