CODE OF VIRGINIA

GRIEVANCES QUALIFYING FOR A GRIEVANCE HEARING; GRIEVANCE HEARING GENERALLY (§
2.2-3004)

A. A grievance qualifying for a hearing shall involve a complaint or dispute by
an employee relating to the following adverse employment actions in which the
employee is personally involved, including but not limited to (i) formal
disciplinary actions, including suspensions, demotions, transfers and
assignments, and dismissals resulting from formal discipline or unsatisfactory
job performance; (ii) the application of all written personnel policies,
procedures, rules and regulations where it can be shown that policy was
misapplied or unfairly applied; (iii) discrimination on the basis of race,
color, religion, political affiliation, age, disability, national origin or sex;
(iv) arbitrary or capricious performance evaluations; (v) acts of retaliation as
the result of the use of or participation in the grievance procedure or because
the employee has complied with any law of the United States or of the
Commonwealth, has reported any violation of such law to a governmental
authority, has sought any change in law before the Congress of the United States
or the General Assembly, or has reported an incidence of fraud, abuse, or gross
mismanagement; and (vi) retaliation for exercising any right otherwise protected
by law.

B. Management reserves the exclusive right to manage the affairs and operations
of state government. Management shall exercise its powers with the highest
degree of trust. In any employment matter that management precludes from
proceeding to a grievance hearing, management’s response, including any
appropriate remedial actions, shall be prompt, complete, and fair.

C. Complaints relating solely to the following issues shall not proceed to a
hearing: (i) establishment and revision of wages, salaries, position
classifications, or general benefits; (ii) work activity accepted by the
employee as a condition of employment or which may reasonably be expected to be
a part of the job content; (iii) contents of ordinances, statutes or established
personnel policies, procedures, and rules and regulations; (iv) methods, means,
and personnel by which work activities are to be carried on; (v) termination,
layoff, demotion, or suspension from duties because of lack of work, reduction
in work force, or job abolition; (vi) hiring, promotion, transfer, assignment,
and retention of employees within the agency; and (vii) relief of employees from
duties of the agency in emergencies.

D. Except as provided in subsection A of § 2.2-3003, decisions regarding
whether a grievance qualifies for a hearing shall be made in writing by the
agency head or his designee within five workdays of the employee’s request
for a hearing. A copy of the decision shall be sent to the employee. The
employee may appeal the denial of a hearing by the agency head to the Director
of the Department of Human Resource Management (the Director). Upon receipt of
an appeal, the agency shall transmit the entire grievance record to the
Department of Human Resource Management within five workdays. The Director shall
render a decision on whether the employee is entitled to a hearing upon the
grievance record and other probative evidence.

E. The hearing pursuant to § 2.2-3005 shall be held in the locality in which
the employee is employed or in any other locality agreed to by the employee,
employer, and hearing officer. The employee and the agency may be represented by
legal counsel or a lay advocate, the provisions of § 54.1-3904 notwithstanding.
The employee and the agency may call witnesses to present testimony and be
cross-examined.

HISTORY: 1995, cc. 770, 818, § 2.1-116.06; 1996, cc. 164, 869; 2001, c. 844;
2012, cc. 56, 349, 803, 835.