-3/24/23

Yesterday, many agencies sent out a "reminder" guidance regarding time-sheet coding for the snow day.  A&R wants to let everyone know that we stand by our assessment of our contract language and the Telework language which states if you were scheduled for an "in-office" day when the buildings were closed you cannot be compelled to telework nor would Vac/PL be charged...Despite the clear language and the several areas in our contract which we cover this topic, the State's directive was to Telework if possible or charge Vac/PL.  So if you were denied LWGOV and were therefore forced to use Vac/PL time to cover the day, A&R has filed the grievance to recover this charge.  It is also our intention in the grievance to address the issue of those who were scheduled to be in-office but felt compelled to telework based on the agency directive to do so.  There is no further update on this issue, simply, the State re-issued its guidance to employees so we wanted to ensure the A&R membership that we continue to assert that this is incorrect guidance and that we have filed the grievance reflecting that assessment.

Anyone who received a letter from the Comptroller's Office regarding their HEP Compliance for 2021 needs to resolve any issues by August 31 or be removed from HEP.
Removal from the HEP program includes an additional $100 monthly premium and a deductible of $350 per person (up to $1400).

If you are unsure of which medical visits were missed, log into CTHEP.com (create a log-in/password, if you haven't already done so).  From here, look at the "2021" tab to see what is missing and once that visit is complete you can apply to be re-instated into HEP by submitting the CO-1320 form.

If you completed the required visits but the portal indicates that one of the appointments has not been accounted for, then you can call 1-877-687-1448 or send an email to HEPQuestions@connect2yourhealth.com

Remember, HEP requires certain healthcare exams to be completed during a calendar year based on age and gender, the required exams could be:

• Preventative Visit
• Vision Exam
• Dental Cleanings (once per year)
• Cholesterol Screening
• Mammogram
• Cervical Cancer Screening
• Colorectal Cancer Screening

Additionally, if you have a "chronic condition", then you must complete the eduction portion of HEP annually as well.  The annual education piece can be accomplished through the CTHEP.com portal.  The "chronic conditions" identified for our HEP plan are as follows:

• Asthma
• COPD
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Diabetes
• Heart Failure
• Hypertension
• High Cholesterol

FRIDAY 6/17 UPDATE

We are aware of at least two agencies that are addressing paycheck errors. At DRS many employees did not have their Top Step Payments processed, and at DOI some rate increases were not effected. We also have sporadic reports of isolated errors from other agencies. In each of the instances we are aware of, the agency has committed to correcting the errors by the next paycycle.

If you suspect your paycheck is inaccurate, please notify your HR department to correct the discrepancy. 

If you have questions about the paycheck, please feel free to contact the union office via phone (860 953 1316) or via email directed to one of the A&R Officers or to the general email address of office@andr.org.

- posted 6/17

-3/10/23

The unions of SEBAC prevailed at an arbitration on "Pandemic Pay".  Funding was set aside a couple of years ago for those employees who were required to report to their work site to meet the needs of the State during the "Stay home, Stay Safe" period declared by the Governor.  This funding was a combination of State and Federal funds specifically to compensate employees for  the added COVID risk they were subjected to while keeping State government operational.  There was already a program for private-sector workers in the same fashion which excluded State employees.

The arbitration was about how best to allocate the available funds to the employees impacted; there was not a question of whether Pandemic Pay was available but rather how would that Pandemic Pay be distributed to the employees who could not be assigned to 100% Telework during the Stay Safe/Stay Home period.  The State and the Unions could not agree on the proper allocation formula and ultimately the arbitrator made the decision after hearing from both parties.

This arbitration award still needs legislative approval (requiring a 2/3 vote to veto this however)

Here are the basics of the arbitration award: 

• The period of time considered the "Stay Home/Stay Safe" period are the 53 weeks between March 20, 2020 and March 27, 2021 (this is the period of time that will be evaluated for Pandemic Pay)

• All employees on the payroll as of 9/15/2022 or who retired prior to that date are eligible for this (those who left State service but did not retire are not eligible).

• Only hours actually worked qualify for the calculation (unless you had COVID for more than 3 consecutive weeks during that time-frame)

• There are two levels of compensation High Risk & Low Risk work.  Within those 2 groups there is compensation for "Regular" hours of work and then additional compensation for Overtime hours (if you earned CompTime, those are still overtime hours and they count towards the Overtime formula).

High Risk employees (employees who were first responders, worked in congregate settings, or worked in a healthcare facility).

For employees in the High Risk environment the Pandemic Pay formula is as follows:  $250 for the first 180hrs of Regular work and an additional $136 for each 100hrs of Regular work beyond that (must reach that 180hrs to qualify).
The High Risk Overtime formula is: $270 for the first 200hrs of OT and then an additional $136 for each 100hrs of OT above that (must reach that 200hrs of OT to qualify).

Low Risk employees (are all other employees who were required to work in person).

For employees in the Low Risk environment the Pandemic Pay formula is as follows:  $125 for the first 180hrs of Regular work and an additional $68 for each 100hrs of Regular work beyond that (must reach that 180hrs to qualify).
The Low Risk Overtime formula is: $135 for the first 200hrs of OT and then an additional $68 for each 100hrs of OT above that (must reach that 200hrs of OT to qualify).

View the Language Governing Pandemic Pay

View the Arbitration Award

View the SEBAC-provided FAQs

For those who are curious, there has been just over 4500 retirements from State Service so far in 2022 (January 1 thru July 1, 2022); this includes 470 from A&R.  Most of those retirements occured on April 1 & July 1.  We would like to thank all 470 A&R retirees for their years of service and dedication to the people of CT and we wish them well in the next phase of their life.

We understand that there are many questions and that there may be a few isolated problems regarding the recent paycheck.  The State is looking into a few of the potential issues. 

• If you suspect your paycheck is inaccurate, please notify your HR department to correct the discrepancy. 
• If you have questions about the payout, please feel free to contact the union office via phone (860 953 1316) or via email directed to one of the A&R Officers or to the general email address of office@andr.org.