KEEPING OUT OF THE MPB; OR IF YOU HAVE A CASE, HOW TO ENSURE YOU WIN IT

This advice is aimed at

  1. reducing the number of grievances being lodged by teachers against principals;
  2. assisting members in managing the process.
  1. Know and apply the department’s processes meticulously

APersonal Grievances

  • Most MPB cases are personal grievances (72 out of 118 in 2003) brought by teachers and SSOs against decisions PCOs have made and include matters such as leave, declaration of excess, referral, compassionate transfer, allotments, salary entitlement, harassment, performance assessment, etc. 30% of personal grievances were upheld in 2003, a decrease of 10% on 2002.
  • The MPB makes its decisions on personal grievances according to three criteria:
  1. Has the principal followed processes strictly in accordance with DE&T policy set out in the relevant Handbook?
  2. Was there any demonstrable bias and/or discrimination in the processes followed by the principal? Did the principal breach principles of merit and equity?
  3. Was the decision by the principal reasonable, given all the info available?

Re Referral and Compassionate Transfers

  • In the case of staff referred to positions in schools or teachers who have been granted compassionate transfer status, principals should note:

Staff in either of these categories must be considered separately and in isolation from applicants. Such staff can be deemed unsuitable when they do not meet the selection criteria, and are unlikely to be able to do so within a reasonable period of time.

Principals are referred to pages 64-66 of the School Staffing Handbook. Two key points should be noted here:

  1. “The excess employee must be considered solely on the basis of whether he or she satisfies the selection criteria of the position immediately or could so within a reasonable period” (defined as 3 to 6 months).

2.The excess employee is not required to submit an application and where this is not provided, the principal should seek “whatever information is available” from whatever source – interview, nominated referee reports, non-nominated referee reports (but make sure you tell applicants you are going to seek referee reports from outside their nominated referees), referring principal, applicant application/statement (if such has been provided), and prior knowledge statements.

A recent ruling of the MPB in a referral case noted that information provided by an appellant at the hearing had not been made available to the panel. The Board took this additional information into account when making its decision. It also acknowledged that the appellant may not have been able to meet the criteria at interview, but determined that “she would be able to do so within a reasonable period of time with appropriate support from the school.”

It should also be noted that once panels have worked through the processes regarding referrals and compassionate transfers and if a negative decision is made, they may proceed to consider other applicants. However, they must have made the decision not to appoint the referral or compassionate transfer, and have notified that person prior to proceeding. In such cases, they make a recommendation to the principal, but the principal must not advise the successful candidate of the outcome of the decision until after the fourteen-day appeal period for unsuitable referral or compassionate transfer has expired.

It should also be noted that once the principal indicates formally to a candidate that they have been unsuccessful, that candidate is entitled to receive a copy of their individual report on request.

BSelection Grievances

Selection grievances (46 out of 118 in 2003) are when teachers lodge grievances against PCOs for alleged breaches of selection or promotion processes. 41% of selection grievances were upheld in 2003 – double the rate of 2002.

The MPB makes its decisions on selection grievances according to:

  1. whether there are deficiencies in the process that prevent selection on merit;
  2. whether the selection decision is manifestly inconsistent with the evidence of the nature of the vacant office or the qualifications and experience of the applicant.

However in the case of ETWR grievances, the MPB must determine whether the decision is demonstrably inconsistent with the evidence presented re the applicant’s claims for promotion.

You should ensure that the selection criteria in your position statement conform with the statewide criteria in Teaching Service Order 179, Section 9.2.3.(2) – see

Although you may gear these criteria to suit the needs of your school, the criteria must incorporate the key elements noted in the Teaching Service Order. However our advice is to use all components of the five key elements of the order as your criteria and add one or two local criteria if required.

Remember, whatever the decision you have made, it is a provisional decision only, and your advice to the successful candidate should indicate this. You should recognise that there is always a chance that a grievance will be lodged against your decision, and that the grievance may be successful.

The MPB may uphold the selection grievance if it finds that the process has been breached. If that is so, it will order you to reconsider your decision. In such cases, you may have to start all over again. Alternatively, the panel may be ordered to reconsider its decision, in the light of advice it receives from the MPB. It may be that the revised processes you follow still achieve the same outcome. It may be that they don’t. Be prepared for either contingency.

Of course, the MPB may also dismiss the grievance.

C.Document what happens at every stage of each process

If a member of your staff lodges a grievance, the MPB will advise you and send you a copy of the grievance. You will be asked to provide:

iA statement explaining how the decision was made that led to the grievance. The MPB then provides a copy of your statement to the appellant. Names of referees and complainants must not be provided in this statement.

iiIn the case of selection grievances you will be asked to supply the MPB with documentation comprising the original applications of the appellant and the nominee, referee reports, statements of prior knowledge, minutes of meetings, panel members’ notes, the selection panel report, the position description and selection criteria.

Prior knowledge:

  • Must relate to the selection criteria
  • May be positive or negative
  • The nature of the prior knowledge must be documentedin the panel minutes
  • Must be validated by seeking comment from people external to the panel such as nominated or non-nominated referees.

Referee reports

Make sure that if you are interviewing referees, you ask questions about any areas of performance/suitability, if other evidence has not established a clear view of a candidate’s suitability.

Also, make sure that you read the notes you have taken back to the referee, in order to verify their accuracy.

  1. When you receive notification from the MPB that a grievance has been lodged against your decision, don’t panic, but contact VASSP/VPPA for advice
  • What the MPB sends you is what it sends every Principal against whom a grievance has been lodged.
  • A VASSP/VPPA Field Officer will help you prepare your statement (C1 above), help you prepare the case that you will argue orally before the MPB, advise you on procedures, and support you at the hearing.
  • Ensure that you have a contingency plan
  • The processes in relation to all of these matters are set out in the School Staffing Series of booklets published in 2001:
  • the green Vic. Govt. Schools Teacher Class Handbook
  • the bluey green Vic. Govt. Schools School Staffing Handbook
  • the orange Vic. Govt. Schools School Services Officers Handbook
  • the purple Vic. Govt. Schools Principal Class Handbook.

These handbooks are also available on the web by searching through the A-Z Topic Index of Human Resource Management web page at Refer also to the MPB brochures, distributed to all schools, also available on the MPB website at

Union branches may also lodge grievances against the principal if they consider that their members’ working conditions as per the Agreement have been breached as a result of a decision made by the principal. Please note that these matters are managed and resolved through different processes, as set out in the red Vic. Govt. Schools Agreement 2001-3 Handbook. Individual staff members, however, can still lodge grievances against their principal, if they feel the principal’s decision has breached their working conditions.

Ian Wallis, Ro Hood (VASSP) and Michael Soltys (VPPA) have sought the advice of the MPB in compiling this article, and are indebted to Board Members for the information they have provided.

Feb, 2004.