Research: Topics: Business & Labor: Grievance Tracking System
Users' Guide to the Governor's Office of Employee Relations Grievance Tracking System (1984-1990)
B. Explanation of Fields
There are 35,049 cases in the file with no duplicate case numbers and no missing cases. The numbers are in ascending order but in some cases do not immediately follow one another. It appears that when some of the cases were deleted, the corresponding case numbers were deleted as well. However, as this is not a useful research field, some missing case numbers will not affect the overall research value.
Field Number | Explanation
1. Grievance Record (Case) Number: A unique number generated by the computer for each case.
2. Agency: Name of the agency that filed the grievance report.
Entries for this field are not standardized. Different entries for the same agency are possible. There is no mechanism to check invalid cases for this field. No missing values were found.
3. Agency Case Number: Identifying case/reference numbers unique to the agency. Entries for this field were optional.
4. Bargaining Unit: Specified codes for various bargaining units. Any unlisted codes are invalid.
01 Security Services
02 Administrative Services
03 Operational Services
04 Institutional Services
05 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
06 Management/Confidential
07 State Police Troopers
08 United University Professions
17 State Police Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers
47 Military and Naval Affairs
61 Security Supervisors Unit
62 State Police Investigators and Senior Investigators
Entries are not standardized (e.g., the first code was entered as both 1 and 01).
5. Grievant Name: Last name and first initial of the grievant, separated by a comma.
There are no missing cases.
6. Grievant's Professional Title: This is an optional field. There are many missing cases.
7. Facility/Location: Location of decentralized agencies.
Missing values are to be expected in this field because it only applies to decentralized agencies. Entries are not standardized (an agency or agency location was entered by different names).
8.-11. Step-1, Step-2, Step-3, Step-4 Action: An X was marked for the most recent action taken. Step-4 was for State Police and M/C 8 only.
It is possible that later steps were filled while former steps were left blank. The number of cases that can have valid values is inversely proportional to the number of steps.
12. Arbitration: An X was marked if an arbitration action was taken.
Again, very few cases (1,548) went to the arbitration stage.
13. Grievance Type: Type of grievances indicated by codes.
C = Contract
NC = Non-Contract
OTW = Out-of-Title Work
14.-16. Contract Articles 1 through 3: For type C, most relevant article number(s) up to a maximum of three were listed. For type NC, a brief description of the subject of the grievance (one word where possible) was required. For type OTW, no entry was necessary.
The missing cases for the three fields should be calculated based on each grievance type.
17. Non-Contract Subject: Grievance subject for NC type.
Missing cases for this field need to be measured on NC types of grievances only.
18. Initial Filing Date (Month/Day/Year): Complete date when grievance was initially filed. It was entered when grievance was first reported and was not changed subsequently.
Field 18 is a combination of the next three fields. Entries are generally consistent.
19. Initial Filing Date (Month): Month when grievance was initially filed. It was entered when a grievance was first reported and was not changed subsequently.
This field takes up the first two spaces in field 18. Entries are generally consistent. It can be used to check the validity of entries for months.
20. Initial Filing Date (Day): Day when grievance was initially filed. It was entered when a grievance was first reported and was not changed subsequently.
Field 20 takes up the third and fourth spaces in field 18. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for days.
21. Initial Filing Date (Year): Year when grievance was initially filed. It was entered when a grievance was first reported and was not changed subsequently.
Field 21 takes up the last two spaces in field 17. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for years.
22.-25. Step-1 Decision to Step-4 Decision: Decision code(s) for Step-1 to Step-4.
- Grievance Sustained
- Grievance Denied
- Grievance Withdrawn
- (Code not in use at this time)
- Grievance Partially Granted
- Grievance Settled
- Step Waived
The missing cases for these fields should be calculated according to each step action taken.
26. Step-1 Decision Date (Month/Day/Year): Complete date when Step-1 decision was made.
Field 26 is a combination of the next three fields. Entries are generally consistent. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-1 decisions.
27. Step-1 Decision Date (Month): Month when Step-1 decision was made.
This field takes up the first two spaces in field 26. Entries are generally consistent. It can be used to check the validity of entries for months. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-1 decisions.
28. Step-1 Decision Date (Day): Day when Step-1 decision was made.
Field 28 takes up the third and fourth spaces in field 26. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for days. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-1 decisions.
29. Step-1 Decision Date (Year): Year when Step-1 decision was made.
Field 29 takes up the last two spaces in field 26. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for years. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-1 decisions.
30. Step-2 Decision Date (Month/Day/Year): Complete date when Step-2 decision was made.
Field 30 is a combination of the next three fields. Entries are generally consistent. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-2 decisions.
31. Step-2 Decision Date (Month): Month when Step-2 decision was made.
This field takes up the first two spaces in field 30. Entries are generally consistent. It can be used to check the validity of entries for months. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-2 decisions.
32. Step-2 Decision Date (Day): Day when Step-2 decision was made.
Field 32 takes up the third and fourth spaces in field 30. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for days. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-2 decisions.
33. Step-2 Decision Date (Year): Year when Step 2 decision was made.
Field 33 takes up the last two spaces in field 30. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for years. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-2 decisions.
34. Step-3 Decision Date (Month/Day/Year): Complete date when Step-3 decision was made.
Field 34 is a combination of the next three fields. Entries are generally consistent. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-3 decisions.
35. Step-3 Decision Date (Month): Month when Step-3 decision was made.
This field takes up the first two spaces in field 34. Entries are generally consistent. It can be used to check the validity of entries for months. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-3 decisions.
36. Step-3 Decision Date (Day): Day when Step-3 decision was made.
Field 36 takes up the third and fourth spaces in field 34. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for days. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-3 decisions.
37. Step-3 Decision Date (Year): Year when Step-3 decision was made.
Field 37 takes up the last two spaces in field 34. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for years. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-3 decisions.
38. Step-4 Decision Date (Month/Day/Year): Complete date when Step-4 decision was made.
Field 38 is a combination of the next three fields. Entries are generally consistent. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-4 decisions.
39. Step-4 Decision Date (Month): Month when Step-4 decision was made.
This field takes up the first two spaces in field 38. Entries are generally consistent. It can be used to check the validity of entries for months. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-4 decisions.
40. Step-4 Decision Date (Day): Day when Step-4 decision was made.
Field 40 takes up the third and fourth spaces in field 38. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for days. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-4 decisions.
41. Step-4 Decision Date (Year): Year when Step-4 decision was made.
Field 41 takes up the last two spaces in field 38. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for years. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of Step-4 decisions.
42. Arbitration Decision Date (Month/Day/Year): Complete date when arbitration decision was made.
Field 42 is a combination of the next three fields. Entries are generally consistent. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of arbitration decisions.
43. Arbitration Decision Date (Month): Month when arbitration decision was made.
This field takes up the first two spaces in field 42. Entries are generally consistent. It can be used to check the validity of entries for months. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of arbitration decisions.
44. Arbitration Decision Date (Day): Day when arbitration decision was made.
Field 44 takes up the third and fourth spaces in field 42. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for dates. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of arbitration decisions.
45. Arbitration Decision Date (Year): Year when arbitration decision was made.
Field 44 takes up the last two spaces in field 42. Entries are generally consistent. This field can be used to check the validity of entries for years. Missing cases should be calculated against the total number of arbitration decisions.
46. Closed: When cases were closed.
A case is considered closed when all essential information was provided.
47.-50. Step-3 Case Number: This data element consists of the year (two spaces, also field 48) when a Step-3 action was taken, the negotiating unit (two spaces, also field 49) of the grievant, and the case file number (five spaces, also field 50).
For more specific information on how the entries were made, please refer to the appendices attached to this guide. Several examples are given to illustrate the data entry process.
