2005 RES R-26-05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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b. Demand for Exchange of Evidence - Upon written request by either of the opposing parties in a pending hearing given at least 20 calendar days prior to the scheduled hearing date, each party shall supply to the other party copies of all documentary evidence to be used by that party at the hearing. Such evidence shall be provided no later than five calendar days prior to the scheduled hearing date. Any evidence not so provided may not be admitted or offered as evidence at the subsequent hearing except that any such documentary evidence discovered by a party after such a request for copies but not soon enough to comply with the above time limits may be admitted providing it could not have been discovered sooner by reasonable means and provided further that a copy or copies of such evidence be afforded the requesting party as soon as practicable after such discovery. Nothing contained herein shall operate to prevent either party from presenting additional documents by way of rebuttal. c. An employee shall not suffer loss of pay from their City position for time spent as a witness at an arbitration hearing held pursuant to this procedure during that employee's regular work hours (City ordered). The number of witnesses requested to attend, and their scheduling, shall be reasonable. d. At the hearing, both the appealing employee and the City shall have the right to be heard and to present evidence. The following rules shall apply: 1) Oral evidence shall be taken only on oath or affirmation. 2) Each party shall have these rights: to call and examine witnesses, to introduce exhibits, to cross-examine opposing witnesses on any matter relevant to the issues even though that matter was not covered in the direct examination, to impeach any witness regardless of which party first called the witness to testify, and to rebut the evidence against the witness. If the employee does not testify in his or her own behalf, the employee may be called and examined as if under cross-examination. e. The hearing need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the sort of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might have made improper the admission of such evidence over objection in civil actions. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence but shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions. The rules of privilege shall be effective to the same extent that they are now or hereafter may be recognized in civil actions, and irrelevant and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. The decision by the arbitrator/hearing officer is final and binding and is not subject to any administrative or judicial review except pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure. D. Representation 1. An employee may request representation of his or her choice at any stage of the grievance procedure. 2. The grievant and designated representative shall receive release time for the purpose of representing the grievant at any step. For purposes of this section, representation includes reasonable preparation and consultation. 3. The only limit on the grievant's representation is that there may be only one other person from the bargaining unit on paid status. Representation shall not inordinately interfere with the normal course of City business. ;Page 6 of 18 CWA MOU capaes 063007 3/7/2005