South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 19 - STATE BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD › Article 7 - DIVISION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT › Subarticle 1 - OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES, STATE HUMAN RESOURCES REGULATIONS › Section 19-718.04 - GRIEVANCES

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
A. Grievances shall
				include terminations, suspensions, involuntary reassignments, and demotions.
				Reclassifications are considered a grievance only if an agency, or an appeal if
				the State Human Resources Director, determines that there is a material issue
				of fact that the action is a punitive reclassification. However,
				reclassifications, reassignments, and transfers within the same salary range
				are not adverse employment actions which may be considered grievances or
				appeals. Promotions are not adverse employment actions which may be considered
				grievances or appeals except in instances where the agency, or in the case of
				appeals, the State Human Resources Director, determines that there is a
				material issue of fact as to whether or not an agency has considered a
				qualified covered employee for a position for which the employee formally
				applied or would have applied if the employee had known of the promotional
				opportunity. When an agency promotes an employee one organizational level above
				the promoted employee's former level, that action is not a grievance or appeal
				for any other qualified covered employee. Salary decreases based on performance
				are adverse employment actions that may be considered as grievances or appeals.
				A reduction in force is an adverse employment action considered as a grievance
				only if the agency, or as an appeal if the State Human Resources Director,
				determines that there is a material issue of fact that the agency
				inconsistently or improperly applied its reduction in force policy or
				plan.
B. A covered employee must
				initiate a grievance in writing internally with the agency within 14 calendar
				days of the effective date of the employment action.
C. The following examples of employment
				actions do not constitute a basis for a grievance or an appeal:
1. A covered employee who voluntarily resigns
				or voluntarily accepts a demotion, reclassification, transfer, reassignment, or
				salary decrease shall waive any and all rights to file a grievance or an appeal
				concerning such actions and the covered employee can rescind such voluntary
				actions only if the agency head or the agency head's designee agrees;
2. A covered employee whose position is
				reclassified to a class with a lower salary range shall not have the right to
				file a grievance or an appeal concerning the reclassification to the State
				Human Resources Director unless a determination is made that a material issue
				of fact exists concerning a punitive reclassification;
3. A covered employee who is promoted and
				subsequently demoted prior to serving six months of satisfactory service in the
				class with the higher salary range shall not have the right to file a grievance
				or an appeal concerning the demotion, unless such demotion is to a class with a
				lower salary range than the class in which the employee was serving prior to
				promotion;
4. A covered employee
				who is promoted and subsequently receives a reduction in pay prior to
				completing six months of satisfactory service in the class with the higher
				salary range shall not have the right to file a grievance or an appeal
				concerning the reduction in pay, unless the action results in a lower rate of
				pay than that which the employee was receiving prior to promotion;
				and
5. A covered employee who
				receives an additional job duties or responsibilities salary increase, and
				subsequently has the additional job duties or responsibilities which justified
				the salary increase taken away prior to completing six months of service with
				the additional job duties or responsibilities, shall not have the right to file
				a grievance or an appeal concerning a salary reduction equivalent to the amount
				of the additional job duties or responsibilities increase.