2011-2013 DEQ/AFSCME 3336 Contract Amendments December 11, 2011 Steward Training

2011-2013 DEQ/AFSCME 3336Contract Amendments

December 11, 2011 Steward Training

Issas

Good

DEQ '11-'13 Contract Amendments 2

Meeting Objectives

To provide clear understanding of the intent and application of contract changes

Cover both Agency Table and Central Table amendments to the contract


Bargaining Team Acknowledgement

AFSCME

Bill Brown Regina Cutler Dana Huddleston Bruce Scherzinger Barbara Shaver Issa Simpson,

Council 75 Representative

State/DEQ

Laurie Grenya Kerri Nelson Susan Payseno Gerry Preston Wendy Wiles Art McCurdy, DAS

Labor Relations Unit

Issas

Good

Bargaining Basics

Central Table Statewide Issues

Health Benefits Mandatory

Unpaid Time Off Salary Classification

Changes

Local Table Agency-specific

(working conditions and contract implementation)

Layoff Provisions Personnel

Records Health and

Safety


Issas

Issas

Good

What We Will Cover


Changes to our Contract Housekeeping-limited/no presentation Substantive

Letters of Agreement (LOA) DEQ-specific Statewide

Issas

Good

Article 3—Union Rights


Section 6 Increased time for union orientation

from 20 to 30 minutes

Section 7 (a) For multi-story buildings one bulletin

board will be available on each floor occupied by DEQ.

Article 3-Union Rights (continued)


Section 7 b Provides for Union use of Agency’s e-mail

system within stated agreements: Who can use? • Officers• Stewards• Members of Agency sanctioned

committees such as Labor Management and Wellness

Article 3-Union Rights (continued) E-mail use


For what purpose? Internal union business as well as the

current uses. What parameters? All staff e-mails must contain within the

subject line “Union Business, Recipients of e-mails should not use the “reply all” function

Article 3-Union Rights (continued)E-mail use


Comply with Agency e-mail policy

Agency will not incur costs as a result of this use

Does not hinder or adversely affect the Agency’s system

Shall not contain offensive communications



Limit of 3 pages

No anti or pro messages for political candidates, ballot measures, bills or laws

No initiation of contractually prohibited activities (strike, work stoppage, etc.)

No attachments or embedded graphics



Clarifies that the Agency’s e-mail system is public and the Agency may monitor e-mail use at any time including those concerning union business



Union bargaining team members may also communicate regarding negotiations using Agency e-mail

Employees may forward union e-mails to their home computers

The Agency will be held harmless in any adverse action involving the Union’s use of the e-mail system



Section 8-Reports

Agency will provide the Union with names of employees who retired and those that have been reclassified in the previous month



Section 11 Agency will provide 10 days notice if moving a

filled position out of the bargaining unit. The Agency does not take action within the 10 day period

Section 12 Stewards will use phone and e-mail for

communication when they work at different duty station than grievant when practical

Article 10-Limited Duration


Section 3

A regular status employee who accepts a limited duration appointment will receive the following information

• Step placement

• Effect on salary eligibility date when moving back to a permanent position

Article 10-Limited Duration (continued)Section 4 Modified the criteria for use of LD positions

to read-if funding for the position is uncertain beyond the end of the current biennium

If funding is restored for a permanent position in which an LD appointment was made, the Agency may open a recruitment or offer the position to the LD appointee.

If the LD incumbent applies for the position they will be offered an interview


Article 13-Grievance Procedure


Section 2

Added language to include informal, non-binding mediation as a tool to resolve problems and/or differences

Article 15-Personnel Records


Section 1

Information in a manager’s working file that is past the retention schedule shall not be used in a disciplinary action.

Article 17-Trial Service


Section 1 aIn most cases employees are required to serve a 6

month probationary period in new positions. Employees having served at least 2 years in

the same classification and promoted within the same work unit under the same supervisorunder the same supervisor.

We agreed to remove “under the same supervisor” from this provision.

Article 18—Classification and Classification Changes


Section 10 Changes to this section were extensive and

provided language addressing both internal and external (arbitration) processes

These processes include resolution of disputes regarding employee requested reclassifications and Agency initiated reclassifications where the employee and Union disagree with the Agency’s actions




Article 19-Contracting Out


Section 6-Review of Contracted Work

New language allows for the Union to view state contracts deemed public records

Union may submit suggestions regarding how bargaining unit members can perform the work more efficiently and effectively

Article 20—Layoff


Section 5- Extended the LOA on full time/part time layoff election options and added clarification for implementation

Full time and part time status are determined by budgeted FTE-regardless of scheduled hours

An employee’s current status will be considered as the first option in placement decisions. If there is no suitable position available (in their current FTE status) they may be placed in alternate status position if they have elected to do so.

LOA Article 20—Duration of Layoff ListsAgency and Secondary Recall Lists


Extended LOA-Sunsets June 30, 2013 Previous contract LOA extended recall right from

2 years to 3 years Contract timelines not extended, except:

• Seniority Calculation—seniority adjusted for break in service up to the 3 years.

• Salary on return—same salary step as the time of layoff.

• RSD—adjusted by amount of break & vacation accrual resumes at the rate at time of layoff.

• SED—adjusted by amount of break in service.

Article 22-Health and Safety


ModificationSection 1 The Health and Safety Manager will review

Health and Safety Policies annually with the Central Safety Committee

Section 9 Upon request by the PSRs their manager will

attach a copy of the PSR roles and responsibilities to their work agreement

Article 22- Health and Safety (continued)


Section 13

An annual report of the Agency’s wellness expenditures shall be provided to the Labor Management Committee

Article 22- Health and Safety (continued) Letter of Intent

The Agency will provide Job Hazard Assessments for hazardous waste inspectors and complaint responders by January 1, 2013


Article 22- Health and Safety (continued) Letter of Intent

Agreed to refer discussions regarding workload to the Labor Management Committee.

Data from the 2011 Manager 360 review will be shared with the committee to identify areas for improve workload balance between employees and managers


Article 28—Holidays


Section 5

Specified the days when the additional 8 hours leave (“Governor’s Leave”) for VET’s I & II in Clean Air Stations is taken

Article 31-Other Leaves

Hardship Leave-Section 1 (g)(2) Deleted reference to prudent planning to

avoid need for hardship leave.

Bereavement Leave-Section 1 (h) Provides for use of an additional 8 hours of

bereavement leave for aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews in addition to the 24 hours allowed for family members defined as immediate family


Article 32-Position Descriptions/Work Agreements

Each time the position description is updated, the employee will have up to ten (10) calendar days to review the position description prior to signing.


Article 34-Salary Administration

Deleted 2009-2011 LOA on step freezes and replaced with a new LOA providing:

No step increases given until July 1, 2012

Effective July 1, 2012 eligible employees will receive one half of step on SED and will receive the remainder of the step six months after SED

For employees with SED of January 2013 through June 2013 the second of the step will be given at 11:59 on June 30, 2013


Article 46-Salaries

Effective December 1, 2011 salary rates will be increased by 1.5% to be paid January 1, 2012.

Effective December 1, 2012 salary rates will be increased by 1.45% to be paid January 1, 2013.


Article 51-Successor Negotiations

Union bargaining team members will be granted a total of 135 hours of paid time for bargaining activities during work hours

To be used for negotiations, caucuses and travel


Letters of Agreement (LOA)—Mandatory Unpaid Furlough Time Off (MUTO)

Effective with first MUTO day on August 19, 2011

LOA takes precedence over any conflicting CBA provisions

Number of unpaid time is based on base rate of pay: $2450 and below 10 days (80 hours) $2451 to $3100 12 days (96 hours) $3101 and above 14 days (112 hours)


LOA-MUTOs (continued)

10 specific fixed closure days

Friday August 19, 2011 Friday November 25, 2011 Friday March 23, 2012 Friday May 25, 2012 Friday August 17, 2012 Friday October 19, 2012 Friday November 23, 2012 Friday January 18, 2013 Friday April 19, 2013 Friday May 24, 2013



Obligation may be reduced based on:

• Employee return from absence after fixed closures-if an employee is on authorized leave when a scheduled MUTO day occurs the scheduled MUTO will count to reduce the obligation.

• Employee return from protected leave status



The mandatory unpaid time off obligation will not change as a result of salary changes based on promotion, demotions, reclassification, step increases or COLA.



Prorate for less than full time based on employee’s regularly scheduled hours(See formula in LOA)

Prorate seasonal employees based on number of scheduled hours during the months employed(See formula in LOA)

Un-schedule Temporary employees



Mandatory unpaid time off does not impact sick, vacation, personal leaves, holiday pay computation or insurance contribution

Mandatory unpaid time does not count as break in service for employees’ seniority or adjustments to salary eligibility dates



No penalty payment or OT for adjustments to employees’ schedules not to exceed a 40 hour workweek (including the MUTO hours)



Minimum billable hours adjustment-In previous contract as well. We add this as a reminder.

For DEQ employees with minimum billable hours, requirements will be prorated per Agency practice

Employees with billable targets based on percentages required will have billable hours prorated per Agency practice




If the employee fails to schedule and take the mandatory time off by March 31, 2013, management will schedule the employee to take the required time by May 31, 2013. All furloughs will be taken by May 31, 2013.


In the event that an employee has any mandatory unpaid time off obligation remaining after May 31, 2013, the employee’s July 1, 2013 paycheck for the June 2013 pay period will be reduced by the equivalent amount for the remaining mandatory unpaid time off days.



Employees are not eligible for unemployment benefits as a result of the mandatory unpaid time off. If unemployment benefits are paid, the equivalent amount will be deducted from the employee’s pay.



Employees may request to take no more than two mandatory unpaid time-off days in the same workweek.


LOA—MUTOs (continued)


Floating MUTOs Previously scheduled and approved

vacations take precedence over subsequent unpaid days off requests.

However, scheduling of mandatory unpaid time off trumps short term vacation or comp time requests.

If an employee used seniority to bump for pre-approved vacation, then can’t use to substitute mandatory unpaid time off day for the approved vacation day(s)


Floating mandatory unpaid days will be requested following the agency procedures for requesting paid time off.

Where there is a conflict in requesting days off the person who made the first request will be granted the requested days off. For simultaneous requests for mandatory unpaid days off and vacation requests for more than 1 day, vacation requests will be processed prior to requests for mandatory unpaid time off.




Pre-approved paid sick leave:

Employee may substitute a mandatory unpaid time off day for a pre-approved sick leave day, but not more than 2 in a month.

Letters of Agreement—Mandatory Unpaid Furlough Time Off (continued)

Change to LOA Provision

Employees will not work on a mandatory unpaid day with the following exceptions:

At the direction of the Agency Head with fixed closure converted to float day and rescheduled

Employees who are attending conference or traveling may convert fixed closure to float day within same pay period

Board and Commission meetings scheduled on a fixed closure may be converted to float day



New LOA Provision

Full time employees shall take the MUTO in hours equivalent to a full shift or the remaining obligation if it equals less than a full scheduled work day

Employees may (with supervisor approval) change their work schedule during the week a MUTO is taken

Clarification-Employees may keep their regular schedule but take unpaid time in 8 hour blocks and either work or use paid leave for the remainder of their regularly scheduled shift.



Part time employees shall take mandatory unpaid time off in blocks equal to their scheduled work day-or the remaining obligation if it equals less than a scheduled work day


Letters of Agreement—Mandatory Unpaid Furlough Time Off (continued)FLSA Exempt Employees: Mandatory unpaid time off due to budget does

not disqualify the FLSA exempt employee from being paid on a salary basis except in the workweek in which that unpaid time off occurs and the employee’s pay is accordingly reduced

FLSA exempt employees shall be eligible for pay at the time and a half for hours worked in excess of 40 hours that workweek in which they take mandatory unpaid time off due to non-exempt status


Problems Encountered with Implementation of MUTOs Inconsistent messages from

management about the full scheduled shift application.

How far in advance must a person

request MUTO.

Any others??


Flexible and Alternate Schedules

If your scheduled shift is more than 8 hours

you may use accrued leave for the difference between the 8 hours and the additional hours.


Article 56—Term of Agreement

Changed effective dates of contract to October 1, 2011—June 30, 2013



Letter of Agreement—Part-time Employees Health Insurance Subsidy

Modification

Continues the LOA Adds in specific

amounts for the subsidy

PEBB establishes subsidy rates

Intent Continue part-time

employee insurance subsidy

Update subsidy amounts Minimize increased out

of pocket costs to employees

Continue PT employee paying additional $ if employee opts for a different plan than the Part Time Plan or changes to a different tier

Letters of Agreement Extended Intact

Found in Appendix A

Joint Committee on Salary Surveys Intermittent Union Leave Veteran’s Preference (with housekeeping

changes) Article 19-Contracting Out Article 20-Layoff (50 mile layoff election

option) Article 23-Education, Training and Career

Advancement


DEQ/AFSCME Layoff Fundamentals

State’s Five Geographic Areas

CentralEastern

Northwest

Willamette Valley

Southwest

Starting the Layoff Process

• After all budget decisions are made, a layoff list is posted. DEQ must provide 15 days prior notice to employees and the Union before initiating a layoff.

• During this 15 day window, the Union and HR meet formally to discuss possible workforce adjustments (WFA).

• At the end of the 15 day notice period, managers deliver written layoff letters to each staff on the list who did not get WFA.


Layoff

• Affected staff have 7 days to (1) finalize their Neo-Gov profile, including all relevant training, skills and experience; and (2) notify HR of their elections:

a. Part time/full time optionb. 50 mile optionc. Displacement within same class, salary range

or demotiond. Layoff


Qualifications and Bumping

• HR evaluates in seniority order and makes preliminary placement determination.

• HR provides opportunity for discussion with affected employee and their steward or union representative.

Opportunity to provide additional information Placement decisions should be based on relevant

and transferable knowledge, skills and experience.

• Affected section managers may be consulted, but final decision is by HR manager and MSD Administrator


Qualifications and Geography

Article 20, Section 5, (f)(1)The employee may displace an employee in the agency with the lowest seniority in the same classification for which (a) he/she is qualified in the (b) same geographical area in the agency where the layoff occurs.


Qualified?To be qualified for the options under Section 5(f) (1) (2), and (3) the employee must meet all of the minimum qualifications for the position's classification and must be capable of performing the specific requirements of the position as stated in the position description within two (2) weeks. An employee who is seeking to displace another employee has no right to a trial service period of any duration in the position into which the employee is attempting to displace. Further, the two (2)-week time period is for the purposes of orienting an employee to the position, not training the employee to perform the work. Therefore, it is necessary that the employee can perform all of the core duties and responsibilities of the position as determined by the Agency prior to displacing person in the position.

Article 20, Section 5 (f)

Example: Evaluating Potential Placements

Service Credits Name Class Division-Section Skills

246.497 Cline, Delbert P NR SPEC 3WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** WATER QUALITY - ONSITE- COOS BAY

Registered Sanitarian

185.000 Hypothetical Employee A NRS-3WESTERN REGION DIVISION**AQ POINT SOURCE COMPLIANCE-Coos Bay Inspections

182.779 Hypothetical Employee C NR SPEC 3WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** AQ POINT SOURCE PERMIT/COMPLIANCE -COOS BAY Inspections

173.057 Abts, Martin A NR SPEC 3 WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** AIR QUALITY SOUTH - COOS BAY Inspections/Permitting

160.806 Freeman, Lisa N NR SPEC 3WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** HAZARDOUS & SOLID WASTE - MEDFORD Inspections

153.974 Employee C NR SPEC 3 WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** AIR QUALITY SOUTH - MEDFORD Inspections/Permitting

150.604 Clough, Eric S NR SPEC 3 WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** TANKS - COOS BAY

147.200 Hypothetical Employee B NRS-3WESTERN REGION DIVISION**AQ POINT SOURCE COMPLIANCE-Medford Inspections

131.312 Croucher, Steven M NR SPEC 3 WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** AIR QUALITY SOUTH - MEDFORD Inspections/Permitting

51.234 Jossie, Donald L NR SPEC 3WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** WATER QUALITY - ONSITE - GRANTS PASS

Registered Sanitarian

10.149 Tugaw, Heather NR SPEC 3WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** OREGON PLAN - BASIN PLANNING - MEDFORD TMDL

9.919 Esch, David NR SPEC 3WESTERN REGION DIVISION ** HAZARDOUS & SOLID WASTE - MEDFORD

Permits/Inspections SW

Qualifications: Start at the bottom of the list and work up the list based on seniority.

Adjustment vs. Displacement Work Force Adjustment

• Trial service of 3 or 6 months is in effect

• DEQ may pay for moving expenses, if employee is eligible and funds exist

• Current employees aren’t displaced

• Union notification occurs

• Voluntary demotions are permanent. Need to apply for promotional opportunities

Displacement• No trial service

• No moving expenses

• Employee must be able to do job within 2 weeks of bumping into position

• Union notification occurs

• If an employee demotes, s/he is placed on the recall list for their previous classification

Summary of Recall and Secondary Recall Lists

Agency Recall• Intra-agency list

• Based on classification and geographic area

• Highest seniority that meets minimum qualifications and can do the job within 2 weeks is offered the opportunity

• Removed from the list after: Successful appointment

to a position Refusing an appointment

Secondary Recall List• Inter-agency list

• Based on classification and geographic area (county and city)

• Need to be in good standing with no disciplinary actions within past 12 months

• Interview most senior people in the classification

• Serve a trial service period, typically at least 3 months

Issas

Bullet 3 under Secondary recall list needs to say-no economic disciplinary action-suspension,etc.

Preparing for a LayoffWhat Employees Can Do Review the Position Descriptions of positions

they believe that they would be able to “bump” into according to the layoff language

Contact the manager for the position in question to request additional information regarding the position qualifications

The Agency and the Union request that employees not contact people in the positions you are considering-it causes understandable discomfort

How to Prepare for LayoffsEmployees:

• Create or update your NeoGov profile and iLearn transcript • Become familiar with the seniority list• Evaluate options (displace/demote/layoff)• Consider the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Managers:• Make sure your employees’ position descriptions are up to date• DO NOT speculate about “fits” for employees• Recognize that each employee will make decisions based on personal

reasons• Consider the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Documents

2011-2013 DEQ/AFSCME 3336 Contract Amendments December 11, 2011 Steward Training