-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

If you are thinking that it is time for you to run for local office but aren't sure how to go about it?  Let the CT AFL-CIO help you out (as a member of A&R, you are a member of the AFL-CIO as well).

The CT AFL-CIO hosts a training session for union members called: Path to Power which will guide you through the process of running for local office.

This year's session will be held on April 22nd in New Britain and it is free (certain restrictions apply if you have already declared candidacy).  Follow this link to register!

UPDATE: 2/27/23 9:15PM

The Governor has released a statement (posted here) closing all state office buildings and he is directing "all Level 2 state employees who are able to telework shall telework for the duration of the related closures"...THIS IS NOT THE TELEWORK POLICY...so we will re-iterate your actual rights and the proper way to approach the office closing:

If you were normally scheduled to telework on Tuesday 2/28/23 you are expected to telework as normal.  Under the terms of the Telework Agreement Section 8.3.2, if you were expected to be in the office on 2/28/23 then you cannot be compelled to telework.  The language from the Agreement reads as follows, it is the final sentence that is key:

8.3. LATE OPENING, EARLY DISMISSAL, AGENCY CLOSURE

8.3.1.If a situation arises at the teleworker ís official duty station that interferes with the ability of non-teleworking employees to work at the official duty station (e.g. power failure, weather conditions, lack of heat in the office building; etc.) while the teleworker is working at his /her telework location, the teleworker is not excused from duty for this period of time as he/she would not be affected by these conditions.

8.3.2.In addition, teleworkers may be requested to telework on non-telework days as operational needs dictate or in the event of an emergency (e.g. power outage, flooding/water damage at official duty station etc.). Acceptance of such request shall be at the option of the employee.

Posted Earlier on 2/27/23

We are posting this information in anticipation of the winter weather event expected Monday night into Tuesday, February 27/28.

A reminder to those who are scheduled to telecommute during a major winter weather event does not automatically impact your work day. As a general rule, if you have the capability to telework and you were pre-scheduled to telework during the weather event, you should do so, regardless of the impact the weather event has on office operations.

• If you are scheduled to telework, telework, regardless of the weather event's impact on office operations
  • If you are scheduled to telework, and circumstances prevent you from teleworking (ie: loss of power), notify your agency as soon as practicable
     
• If you are scheduled to work in-office on the day of a weather event, act safely:
  • Up to one of hour of lateness due to hazardous driving conditions shall not be charged provided that you arrive within an hour of the start of your shift
  • Up to a total of 2.5 hours may be excused in exceptional circumstances (due to severity of conditions; however, your delayed arrival may be compared with that of other employees faced with similar circumstances)
  • If you are late in excess of 2.5 hours (or more than 1 hour late and absent exceptional circumstances), you must opt to either make up the excess time or charge your leave balances
  • If there is a Governor declared late opening, report to work at the Governor declared start time
  • You cannot be compelled by management to telework if you were scheduled in office
    • management may ask you to telework on such a day
    • acceptance of such a request is at your option

Consider it this way: shift cancellations, late openings, and early dismissal decisions are largely made with safety in mind to keep us off of the roads during hazardous conditions.  Those hazardous conditions will not be encountered by telecommuters.  Thus, if you are scheduled to telework, telework.......

We also want to remind those deemed "essential" for snow storms (and thus required to leave your home to report to work during a Governor's closing of the offices) qualify for compensatory time. [Appendix A of contract; Agreement on Final Telework Policy, section 8]

Click here for LATE OPENING/EARLY RELEASE NOTIFICATIONS

TELEWORK DECISIONS AND APPEALS

Telework Decisions should have been released at this point.  If you are going to file an appeal then do not delay; a delay in filing the appeal will move you further down the list for review.
Here are the 3 basic scenarios and what you should do:

• If you were denied your telework request of 80% or less Telework, please ensure that you quickly file your appeal using this link.  Continue to TW at the level deemed acceptable (or the TW schedule you had last year [whichever is better])
• If you requested to increase your Telework but have not receieved a response from the agency, then treat that as a denial and quickly file your appeal using the same link as above.  While your appeal is pending, continue to do your current Telework schedule.
• If you requested the same amount of telework but have not received a response from the agency, simply keep doing your current TW schedule and there is no need to file an appeal.

NEW (AND MUCH IMPROVED) AFAO JOB SPEC
Anyone in the "Fiscal" series knows that we have had an issue with the "Associate Fiscal Admin Officer" job spec for quite some time; mainly that this job title should have been an Advanced Working Level/Lead title but was instead used as a Supervisory title...after several years of pressing this issue, it has finally been changed!  View the new (and improved) AFAO job spec.

This is huge for anyone in the Fiscal job series.  The gist of the change is that the AFAO title no longer requires supervisory responsibility; it is now a working lead/advanced working level position as it should have been.  This will now allow many FAOs to progress to the AFAO title where their responsibilities are vast even if they do not have staff to supervise. 

VACATION ACCRUAL RATE FOR THOSE WITH PRIOR STATE SERVICE
Under our new contract, there was a change to Article 12 Section 7 which now grants credit for prior state service towards determining your vacation accrual rate.  If you have prior State Service and that time was pensionable, it will count towards determining when you move up to the next level for vacation accrual (Note: if you are already earning 13.33hrs/mo then this change will not impact you, you are already at the top accrual rate).  However, and this is big: it is the responsibility of each individual to notify HR that they have prior state service.  While our hope was to have this process automated, this was not possible.  Therefore,  if you have prior, pensionable time in State Service and are accruing at less than 13.33hrs/month, then it is your responsibility to notify HR so they can identify the records and make the adjustment to your vacation rate, if appropriate.  This will only be retro-active to the June 1, 2022 accruals, it will not be an adjustment to your accrual rate prior to June 1, 2022.

STEPS AND TOP STEP PAYMENTS
The December 30^th Step Increase/Top Step Payment will be reflected in this week's paycheck.  To find your new rate or TSP, folllow this link.  Those on the AR2 payplan will recieve a 3% Annual Increment.  Those who were first hired after July 1, 2022 were (most likely) not eligible for a Step Increase on December 30.  Those in 2-year training classes receive their increment on their 1 year anniversary rather than the schedule for permanent employees.

TELECOMMUTING AND WINTER WEATHER
A reminder to those on telecommuting schedules that major winter weather events do not automatically impact your work day.  As a general rule, if you have the capability to telework during the weather event, you should do so, regardless of the impact the weather event has on office operations.  Consider it this way: shift cancellations, late openings, and early dismissals decisions are  usually made with safety in mind to keep us off of the roads during hazardous conditions.  Those hazardous conditions will not be encountered by telecommuters.  We also want to remind those deemed "essential" for snow storms (and thus required to leave your home to report to work during a Governor's closing of the offices) qualify for compensatory time.
[Appendix A of contract; Agreement on Final Telework Policy, section 8]

PERSONAL LEAVE
Don't forget to use your PL time before the end of this calendar year, there is nothing we can do to recover the time for you if you don't use it by 12/31/2022.  "Use it or lose it" applies.

TRAINEE/DURATIONAL POSITIONS & PL
Personal Leave is now available to full-time trainees as well as full-time durational employees who have completed six months of service since date of last hire.  This was a negotiated contract change we sought; in the past, PL was only available to full-time permanent employees.  However, CORE is not yet set up to automatically allocate the PL time to your records - these changes must be input manually by HR.  If you are a full-time trainee or a full-time durational employee with six months or more of state service, we suggest you monitor your records to ensure the time is credited to you.  After crossing the six month threshold, if you do not see the PL time appear in your records, contact your HR representative to ensure the manual input occurs.  Contact us if you encounter a problem or have any questions.
[Article 18, Section Six]

STEP INCREASES/TOP STEP PAYMENTS
Step Increases become effective January 1, 2023 and show up in your January 27, 2023 paystub.  Those already at the 9th Step cannot receive an increment and will instead receive a 2.5% Top Step Payment.
[Article 24, Section Two (a)]

ACCRETED CLASSIFICATION STEP INCREASES
As a result of the last contract negotiation, employees in accreted classifications using the "modified/range” plan are now eligible for a full three percent (3%) increment.
[Article 24, Section Two (a)]

TELECOMMUTING AND WINTER WEATHER
A reminder to those on telecommuting schedules that major winter weather events do not automatically impact your work day.  As a general rule, if you have the capability to telework during the weather event, you should do so, regardless of the impact the weather event has on office operations.  Consider it this way: shift cancellations, late openings, and early dismissals decisions are  usually made with safety in mind to keep us off of the roads during hazardous conditions.  Those hazardous conditions will not be encountered by telecommuters.  We also want to remind those deemed "essential" for snow storms (and thus required to leave your home to report to work during a Governor's closing of the offices) qualify for compensatory time.
[Appendix A of contract; Agreement on Final Telework Policy, section 8]

OPEN BUDGET MEETING
A&R's Budget Committee, lead by Treasurer Ally Sexton, will be holding its annual Open Budget Meeting at the A&R Office on January 19, 2023 at 5:30pm.  This annual meeting is an opportunity for any A&R member to propose budget items for consideration and to view the upcoming budget as it is being prepared.  All members are invited to attend and participate.

A&R CONVENTION
The A&R Annual Convention will be held on 4/13/2023.  It will be held at the union office in Rocky Hill (805 Brook St, Rocky Hill, CT).  The Convention will begin at 5:30pm.  All active members are invited to attend.

Happy Holidays to all and have a safe New Year's celebration!

- 12/21/22

As you may be aware, our medical plan has something called "Providers of Distinction" whereby utilizing one of the listed facilities/doctors earns you a small cash rebate/reward.  This week, those reward checks were mailed out to roughly 2,000 State Employees, unfortunately, the message associated with those checks was not very clear as to why the check was mailed and the checks looked very "odd" (an example is pictured in the thumbnail).  These checks are legitimate and are related to your use of a Provider of Distinction.  If you receive a check from "Navia Benefit Solutions" it is because you utilized a PoD.  All recipients of the checks will soon receive a follow-up message explaining why they are receiving this check, but it is important that you don't mistake this check for "junk mail", it is legitimate and you can deposit that check safely.

To view the list of Providers of Distinction visit this site: carecompass.ct.gov/providersofdistinction