The CT Legislative session ended on Wednesday June 4th and we had some successes: we killed a bill to curb telework, killed 2 bills to outsource inspections, killed a bill prohibiting SEEC employees from any political expression, etc.  However, on an important issue (the A&R union contract), we did not come to an agreement with the State before the Legislative session ended.  This means that our current contract will expire on 6/30/2025 and we will be under an "extension" agreement for a year while we continue negotiations on our successor agreement.  

An "extension" agreement carries some

The Telework Application window is open from May 12 through June 11, 2025.  This application window will allow Telework from July 11 thru January 8

It is important to submit a new application even if there is no change in your requested level of Telework (don't under-estimate the importance of submitting the Telework application despite how friendly your boss is or how long you have been working the same schedule...fill out and submit the application). 

There is a new process to submit your Telework application that has been rolled out at many agencies.  The State has created a new web portal

May 1 thru May 31 is when we have an opportunity to re-evaluate and switch our Medical and/or Dental plans for the next year...this is the only time of the year that you can do this unless there is a "life change" such as childbirth, marriage, divorce, death).  Changes can be made directly thru your CORE-CT portal for those who have CORE-CT access and these changes will be effective July 1, 2025.  If you do not want to make any changes then do nothing and your current plans will simply continue.  

A few things to note about this year's plans:

First, there will be an audit of dependents this year

-5/1/25 

Monday April 28, A&R met with the State for another round of discussions regarding our next contract (our current contract expires on 6/30/25).  Again, while the discussions have been cordial and somewhat constructive, we are nowhere close to an agreement.  Thusfar, discussions have predominately focused on "language" items.  Although the union is eager to discuss financial aspects of the successor contract, the State is not.  The State purports that federal funding for CT is uncertain and therefore they are not ready to discuss financial issues.  By "financials" we mean all aspects

Contract negotiations between the Office of Labor Relations and A&R continue. The state and the union have made some progress at the table with respect to a variety of contract language issues. The leadership teams of both parties have had extensive talks and those discussions have lead to a shared understanding of the issues, and in some instances, we appear to have found some common ground.  Language is important as it is contract language that establishes working conditions (think telework, AWS, and how overtime is calculated as examples). While we cannot reveal with any specificity the

It has come to our attention that a water main break is occurring near the Department of Labor (Folly Brook facility).  As a result of this, management has instructed all personnel to they leave the building due to the water being shut off.  The instructions further state that for those who have the means to telework, please continue working remotely.  The interoffice memo also indicates that employees do not need to extend work hours and that the commute home will be covered as work hours.  We remind A&R members that under the terms of the telework agreement, accepting a directive to telework