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The policy outlines the mechanisms and conditions to be followed by the faculty grievances committee in terms of the formation and procedures that a faculty member must follow to submit a grievance against administrative decisions that affect his career and academic rights
Purpose
This policy aims to provide a fair and equitable mechanism to resolve disputes related to administrative decisions affecting the employment rights of faculty members. This policy is applicable when it is not possible to resolve any dispute by the responsible authority before submitting an official complaint or after a decision is issued. In order to achieve this aim, the faculty grievance policy outlines the mechanisms and conditions to be followed by the faculty grievances committee in terms of the formation and procedures that a faculty member must follow to submit a grievance against administrative decisions that affect his career and academic rights, and the procedures to be followed by the committee when considering these grievances. Furthermore, this policy will help and support implementing equity among faculty members, to achieve justice and equality, and to follow the best methods and techniques when taking administrative decisions. All these together reflect the University’s commitment to its policies.
Definitions
Law: Legislative Decree No. 12 of 1986 regarding the establishment and the organizing of the University of Bahrain.
Regulation: Faculty Regulation.
Policy: Faculty Grievance Statement of Principles and Procedures.
University: University of Bahrain.
President: President of University of Bahrain.
Department: The academic departments in the University of Bahrain.
Member: Teaching staff or faculty members.
Committee: Faculty grievance committee.
Grievance: A written petition submitted by a faculty member to the committee requesting the reconsideration of an administrative decision issued by the university’s administrative authorities.
Appeal: Action taken by the employee to resort to the judiciary to appeal from any administrative decision affecting any of his employment rights.
Scope/Application
The scope of the grievance encompasses any action that affects the employment rights of any faculty member after appointment and commencement of work, which include the salary, benefits, as well as any decision related to promotion, transfer, delegation, leaves, disciplinary accountability, sanctions and service termination. However, the decisions related to jobs ranking and classification, workflow and work organization, and the decisions issued by disciplinary boards are not included within the scope of this policy.
Policy Statement and Principles
1. Grievance Committee Establishment and Formation
The President issues a decision to form the committee for two years. This committee consists of five members, where the chairperson position must not be less than (Dean), and the other four members should be experienced faculty with high competencies and integrity, one of whom is the Dean of the College of Law.
The committee can seek the assistance of whomever it deems suitable from the university’s specialists or from the Civil Service Bureau if they need to finalize the grievance decision. However, when voting on a decision his vote shall not count.
The committee is responsible for investigating grievances submitted by the faculty members regarding administrative decisions that affect their employment rights as stipulated in Scope/Application of this policy.
The committee must do whatever it deems necessary to avoid any conflict of interest that may occur between one of its members and the aggrieved faculty member.
2. Grievance Committee Procedures
The grievance committee shall follow the following procedures:
a. The faculty member must submit a written grievance to the chairperson of the committee within 15 days from the date he became aware of the decision complained of. It shall contain the name and signature of the faculty member, accompanied with documents relevant to the grievance, the date on which he became aware of the decision complained of, and evidence showing his attempts to communicate with the related authority to resolve the issue.
b. The committee must take a decision within 15 working days from the date of its submission, and if necessary, it may extend this period for another 15 working days.
c. The aggrieved member may amend his grievance within 7 days prior to the date set for the first hearing, provided the amendment is relevant to the subject matter of the grievance.
d. In all cases, the aggrieved member has the right to resort to the judiciary for appealing the final decisions that affect his employment rights.
3. Grievance Review Regulations
The committee must validate the formal procedures followed to submit a grievance before addressing its subject matter, and if the member’s grievance is against the decisions issued by investigation committees, the grievance committee must review the procedures of the member’s accountability in terms of the investigation committee’s formation and work regulations, as well as reviewing the investigation file to ensure that the investigation committee allowed the member to defend himself in accordance with the provisions of the law, while taking into consideration the formal and the subject matter legal safeguards as prescribed by the law and regulations. In addition, the committee must verify that the disciplinary penalty taken against the member is appropriate for the violations attributed to him.
In all cases, the committee must hear the statement of the aggrieved member, and it may hear from others if necessary. Furthermore, the committee has the right to take all necessary actions to consider and decide on the grievance.
4. Documenting the Minutes and Issuance of Decisions
The committee must document its actions, meetings’ minutes, and recommendations that are issued regarding the submitted grievance while ensuring the privacy of the confidential records it received. Furthermore, the committee renders its decisions in the form of recommendations that are submitted to the president for approval, amendment, or cancellation by an administrative decision.
The president or the person authorized by him shall notify the faculty member regarding the grievance decision within 5 working days from the date of its issue.
5. Appealing to the Judiciary Against the Grievance Decision
The faculty member may follow the procedures of the grievance policy before raising an appeal against a decision that affects one of his employment rights. However, the grievance procedures are not considered a barrier if he chooses to pursue the judiciary path.
6. Effectiveness of the Grievance Policy
This policy shall come into effect from the approval date of the University Council, and contradicting provisions shall Provide more help
