Division of Human Resources

There are laws, regulations, policies and procedures in place to provide employees covered by the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act an opportunity to challenge specific unfavorable employment actions.

Employees and supervisors are encouraged to first resolve any disagreement through an informal process of verbal communication that is properly documented.

If a solution can’t be reached that is satisfactory to all parties involved, then it may be appropriate to initiate the formal grievance procedure.

Actions That May Be Grieved or Appealed

• Terminations, suspensions, involuntary reassignments in excess of thirty (30) miles from the prior work station and demotions.
• Reclassifications, only if it is determined that there is a material issue of fact that the action is a punitive reclassification.
• Promotions, only in instances where an employee was denied a promotional opportunity for a position for which the employee formally applied or would have applied if the employee had known of the promotional opportunity.
• Salary decreases based on performance.
• A reduction in force, only if it is determined that the university inconsistently or improperly applied its reduction in force policy or plan.

The grievance and appeal processes only apply to covered classified and unclassified employees in an FTE position.

An employee must initiate a grievance in writing with the university within 14 calendar days of the effective date of the action being grieved.

Grievance Process

There are two steps in the internal grievance process that involve various reviewing officials as follows:

Expand all Step 1: Reviewing Official: University’s Vice President for Human Resources

The VP for Human Resources will review the grievance to determine if the matter is grievable. If it is not, the VP will issue a final decision to the grievant. If the grievance meets requirements, the VP for HR will forward the grievance to the appropriate VP, Chancellor, Dean or other official who will review the information and record, meet with the employee if needed and issue a decision to uphold, modify or reject the action taken against the employee.

Step 2: Reviewing Official: President of the University

If the grievant is dissatisfied with the Step One decision, a letter may be written to the President of the University who will convene a panel of university employees to review the matter. When the panel concludes their review, they will issue a recommendation to the President to uphold, modify or reject the action taken against the employee. The President may accept the recommendation of the panel in whole or in part and will issue the final university decision to the grievant. The President will notify both parties of the final decision.

Appeal Process

If the grievant is dissatisfied with the President’s final decision, an appeal may be filed to the State Human Resources Director consistent with filing requirements as outlined in the USC grievance policy. The Division of Human Resources will provide procedural information to both parties, arrange for the selection of the panel, schedule hearings, and prepare and reproduce records and documents to the reviewing officials and the panel.

All employees considering filing a grievance are encouraged to contact the Employee Relations Office for procedural advice and assistance.

For more detailed information, please refer to the Grievance policy [pdf] .

Contact Us

If you have specific questions or concerns that our team can help you address, please contact the Employee Relations Office by emailing uscer@mailbox.sc.edu or calling 803-777-3821

Discrimination and Sexual Harassment

For all issues related to discrimination or sexual harassment, please contact the Equal Opportunity Office at 803-777-3854 or submit an incident form online.

Division of Human Resources