Dispute Resolution Policy

Overview

One of the core values of this company is Trust. ABX is dedicated to promoting a workplace where employees can express their concerns in an open forum. The Dispute Resolution Policy is an internal process designed to provide employees with a complete and impartial process to attempt to resolve work-related conflicts.

The Administrative Review pathway applies to all part-time and full-time employees. The Peer Review pathway is available to employees located in Ohio only.

Core Requirements

	The concerns and issues of every employee are important to the management of this company. When concerns are raised, they should be resolved at the lowest possible level and as quickly as possible. Time limits have been established to ensure swift conclusion.
	The Dispute Resolution Policy is intended to provide an avenue for resolving issues regarding your job, management, and policies, or in some cases about other employees, with the assurance that no reprisals will result from doing so. All decisions made through the Dispute Resolution Procedure must be in accordance with ABX policy.

Not every issue you encounter can be resolved through the Dispute Resolution Procedure. Conflict between you and a co-worker normally should be worked out between the two of you or possibly with the involvement of your Supervisors. Many of our benefit provisions, such as health care and workers’ compensation claims, have specific appeal processes for those benefits.

	Human Resources will advise you of the appropriate procedure for your issue. Issues with regard to your own performance appraisals, with the exception of situations of termination, will be heard only through your own department’s levels of management.
	The Dispute Resolution Procedure is an internal process, and participation by non-ABX employees is prohibited.

Employee Responsibility

You should bring work-related concerns and issues to the attention of management as they come up.

To make this process work, you must be committed to working with your management

toward a solution that is in the best interest of you and the company.

We ask you to use the Dispute Resolution Process before seeking assistance outside the company.

Whether you are the employee who brings an issue forward or one who participates as a member of the panel, you are expected to keep the information you become aware of in confidence.

Leadership Responsibility

You must respect the rights of the employees, and keep all information confidential.

You must respond to work-related concerns of employees quickly and accurately.

You are expected to actively encourage and maintain an open-door policy. You will make every possible effort to work with employees to reach a mutual resolution.

As a member of management, you are expected to participate in the Dispute Resolution Process in a positive, productive, and expeditious manner. Retaliation or indifference toward employees who use the process is prohibited.

Dispute Resolution Process

The company encourages you to resolve your concerns informally through your chain of command prior to using the formal avenue of the Dispute Resolution Process.

The Dispute Resolution Process has been designed with two separate pathways; the Administrative Review and the Peer Review. The goal in either pathway is to attempt a mutual resolve as quickly as possible.

If you wish to use the Dispute Resolution Process, you must inform Employee Relations within five (5) business days of your last discussion with management regarding your issue, but no later than 30 calendar days from the event or decision in dispute. You should submit your concern in writing on the Dispute Resolution Form to Employee Relations within five (5) business days of receiving the form. You will indicate your choice on the Dispute Resolution Form to use either the Administrative or Peer Review pathway.

Administrative Review

When Employee Relations receives the written copy of your dispute, they will forward your concern to the appropriate level of management. Within five (5) business days after receiving your dispute, your manager at this level will meet with you. Your manager also may meet with any other people necessary to consider your dispute. Within five (5) business days after meeting with you, your manager/executive will contact you with a decision and will provide you with a written response. A copy of the written decision also will be forwarded to Employee Relations.

If you are not satisfied with the decision, you have five (5) business days to ask Employee Relations to move your dispute forward to the next level. Within five (5) business days of receipt of your dispute, your department executive will contact you with a decision and send you a written response. A copy of the written decision also will be forwarded to Employee Relations.

If after the second level you are not satisfied with the decision, you have five (5) business days to ask Employee Relations to move your dispute to the next level. Employee Relations will forward the complete file to the Vice President of Administration. Within five (5) business days of receipt of your dispute, the Vice President of Administration may meet with others he feels necessary and then issue a written decision to you. A copy of the written response also will be forwarded to Employee Relations. This is the final step of the process.

Peer Review

In this process, a five-member panel of ABX employees (one of which must be a manager) will review your dispute and make a recommendation.

A member of Employee Relations will facilitate the process and serve as an advisor (with no voting rights) to both you and the panel.

Within ten (10) business days of receiving your dispute and request for Peer Review, a meeting will be held with the Peer Review Panel. The panel will interview you and the manager. If necessary, they also may interview additional people with relevant information. The panel then will conduct a secret ballot to determine the majority opinion. Once the panel members have concluded the review process, they will forward their recommendation in a written response to the Vice President of Administration. The Vice President of Administration will consider the recommendation of the panel and make the final decision. The Vice President of Administration or his designee then will notify you of the final decision within five (5) business days of the Peer Review meeting.

Peer Review Panel Selection & Responsibilities

At all times during the Peer Review process, both in training and while serving on the Peer Review panel, members should exhibit objectivity and promote a positive attitude.

Volunteer Candidates

Peer Review panel candidate selection is made from a pool of volunteers consisting of managers and non-managers. To participate on the peer review panel, employees first must be recommended by their management and meet the following criteria:

Be a full- or part-time regular employee

Be an employee for three years or more

Be free of formal discipline

Have a performance rating of very good or higher

Complete peer review training; and

Sign a confidentiality agreement

The Senior Director of Human Resources or above then will interview each prospective panel member.

Selection of Panel Members

The employee who has asked for his dispute to be reviewed will select seven names from the pool of candidates, two management and five non-management. Two names will be eliminated from the panel and will serve as alternates. The panel must contain at least one manager and must not include a relative or co-worker you feel cannot be objective.

Peer Review Training

Once the peer review volunteers have been identified, training will be a core requirement. Areas to be covered in the training sessions are the corrective action process, confidentiality, the peer review process, the voting process, and the role of Employee Relations. The rules of peer review are: legal considerations, precedents, your right to privacy and confidentiality, the importance of focusing on what’s right, and understanding that ABX policy is paramount (even if the panel dislikes a policy or rule). The panel cannot rule in favor of an employee if the decision violates ABX policy. Training focuses on developing critical skills for the role, including communication, group dynamics, and conflict management.

Voting Rights

Each panel member will have equal voting rights in casting a vote on the dispute under review. All decisions must be by a majority vote. Once the majority of the peer review panel has made a decision, no member of the panel is permitted to withdraw his or her vote. Each decision will be documented in a written report. The documentation of the final decision, along with a written response, will be coordinated through Employee Relations.

Confidentiality

Employees who serve on a peer review panel will be exposed to extremely sensitive and personal information. They must keep this information confidential. Any discussion of this information outside the panel will result in immediate removal from the panel and possibly termination of employment.

Employee Relations’ Role & Responsibility

Employee Relations will maintain a complete file of all formal disputes. This file will not be included in your personnel record.

During the Administrative Review, the Employee Relations Coordinator will explain the dispute process and arrange an appointment with the appropriate person. The Employee Relations Coordinator will accompany you at each step during your presentation of the dispute if requested by either you or management.

During Peer Review, the Employee Relations Coordinator will facilitate your random selection of the panel, set up meetings, gather and prepare the packets of relevant information, call in witnesses and be present at all panel hearings to advise the panel on policies, procedures, and precedents.

Copyright © 2005. ABX Air, Inc. All rights reserved.
Revised: December 17, 2012.