A&R's Social Committee pulled off a miracle of their own this year.  In keeping with longstanding tradition, and despite the pandemic, A&R held it's annual Holiday Party at the Aqua Turf!  This year, 2020, was a lot different than most - and our party was different too.  For one thing - Santa and his elves were in attendance!  A&R members were able to safely gather (truth is there was no gathering) to enjoy fun, friendship, solidarity, and holiday cheer.  Social distancing was achieved, with members lining up in their cars to safely attend the roll-through party, one car at a time.  Games were played, prizes awarded, and all to the sound of holiday music!

Thank you to all who attended. A special thank you to all the volunteers who made this event possible...and thank you to all the A&R members who donated toys in support of the United Labor Agency's Toys for Tots program.

We hope you enjoy the holiday season!!!!

Click on the link below to see photos from the 2020 Holiday Party
https://photos.app.goo.gl/L3bndyVPvLkmamHM9

Winners of the Baskets:

Wine Basket - Ana Rybka
Coffee Basket - Shiela Rittman
Lotto Frame - Lakiya White-Moore
Man Basket - Mike Kordowski
Comfort Basket - Tawny Pho
Italian Basket - Lisa Marie Cavaliere
Quarantine Basket - Jessica Silva
Winter - Noelle Bisson

The Winner of the 65" TV:  Mark Burno

Registration for the A&R Holiday Party Has Closed.

For those attending, you will recieve a confirmation letter in the mail, you don't need to bring anything with you, we will hand you everything you need when you arrive...see you at the Aquaturf on Friday 12/4!

Half-Day Rule

Every time A&R hosts a holiday party or picnic, we have some agencies who don't quite understand the "1/2 day" language in our contract (which is amazing b/c we hold 3 events a year every year yet every time we have at least one agency who suddenly decides they can't understand the words "half day"), so here is what the State and A&R have agreed to:

A half day is half of your scheduled hours for that day...if you have a 9hr day, that would be 4.5 hrs of LPRTY time, if you have a 6hr day scheduled then you get 3hrs of LPRTY.   Then there is "pure flex"...if you're on pure flex, then you get 4hrs (we pretend it is a regular 8hr day).  So the other 4 hours for that day can be made up in any manner you wish.

Further, if the Party/Picnic falls on your scheduled day off, you can adjust your schedule for that week to make the day of the Party/Picnic a work day and therefore utilize your LPRTY time for that day.

Lastly, yes, of course you can take accrued time or PL in the morning of a Party/Picnic (not sure where this myth was created, but you certainly can take accrued time on the same day as the Party/Picnic).

Has the pandemic put a damper on your plans?  Looking to roll more than ten days of vacation time over into next year?  You can!  Our contract allows it.  All you need to do is ask permission of your agency.  And permission shall not be unreasonably denied.  Simple as that!

Here is the contract language: No employee may carry over, without agency permission, more than ten days of vacation leave to the next year.  Such permission shall not be unreasonably denied. (Article 18, Section Two).

This only applies to the vacation time you earned this year (not your entire vacation accrual bank); so if you earned 15 days of vacation this year and you only plan to use 2 days of vacation, you may request to carry over 13 days.  We are aware that the State typically does NOT require employees to make this request, but for some unknown reason some agencies have decided to create problems where none has existed before.  Therefore, we are advising everyone who wants to carry an excess of 10 days to make the request.  There is NOT an agreed upon standard form for this purpose (sorry, DRS, you made this form up on your own and we don't accept it) so an email request should be sufficient.

The other option is to use your "excess" vacation (we certainly encourage everyone to take the needed time off), so please request vacation time if you don't want to carry any of it over into next year

[side note: A&R does not agree that the carry-over provision is based on a calendar year rather than a contract year, but the State is applying the calendar year for this carry-over provision]. 

IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO - VOTE!!!!

REMINDER:

Elections are Tuesday November 3rd...every polling station in CT is open from 6:00AM to 8:00PM.
Further, any absentee/mail-in ballot that is placed in the "drop-box" by 8:00PM on 11/3 will be counted.

If you aren't registered, you can show up to your town's "EDR" location (Election Day Registration location) and register and vote that same day...so you have not missed out just yet!  You will need to provide proof of identity and proof of residence in that town, so be prepared.

BUT....keep in mind, this election cycle is extremely important to State employees; the State Senate and State Rep candidates elected this year will be voting on your next contract!!!  (it is no longer the same process many of us have experienced before, State statute now requires the State legislature to vote on our contracts)

Do your part A&R, make sure you cast your vote and have your say in this election.  This election will impact you and your family directly.  Don't let this slip by you.  Make the commitment, make the effort, and VOTE.

Where to start with this one....as you are aware, most of the activities from A&R are accomplished through the efforts of volunteers.  We have always been fortunate and grateful to have support from our membership to accomplish everything from training classes at Water's Edge to political activity at the Capitol to social events at the AquaTurf, but as you will see below, we have lost quite a bit over the past month or so and we are looking for more helpers!

A&R 2nd Vice President:  our beloved 2nd Vice President: Janet Andrews (DRS) has taken a promotion and is no longer a member of A&R. 

This year the residents of Connecticut will be electing our General Assembly (Senate and House).  The representatives in the General Assembly is of extreme importance to State Employees as this General Assembly will be the group who votes on our next labor contract...so A&R (with some help from AFT-CT) has vetted the candidates and made our endorsements for candidates who will support our next contract when it comes for a vote in the General Assembly.  A&R does not get involved in national politics, so we took no position on US Congress or the Presidential race...but the State Senators and