RULE 3. OFFICERS, MEETINGS, ETC., OF COMMISSION

Houston Code of Ordinances ch. 14, art. II, div. 3

in effect

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-45 Meetings generally.

Sec. 14-45. - Meetings generally. All meetings of the commission shall be held in an appropriate public meeting place, shall be open to the public, and shall be held on the days and hours that the commission from time to time may designate. Special meetings may be held on the call of the chairman or the director. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-46 Rules of order, evidence or procedure.

Sec. 14-46. - Rules of order, evidence or procedure. The commission shall not be bound by any rules of order, evidence, or procedures in its meetings, hearings, or investigations, except such rules as it may establish. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-47 Quorum.

Sec. 14-47. - Quorum. Two members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A meeting shall be adjourned in the absence of a quorum. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-48 Power to take action.

Sec. 14-48. - Power to take action. Neither the commission nor any member shall have power to take action except by authority of majority vote in the meeting assembled. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-49 Duty of director to attend meetings; minutes of meetings.

Sec. 14-49. - Duty of director to attend meetings; minutes of meetings. The director or his designee shall attend all meetings of the commission; shall act as its secretary and have recorded its official actions in the minutes; and shall have recorded a commissioner's dissent with his reasons therefor when such there be. The director or chairperson may cause the minutes to be transcribed and presented for approval or amendment. The official copy of the minutes and any amendments thereto shall be kept in the office of the commission. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-50 Grievable issues.

Sec. 14-50. - Grievable issues. Any civil service protected employee who feels aggrieved due to: (1) Nonselection for a promotion to a referred position; and/or (2) Hazardous working conditions not intrinsic to the job; and/or (3) Employee performance ratings with an overall rating of less than acceptable or effective or the equivalent; and/or (4) Failure to receive a performance rating if delayed more than six months; and/or (5) Failure to be paid overtime or compensatory time, if eligible, appropriate, and worked; and/or (6) Written reprimand; may file a grievance and pursue it through as many of the grievance steps provided by this chapter as desired. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-51 Grievances generally.

Sec. 14-51. - Grievances generally. At each step in the grievance proceedings, the following shall apply: (1) At all times, the department will give the grievant at least four calendar days notice of any step meeting unless a shorter period is mutually agreed upon. At each step in the process the participants shall appear in person and fully, candidly and openly discuss the grievance in an effort to mutually resolve the disputed issues. (2) The grievant must submit the grievance on the appropriate forms provided by the director with the grievant's original signature. The grievance form may not be signed by a representative, or faxed, e-mailed, or otherwise transmitted by electronic means to the grievance coordinator or the commission. (3) The grievant and department management are required to mutually disclose non-privileged information, names of witnesses/persons with relevant knowledge, and provide documents to be used in the step meetings. Failure by either party to disclose known witnesses/persons with relevant knowledge, documents or information may be grounds for exclusion/inclusion of such evidence, where appropriate. Failure by the department to disclose known witnesses/persons with relevant knowledge, documents or information shall subject the person responsible to discipline. (4) With the approval of a grievance examiner, a grievance may be discontinued at any step in the process for the grievant's unexcused failure to disclose witnesses/persons with relevant knowledge, documents or information or failure to cooperate or respond. Such decisions may be reviewed by the commission. (5) The dates required herein for scheduling meetings/hearings may not be extended except where an investigation for criminal misconduct is pending, where the failure to meet a date is the result of an authorized leave of absence or excused illness of the grievant, or the parties mutually and voluntarily agree in writing to extend the deadlines. Any extension granted must be reasonable and not unduly or unnecessarily delay the grievance process. (6) Upon mutual agreement, grievances by more than one grievant arising out of the same or similar fact situations may be consolidated and heard concurrently at the discretion of the department. (7) Grievances by the same grievant may be consolidated and heard concurrently at the discretion of the grievance examiner at step III. (8) The grievant and the department shall be allowed to have a representative present at any meeting or hearing authorized herein, though each shall be conducted so that the grievant may represent himself if he so chooses. No representative need be a licensed attorney. Any representative must be in compliance with section 14-183(a)(10) of this Code. (9) No electronic or other technological mode of recording may be used at step I or II proceedings by any participant. (10) Grievance forms and related documents shall not be filed in a grievant's personnel file. Every reasonable effort shall be made to keep grievances and the documents related thereto from disclosure to persons without a need to know, except as required by state, federal or local law. (11) Neither step I or II meetings nor step III hearings shall be open to the public. (12) In each step of the grievance process, the grievant shall be allowed a reasonable time off from his regular duties to file his grievance and to attend step I or II meetings or a step III hearing thereon, and such time off shall not be charged against the grievant. Such allowed time does not include time for preparation, meetings with witnesses or representatives, drafting responses or gathering evidence, etc. At its discretion, the department may provide an alternative work schedule or overtime as needed to accommodate the grievant's attendance at step meetings or hearings. (13) Subpoenas may be issued only for step III hearings and will be limited to a maximum of five fact witnesses per grievance. Upon presentation of the subpoena, city employees will be allowed reasonable time for travel and participation at step III hearings and will be compensated (regular or overtime hours, as appropriate) by the department. (14) If a grievant resigns his position with the city or is indefinitely suspended while a grievance is pending at any step proceeding, the grievance shall become moot and all further processing shall be discontinued. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-52 Grievance filing period.

Sec. 14-52. - Grievance filing period. Grievances shall be in writing and received by the designated departmental grievance coordinator within 30 calendar days (including weekends and official city holidays) after the occurrence of the action or inaction or the date on which the grievant knew or should have known through the exercise of reasonable diligence of the action or inaction for which the civil service protected employee feels himself aggrieved. This time period shall be mandatory and jurisdictional. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-53 Compliance oversight.

Sec. 14-53. - Compliance oversight. The director shall recommend to the commission for approval a procedure for the handling of grievances. It shall be the responsibility of the director to monitor, coordinate and facilitate the processes of this grievance procedure. The director may designate one or more persons who shall assist the designated departmental grievance coordinators to resolve any questionable or challenged grievances, schedule and coordinate step III hearings, give timely and proper notice to all parties of step III hearings, and shall take such other and further action as shall be required to assure that this grievance procedure operates timely, correctly and effectively in compliance with these rules. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-54 Grievability challenges.

Sec. 14-54. - Grievability challenges. If there is any doubt as to whether an issue is grievable under section 14-50 above, a written request may be directed to the director to have the grievance referred to a grievance examiner for a determination of grievability. Either the grievant's department, the director or the grievant may challenge grievability at any point in the grievance process and submit written arguments on the issue of grievability. (1) At the request of either the grievant or the department, the grievance examiner's determination of grievability may be referred to the commission for review without hearing or testimony. Written arguments may be submitted to the commission; however, no other issues or new evidence on the issue of grievability may be submitted to the commission by either party at any time. (2) When a request for a determination of grievability is filed with the director or the commission, all subsequent time frames in the grievance step process shall be suspended during the period of referral and review by the grievance examiner and/or the commission. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55 Grievance process.

Sec. 14-55. - Grievance process. The grievance process shall consist of four steps. (1) Step I: a. The step I grievance form may be obtained from the departmental grievance coordinator. The completed form must be received by the grievance coordinator on or before the deadline. The date the grievance is filed shall be documented on the grievance form by the grievance coordinator. Thereafter, the grievance coordinator must arrange a meeting between the grievant and the immediate supervisor or another supervisor in the chain of command who might better resolve the grievance at this step, and/or other appropriate parties to be concluded no later than 30 calendar days after the date on which the grievance was received. If the meeting is not concluded within 30 calendar days, the grievance shall proceed automatically to step II. [1] No later than 24 hours before the meeting, the parties shall mutually exchange all documents reasonably related and relevant to the grieved issue. [2] If the grievance may not be resolved by the immediate supervisor because of a lack of authority to resolve the issue, steps I and II may be combined. [3] If the grievant's immediate supervisor is the department director, steps I and II are automatically combined and considered concurrently. In such case, the department director shall meet with the grievant and shall not appoint a designee. [4] When a performance rating of less than effective is grieved, at the option of the grievant, steps I and II may be combined and the grievance may proceed directly to a step II meeting. If steps I and II are combined, all time frames shall be the same as at step II. b. Regardless of the outcome of the step I meeting, the immediate supervisor or appropriate party shall respond in writing not later than ten calendar days after the date on which the meeting was concluded. The response must include the supervisor's evaluation of the grievance and proposed resolutions, if any. Any proposed resolution must be within the authority of the supervisor or approved by the department director. [1] The supervisor or appropriate party shall submit the completed written response to the grievance coordinator. The grievance coordinator shall forward the supervisor's response to the grievant with a copy to the director. The response shall be either personally delivered by the grievance coordinator to the grievant or be served by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last address of record provided by the grievant on the step I grievance form. [2] If no written response is submitted by the supervisor or appropriate parties within the ten calendar days following the conclusion of the step I meeting, the grievance coordinator shall have an additional ten calendar days to automatically schedule a step II meeting. Notice shall be given to the grievant, the department director/designee and the supervisor. A supervisor or appropriate party who fails to comply with the requirements of this section or to do so timely may be disciplined. [3] An untimely filed response may be accepted at the discretion of the grievant, but will not avoid the automatic referral to step II unless the grievant requests that the grievance be withdrawn. c. Proposed resolutions for each grievance by a supervisor or appropriate party must be accepted by the grievant entirely or not at all. If the proposed resolution is rejected, the grievant may file a step II grievance form with the department grievance coordinator. If the grievant fails to timely file a step II grievance form, the grievance process is terminated. If the grievant accepts the proposed resolutions, the department must implement the proffered resolutions. (2) Step II: a. To continue the grievance, the grievant must reject all of the proposed step I resolutions, specifying reasons for the rejection on the step II grievance form. The completed step II grievance form must be received by the department grievance coordinator no later than the tenth calendar day after the date on which the grievant was served with the supervisor's response. If certified mail is used to give the step I response to the grievant, the step II grievance form still must be received no later than the tenth calendar day after the date the step I response was mailed. b. The grievance coordinator shall arrange a step II meeting between the grievant, the immediate supervisor and/or the appropriate parties at step I and the department director or a designee of at least an assistant director level or the equivalent selected by the department director. [1] Where steps I and II are combined, and the grievant's immediate supervisor is not the department director, the department director or a designee of at least assistant director or the equivalent shall hear the grievance. If the grievant's immediate supervisor is the department director, the combined step I and II meeting shall be with the department director and may not be held with a designee from any level. [2] The step II meeting must be concluded no later than 45 calendar days after the date on which the step II grievance form was received by the department's grievance coordinator. If the meeting is not concluded within 45 calendar days, the grievant has ten calendar days to request that a grievance examiner order the grievance to proceed to step III without a step II meeting. Such a request must be filed with the civil service coordinator at the human resources department in accordance with procedures recommended by the director and approved by the commission. [3] No later than 24 hours before the scheduled step II meeting, both parties must mutually exchange through the grievance coordinator any additional non-privileged documents not previously disclosed or discovered through the exercise of reasonable diligence or provided at step I which are related to the grievant and reasonably related to his grievance or the grieved issue. Documents or information indirectly related to the grievant or his issue or related to other employees may be disclosed at the discretion of the department and the grievant respectively. c. Within ten calendar days after the date the step II meeting concludes, the department director or the designee who conducted the step II meeting shall provide a written response to the grievance issues together with proposed resolutions to the grievance coordinator who shall be responsible for service of the response on the grievant in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last address of record provided by the grievant on the step II grievance form. [1] Any proposed resolutions must be within the authority of the department director or designee. [2] If no written response is submitted by the department director or the designee within the ten calendar days following the conclusion of the step II meeting, the grievance coordinator shall have an additional ten calendar days to refer the grievance to the civil service coordinator of the human resources department to automatically set the grievance for a step III hearing. Notice shall be given to the grievant, the department director or the designee and the supervisor that the matter was automatically referred to step III. [3] An untimely filed response may be accepted at the discretion of the grievant, but will not avoid the automatic referral to step III unless the grievant requests that the grievance be withdrawn. d. Proposed step II resolutions must be accepted by the grievant entirely or not at all. If the grievant accepts the proposed resolutions, the department must implement the resolutions. (3) Alternative mediated Step II proceeding for written reprimands or a performance rating of less than effective: At the time of filing of a step II proceeding only for a grievance of a written reprimand or an employee performance rating of less than effective, the grievant may elect to proceed to a step II meeting with a department director or designee or to proceed to request a mediated step II in accordance with the procedures set forth below. a. The director shall be authorized to establish a mediation program and to develop procedures for its implementation. Prior to implementation, the commission shall approve rules and procedures for step II mediations, which shall be in writing and made available to all parties. A mediation program for this purpose shall have certified mediators who shall not be city employees. A mediation program established under this section shall have the following features: [1] At step II, instead of a meeting with the department director or a designee, the parties may mutually agree to mediate the grievable issue (written reprimand or less than effective performance rating). A mediated step II must be accomplished within the same time frames as a nonmediated step II proceeding. [2] If a settlement is reached and reduced to writing and signed by all parties at the mediated step II, no further appeal is allowed. [3] If a settlement is not reached through mediation, a grievant who wishes to continue the grievance shall file a step III request for grievance hearing with the director on or before the tenth calendar day following the conclusion of the mediated step II meeting. b. No mediator may be called to testify at the commission or at a step III hearing. (4) Step III: The director or his designee shall coordinate all proceedings at steps III and IV. Grievance examiner a. The completed step III request for grievance hearing form obtained from the human resources department must be received by the director on or before the tenth calendar day following service of the written step II department response or the conclusion of the mediation, as applicable. If the grievant fails timely to file a step III request, the grievance process is terminated. The request for grievance hearing must specify the reasons for the rejection. The director or his designee shall notify the department grievance coordinator when a step III request is filed and serve notice of the scheduled hearing date and time on the grievant and the department director/designee at least ten calendar days before the hearing. b. The grievance examiner shall conclude an evidentiary hearing within 60 calendar days after the date of receipt by the director of the step III request for grievance hearing. If the grievant fails to appear at the hearing, the grievance examiner shall dismiss the grievance. c. Step III grievance hearings shall be limited to the issues articulated at step I and shall be conducted as informal administrative proceedings. The presumption in favor of the departmental action mandated by the Charter is rebuttable. The burden shall be on the grievant to support the grievance by a preponderance of the evidence. d. At each hearing, the grievance examiner shall: [1] Review the current status of the grievance; [2] Determine whether jurisdiction is proper; [3] Determine the issues to be addressed and the extent to which evidence will be allowed; [4] Determine who will be allowed to testify and what documentary and other evidence will be admitted; and [5] Hear the evidence and ensure that the proceedings follow due process and these rules. d. Written rules of evidence, order and procedure shall be adopted by the commission with copies provided to the parties at the time of filing. All rules adopted by the commission for step III hearings shall be enforced by grievance examiners. The hearing shall be transcribed. e. The parties to a hearing before the grievance examiner shall be the grievant, his representative, the department, by and through a departmental representative designated by the department director, and the department's attorney. Other persons who may attend include fact witnesses, appropriate supervisory personnel, and any other persons necessary for a fair determination of the grievance. f. The director, on behalf of the commission, may issue subpoenas to require the attendance of witnesses and/or the production of books, documents, records or other tangible evidence relevant to any factual dispute. At the time of hearing, the grievance examiner will determine which witnesses will be allowed to testify. Alternative forms of allowable testimony (video, telephonic, deposition, affidavit, etc.) may be accepted in addition to or in lieu of live testimony if, in the opinion of the grievance examiner, such alternative testimony is credible, relevant, authentic, and reliable. g. All witnesses shall be examined under oath in relation to any matters relevant to the grievance issues. No general references or character evidence or testimony shall be allowed in any form, including character affidavits, declarations or statements. Persons to be called as witnesses may be excluded from the hearing room during the taking of testimony upon the request of either party. h. Grievance examiners may impose a reasonable time limit on the time allowed the parties to present evidence or examine witnesses, limit the number of witnesses to be heard in accordance with commission rules, and restrict presentation of the issues or the proceedings. i. After the close of evidence and the arguments of the parties, if any, the grievance examiner may rule immediately into the record or take the matter under advisement. In either case, the grievance examiner shall file a written determination within 15 calendar days after the date the hearing concludes. The determination shall consist of findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon the grievance issues, evidence, legal principles and arguments presented, and recommendations for resolution of the grievance. The authority and powers of the grievance examiner are limited to those of the commission as reflected by the commission's rules, the Charter and ordinances. A grievance examiner may not exceed her jurisdiction or authority or recommend relief that is not otherwise authorized by this chapter or these rules. j. The grievance examiner's determination shall be served on the grievant on or before the fifth calendar day following receipt by the director with a copy to the commission and the department director. k. If the grievance examiner's determination is improper due to lack of jurisdiction, authority, due process or sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the examiner's findings or recommendations, either party may file a step IV request for review on a form provided by the director. If both the grievant and the department director fail to timely file a request for review, the grievance examiner's determination is deemed affirmed by the commission and the grievance process terminated. (5) Step IV: a. The completed step IV request for review form must be received by the commission on or before the tenth calendar day following service of the grievance examiner's determination. b. The step IV request for review form provided by the director must include all of the reasons for the request, all agreed facts and issues through step III and may include a statement in support of the issues and/or a proposed resolution together with all supporting documentation and justification for the request. A copy shall be served upon the opposing party. No reply statement is allowed by the filing party. c. The opposing party may file a response in support of the determination and/or a proposed resolution together with any agreed issues and/or facts and all supporting documentation and justification to be served upon the commission and all opposing parties at least seven calendar days before the scheduled commission review. The burden of proof remains on the grievant. d. If both parties file a step IV request for review, each may prepare and file a response to the opposing party's request and statement. e. Review by the commission shall be limited to the evidence before the grievance examiner, including the transcript from the Step III hearing. No new evidence may be submitted or introduced for the first time at step IV. f. The commission may affirm, reverse, or modify the grievance examiner's determination and issue an order which shall be served upon the parties with a copy to the grievance coordinator and the grievance examiner. The commission's order is final for all administrative purposes. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55.1 Grievance coordinators.

Sec. 14-55.1. - Grievance coordinators. (a) Each department director or designee shall appoint from among the employees in that department one or more grievance coordinators who shall perform without additional compensation the ministerial, administrative and clerical duties required to coordinate this grievance procedure within the department. The title "grievance coordinator" is a functional designation of each person selected by the department to be the focal point for the initiation, facilitation and completion of the mechanics and logistics of the grievance process and confers no official status, position, authority, or power upon the person so appointed. The department director or designee may assign additional duties to grievance coordinator(s) relating to any employee concerns review programs adopted by the department. (b) The grievance coordinator shall: (1) Be responsible for implementing the requirements of this procedure and ensuring timely and correct compliance with these rules within the department. (2) Provide all civil service protected employees with appropriate forms for filing grievances, upon request, along with written instructions or guidelines, but shall not assist or fill out the forms for the grievant. (3) Before accepting the grievance, receive and review the grievance form to ensure that it is: a. Grievable as set forth hereinabove; b. Complete in sufficient detail to inform the department of the factual basis; c. Timely filed; and d. Executed by a civil service protected employee. (4) Refer any questionable grievances in compliance with these rules. (5) Arrange and coordinate all meetings and proceedings required herein, notify all participants of scheduled meetings/proceedings, and may only facilitate scheduling of, but not conduct, meetings. (6) Coordinate the exchange between the parties of documents, forms, and other materials associated with each grievance. (7) Provide responses or information regarding policies and procedures when requested. (8) Receive the results of the step proceedings from the departmental representatives and forward them to the appropriate participants. (9) Keep a permanent record of all grievances filed and maintain all grievance matters and related documents in segregated, confidential files. Subject to federal, state and local law, all information contained in such files may be disclosed on a need to know basis only. Any employee who otherwise discloses such confidential information without the grievant's authorization may be subject to disciplinary action. (c) Grievance coordinators shall not: (1) Encourage or discourage grievances, nor represent or advocate for or against the grievant or the department at any time, at meetings or otherwise. (2) Participate in the decision making. (d) Original grievance forms and related documents filed with the grievance coordinator at each step of these proceedings shall be forwarded to the director. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55.2 Grievance examiners.

Sec. 14-55.2. - Grievance examiners. The commission shall appoint qualified persons, independent of all city departments and experienced in employment related issues, to preside over and conduct step III grievance hearings. Each appointment shall be for a term of one year. Reappointment to successive one year terms shall be at the discretion of the commission. The grievance examiner shall be responsible only to the commission. (1) A grievance examiner shall not be a city employee nor shall such examiner be considered an employee by such service to the commission. (2) An examiner may be removed from an appointment by a majority vote of the commission. Removal may be by resignation or for cause including, but not limited to, a violation of an ordinance or criminal law whether misdemeanor or felony including moral turpitude, continued failure to be available to hear grievances, negligence, or failure to perform the duties of an examiner timely, to follow the rules of the commission, or to provide due process. (3) For participation in the hearing and providing a written determination, each examiner shall be paid a fee set by the commission. A separate budget account shall be set up for this purpose by the director. (4) The director shall provide each grievance examiner with a suitable location to hold hearings and sufficient clerical support to perform his duties. (5) Anyone who has a complaint against a grievance examiner may file such complaint in writing with the director. Any such complaints will be set on the next agenda of the commission for review, whereupon the commission will determine the appropriate action to be taken (e.g. investigation, notice, opportunity to respond, etc.) with regard to such complaint. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55.3 Retaliation prohibited.

Sec. 14-55.3. - Retaliation prohibited. It shall be a violation of the civil service rules and regulations for any supervisor to take any retaliatory action against any grievant for utilizing or participating in any of the grievance procedures established by this section. It shall also be a violation for a grievant to retaliate against a supervisor or another employee for participating in a grievance. If retaliation is alleged to have occurred, that allegation shall be incorporated into the next succeeding step proceeding through step III. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55.4 Notice of these procedures.

Sec. 14-55.4. - Notice of these procedures. The director shall provide a suitable notice explaining this grievance procedure and the grievant's rights thereunder and furnish an adequate number of copies to each city department. The department director shall cause to be posted in a prominent place at least one copy of such notice in each division within the department. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55.5 Assistance by legal and human resources departments.

Sec. 14-55.5. - Assistance by legal and human resources departments. When requested to do so by the commission, the director, or the department director of the grievant who has filed a grievance under this procedure, the legal and/or the human resources departments shall assist in the representation or resolution of a grievance. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55.6 Record keeping requirements.

Sec. 14-55.6. - Record keeping requirements. The director shall be the official custodian of all records involving grievances after each grievance has been resolved. A repository of closed grievances shall be maintained by the civil service coordinator of the human resources department. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Houston Code of Ordinances § 14-55.7 Nongrievable issues.

Sec. 14-55.7. - Nongrievable issues. Unless specifically authorized in section 14-50 above, other issues that concern employees shall be handled as set forth below: (1) Employee concerns review programs. All departments shall establish and implement programs with written procedures to address employee concerns which do not allege discrimination or are not expressly made grievable herein. The director shall establish guidelines for such programs which shall be approved by the commission prior to the development of any departmental program. Regardless of the form or manner, programs such as peer review, employee representative councils, mediation or any other alternative dispute resolution mechanism, or any combination of programs may be implemented to address such issues. a. Each department's employee concerns review programs must be accessible to all of its employees regardless of civil service protection (e.g. probationary, part-time, appointed, executive, etc.). b. Departments may reasonably limit concerns which can be addressed through this process. All programs and procedures and any amendments or subsequent changes must be approved by the commission prior to implementation. c. There is no appeal to or review by the commission of decisions made by departments in any employee concerns review program. (2) Nonreferral complaints. The director shall establish procedures for addressing complaints regarding nonreferral of applicants to posted vacant positions. (3) Classification challenge. Any civil service protected employee who feels that he is performing duties outside the course and scope of his classification as defined by the position job description and/or the performance plan may request a review of his actual duties performed to ensure conformity and consistency in that classification and the classification system. a. The request must be made in writing and filed with the employee's department grievance coordinator who shall be responsible for immediately providing a copy of the request to the department director or his designee. b. The department director or his designee shall review the request and no later than ten calendar days after the request was provided by the grievance coordinator shall determine whether the request has merit and should be resolved internally without formal review by the director. The department director or designee may elect to: [1] Make no change in the employee's duties; or [2] Eliminate any duties alleged to be outside the job description of the employee's classification and/or the employee's performance plan; or [3] Assign and/or substitute other duties that conform with the current job description of the employee's classification and/or reflect duties on the employee's performance plan; or [4] Join the employee's request for a job audit and determination. The department director shall immediately forward a request to the director for review. c. If the department director or designee fails to take any action within ten calendar days after the employee's initial request, the grievance coordinator shall forward the employee's request to the director requesting a formal job audit. d. The director shall process the request as expeditiously as possible and issue a determination as to the propriety of the duties the employee is being asked to perform and whether they are within the existing classification. The final determination of the director shall be forwarded to the department grievance coordinator, the employee and the department director or designee. e. Upon receiving the director's determination, the department director shall have ten calendar days to elect to change those duties that are non-conforming with the employee's job description and performance plan and set forth in writing the proposed actions, if any, to be taken with respect to the employee's duties and/or classification. The department director or designee shall respond in writing to the director within ten calendar days of receipt of the director's determination, setting forth the proposed action(s), if any, to be made with respect to the employee's duties and/or classification. The director will send a copy of the determination and the department director's response and proposed action to the requesting employee. [1] If the department director's proposed action implements the director's determination, the offer is presumed accepted and the request may not be pursued further. There is no appeal to or review by the commission. [2] If the department's proposed action is inconsistent with the director's determination, the employee may request a review by the commission. f. When an employee is authorized to request a review by the commission above, the employee must request a review by the commission in writing on a form provided by the director within ten calendar days after the employee's receipt of the department's response provided by the director. The request must be filed with the director, who shall log the request, monitor its progress and place the request on the agenda of the commission at the next possible regularly scheduled meeting. At least ten calendar days' notice of the date of the commission review shall be served on all parties. [1] The parties may submit written arguments and relevant documents in support of their respective positions. The director shall supply a copy of his determination to the commission at least five calendar days before the matter is scheduled for commission review. Unless the commission specifically requests, there will be no oral presentation, testimony or arguments to the commission. [2] The commission shall review the director's determination, the department's response and proposed action, and the written arguments and documents of the parties and shall issue its order at the earliest practical time after the scheduled meeting of the commission affirming, rejecting, or modifying the determination of the director and/or proposed action of the department director with regard to the employee's duties and/or classification. The order of the commission shall be final and shall be implemented immediately. There shall be no further appeal or review. (4) Discrimination complaints. Any complaint which alleges discrimination in whole or in part, based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age 40 years and over, veteran status, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, Family Medical Leave Act status, workers' compensation status, or retaliation for filing a charge/claim of discrimination (discrimination factors) or for whistleblowing is not grievable through the grievance process. All such claims will be referred by the grievance coordinator to the office of the inspector general for investigation and/or to the director for a determination of severability, if necessary. All or any portion of the complaint which is not based upon a discrimination factor and which may be segregated and severed, may proceed through the grievance process if it is otherwise grievable herein even if the grievant has concurrently or subsequently filed a complaint on the nongrievable (discrimination based) aspects of the complaint with the office of inspector general and/or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). a. If at any point in the grievance process, a grievant alleges discrimination in either the grievance forms, at step proceedings, or in documentary materials, all such discrimination based issues, documents or testimony will be excluded from consideration. b. If the grievable issues cannot be separated from the discrimination based issues which are not grievable, further processing of the grievance will be suspended, and the grievance will be referred to the office of inspector general for an investigation of the discrimination complaint. If an allegation of discrimination is sustained, the office of inspector general will inform the department who will attempt to resolve the issues in accordance with the applicable law. If any nondiscrimination issues remain to be resolved after the office of inspector general issues its findings, any previously intertwined grievable issues will be referred back to the department (if referred at steps I or II) or to the director (if referred at step III) for completion of grievance processing of the remaining unresolved grievable (nondiscrimination) issues. c. A civil service protected employee who files a grievance must affirm in writing on a form provided by the director, that the grievance is not based upon a discrimination factor in whole or in part. If the grievant indicates a discrimination factor on the form, the grievant will be referred to the office of inspector general and the grievance handled as indicated above. d. Notices regarding the filing of federal and state law complaints of discrimination shall be posted in prominent places in compliance with state and federal laws. A charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC or the TWC will not affect a valid grievance based on the same facts, even if concurrently or subsequently filed with the processing of the grievance, so long as the grievance is processed in accordance with the rules set forth above and limited to the nondiscrimination based facts. EEOC and/or TWC determinations will not affect any grievance. (5) City appeals to state court. In cases of exceptional importance, legal precedence, or challenge to jurisdiction or legal authority, the city/department may seek a declaratory judgment from a state district court of Harris County construing the commission's orders. The appeal must be filed within thirty days after the date of the commission's order and be based upon substantial evidence. The commission need not be joined as a necessary party. (Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015)

Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH14CISE_ARTIIRU_DIV3RU3.OFMEETCOFetched: 10/26/2026