2007 Minnesota Statutes

43A.33 GRIEVANCES.
    Subdivision 1. Discharge, suspension, demotion for cause, salary decrease. Managers
and employees shall attempt to resolve disputes through informal means prior to the initiation
of disciplinary action. No permanent employee in the classified service shall be reprimanded,
discharged, suspended without pay, or demoted, except for just cause.
    Subd. 2. Just cause. For purposes of this section, just cause includes, but is not limited to,
consistent failure to perform assigned duties, substandard performance, insubordination, and
serious violation of written policies and procedures, provided the policies and procedures are
applied in a uniform, nondiscriminatory manner.
    Subd. 2a. Abuse. In an arbitration or hearing proceeding involving discipline of an employee
for allegedly abusing a resident of a state hospital or a state nursing home, "abuse" includes
but is not limited to:
(1) Conduct which constitutes abuse under policies or procedures adopted by state hospitals
or state nursing homes; or
(2) Any act which constitutes a violation under sections 609.221 to 609.235, 609.322,
609.342, 609.343, 609.344, or 609.345; or
(3) The intentional and nontherapeutic infliction of physical pain or injury, or any persistent
course of conduct intended to produce mental or emotional distress.
    Subd. 3. Procedures. Procedures for discipline and discharge of employees covered by
collective bargaining agreements shall be governed by the agreements. Procedures for employees
not covered by a collective bargaining agreement shall be governed by this subdivision and
by the commissioner's and managerial plans.
(a) For discharge, suspension without pay or demotion, no later than the effective date of
such action, a permanent classified employee not covered by a collective bargaining agreement
shall be given written notice by the appointing authority. The content of that notice as well as
the employee's right to reply to the appointing authority shall be as prescribed in the grievance
procedure contained in the applicable plan established pursuant to section 43A.18. The notice
shall also include a statement that the employee may elect to appeal the action to the Bureau
of Mediation Services within 30 calendar days following the effective date of the disciplinary
action. A copy of the notice and the employee's reply, if any, shall be filed by the appointing
authority with the commissioner no later than ten calendar days following the effective date of the
disciplinary action. The commissioner shall have final authority to decide whether the appointing
authority shall settle the dispute prior to the hearing provided under subdivision 4.
(b) For discharge, suspension, or demotion of an employee serving an initial probationary
period, and for noncertification in any subsequent probationary period, grievance procedures shall
be as provided in the plan established pursuant to section 43A.18.
(c) Within ten days of receipt of the employee's written notice of appeal, the commissioner of
the Bureau of Mediation Services shall provide both parties with a list of potential arbitrators
according to the rules of the Bureau of Mediation Services to hear the appeal. The process of
selecting the arbitrator from the list shall be determined by the plan.
The hearing shall be conducted pursuant to the rules of the Bureau of Mediation Services. If
the arbitrator finds, based on the hearing record, that the action appealed was not taken by the
appointing authority for just cause, the employee shall be reinstated to the position, or an equal
position in another division within the same agency, without loss of pay. If the arbitrator finds that
there exists sufficient grounds for institution of the appointing authority's action but the hearing
record establishes extenuating circumstances, the arbitrator may reinstate the employee, with full,
partial, or no pay, or may modify the appointing authority's action. The appointing authority shall
bear the costs of the arbitrator for hearings provided for in this section.
    Subd. 4.[Repealed, 2005 c 114 s 3]
History: 1981 c 210 s 33; 1982 c 424 s 130; 1982 c 560 s 31-33; 1984 c 425 s 1; 1984 c 462
s 27; 1984 c 544 s 82,83; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 186 s 10; 2005 c 114 s 1