Williams College Employee Handbook

Faculty Handbook . | . Administrative Staff Handbook . | . Support Staff Handbook

Grievance Procedures

There are two grievance procedures at the College. One is the General Grievance Procedures for Complaints of Unfair Employment Practices outlined here. The other is the Discrimination Grievance Procedures for Sexual Harassment and Discrimination.

General Grievance Procedures For Complaints Of Unfair Employment Practices

Williams College recognizes that problems, complaints or grievances may arise in the daily relationships between the College as an employer and its employees as well as among employees themselves. It is the responsibility of all employees, both staff and supervisors, to establish a working climate in which problems or complaints can be readily brought to the attention of an appropriate College official (normally the immediate supervisor) and given fair consideration. No employee should hesitate to seek redress of grievance or fear retaliation for doing so. The procedures to be followed in seeking satisfaction of a grievance with the exception of sexual harassment are as follows:

Step 1
Unless the nature of the complaint clearly prevents it, the aggrieved person should make an attempt to resolve the problem or complaint informally with their immediate supervisor.

Step 2
Should the attempt to resolve the problem or complaint informally with their immediate supervisor fail, the department head should be consulted.

Step 3
Should such attempts at resolution not succeed within a period of two weeks, the aggrieved person should without further delay file a written complaint with the Director of Human Resources who will review the matter in a confidential manner. A copy of the written complaint will be provided to the charged party. The Director of Human Resources will attempt to mediate the issue and will, within a period of three weeks, report his/her judgment in writing to the aggrieved person and to the person(s) against whom the complaint has been lodged.

Step 4
Should that attempt at resolution fail, the aggrieved person may, within one week of receipt of the Director of Human Resources' findings, request a hearing before a Grievance Committee. That committee, to be appointed by the Vice President for Operations after appropriate consultation, will proceed with its hearings informally and in private, keeping its proceedings confidential and resolving by majority vote if necessary any issues relating to procedural matters or to its ultimate findings. The Grievance Committee may be comprised of three staff member; one of whom is a member of the employee's peer group, one staff member selected from the two standing College staff committees.

Step 5
The Grievance Committee shall report its decision within two weeks of the termination of its hearings. Should it disallow the grievance, it will tender its report in the form of a letter to the aggrieved person, with copies forwarded to the Vice President and to the person(s) against whom the grievance has been lodged. Should it hold the grievance to be a legitimate one, it should make in writing a formal recommendation to the Vice President for Operations for resolution of that grievance. The Vice President's decision of the case shall be final.

Faculty Handbook . | . Administrative Staff Handbook . | . Support Staff Handbook