Some answers to questions that we have been getting:

Random Answer #1: No - President Trump's Executive Order allowing the deferral of FICA payments (roughly 7.65% for the employee) is not going to be implemented by the Comptroller's Office. The executive order would have allowed State Employees to defer payments into the Social Security and Medicaid systems through the end of the of the year.  This was not a tax break - it was merely a deferral of tax payments - those same payments would have come due during the next year. The Comptroller gave a reason why it won't be implemented for State

September ushers in the beginning of Autumn, local harvest festivals, and our annual service ratings.  The annual service rating is important as it is connected to your Step increase in January.  An "overall good or better" will grant you the Step increase (no rating given will also grant the Step increase).  However, if you receive an "overall less than good" rating you can be denied your step increase ("less than good" = 1 Unsatisfactory mark or 2 Fair marks)

There are also a few procedures surrounding the service rating...of course this year may be a little different than in years past, so here a few things about conducting service ratings this year.

Our service ratings require that the immediate supervisor meet and discuss the rating with the employee.  Due to COVID/teleworking, reviews do not need to be done in person, we will accept a meeting conducted via Zoom/Teams.  If your supervisor wants to meet in person and you are hesitant or unable to do so, please feel free to request a Zoom/Teams conference. 

Also, our service ratings require that the employee signs the document acknowledging that they have seen the document and discussed it.  We will accept an email communication from the employee as acknowledgement of the requirements and the physical signature can be obtained at a later time.

It is still expected that the direct supervisor sign the document prior to review and that the appointing authority also signs the document in a timely manner.

If you receive 1 Unsatisfactory mark or 2 Fair marks, the rating should be contested so please contact a steward (or the A&R Office 860 953 1316 or the A&R Chief Steward Patrick Lamb plamb@andr.org).

Often times, employees are upset that, this year, they were not reviewed as being as stellar as in years past, yet all marks are above the line; in most cases, this is not contestable/greiveable, but you can talk to a steward about it, in some cases there is an unacceptable reason for the downgrade that goes beyond just the supervisors annual assessment.

Lastly, the Top Step Payment is not contingent upon the service rating.

All members should be aware that our Healthcare Open Enrollment period is occurring now and will remain open through the month end of September.

This is your (only) opportunity to change your healthcare plan until July 2021 (with the exception of life changes like birth of a child, etc).   Also remember, if you were recently divorced or your kids "aged" out of the healthcare plan, make sure you remove them as dependents to your plan.

This year is very different than it has been in years past.  First, open enrollment is usually in May but was moved to September this year (you know, b/c of COVID)

A&R has a couple of steward vacancies we are looking to fill and we need the next generation of union stewards to step forward.  Our primary coverage priorities are at: DAS, DRS, DDS, and DMV.  If you are an A&R member and interested in becoming a steward (especially at one of the listed agencies),  send a: (1) cover letter; (2) a résumé; and (3) the names and phone numbers of two A&R members in the applicant’s agency to serve as character references.

Please send your application either by email to plamb@andr.org or by mail, attention Patrick Lamb, Chief Steward at A&R, 805 Brook Street, Rocky Hill, CT    06067.

This has certainly been an unusual year, but none-the-less, Monday is Labor Day already.  Created and maintained as a national holiday for over 120 years., Labor Day is exactly what it sounds like: it is a day set aside to honor and commemorate all that labor unions have contributed to the work environment.  All of the gains achieved through the labor movement have had a tremendous, positive, and noteable impact on the wages, hours, and working conditions of this country.   Enjoy your holiday, celebrate safely.  9/4/2020

We are not sure how each agency or our members will be impacted by this change, we just wanted to make everyone aware that this change has taken place.

Today marks the "go-live" day for the changes to Human Resources.  It was announced by Gov Lamont in July of 2019 and goes into effect today.   The Centralization plan separates Labor Relations issues from all other HR functions; Labor Relations issues will now be handled through the Office of Labor Relations (OLR) within OPM while all other HR roles will be handled under DAS (items like FMLA, retirement, job classes, job postings, exams, benefits, salaries, etc). 

There will still be "on-site" staffing at many agencies, just fewer.  Most HR staff will now conduct the business from a centralized location (Human Resources will be centralized at 450 Columbus with DAS, while OLR operates out of 450 Capital Ave).  For HR issues (non-Labor Relations issues), each agency has been designated a "pod" (they haven't come up with better names yet, so there is Pod1, Pod2, Pod3, etc).  As this is new, we are not clear when individuals should contact their on-site HR staff or reach out to their "POD".   There is a matrix that identifies which POD each agency is connected with.  view the pod matrix.  

-8/28/2020