It never fails. Promotional Exam Scores and/or Banding, Performance Evaluations, Intent to Discipline Letters, Disciplinary Actions, and more are either publicly posted or confidentially issued to a member. Every one of these management actions has a time limit for the member to take action in response. For example, the time limit for filing a grievance is outlined in Article 16 of the Bargaining Units 131/132 MOU for all appraisal staff, and Article 18 of the Bargaining Units 501/502 and 511/512 MOUs for all Professional Engineer (Supervisory & Non-Supervisory) and Engineering Technician (Supervisory & Non-Supervisory) staff. All of the MOUs can be found at the CAPE website at http://www.capeunion.org/mous. If you fail to take the appropriate action in response within the time limit provided, management can simply ignore your response.
So…what never fails? The member calls CAPE two days before expiration of a timeline and wants representation, placing him/herself in a poor position to obtain CAPE’s best representation. Please contact CAPE within two (2) business days of your receiving notice of any action, to timely discuss your options to respond to the action.
Please don’t fail to be timely! Don’t be left howling at the wind. Always call your CAPE Business Agent immediately to clarify your rights and options, and to discuss how to proceed in your best interest.