Back in March of 2023, A&R filed a grievance on behalf of all employees who were scheduled to be in-office on two snow days, February 28th and March 14th. On both of those days "in-office" employees were directed to either Telework or use their accrued time; a directive that is in contrast to the language of the Telework Agreement.
On February 28, 2023 (and again on March 14th), the State closed office buildings due to snow and directed employees who had a scheduled office day to stay home and telework or use accrued time such as Vacation or Personal Leave for that day.
February 27, 2023 - "All Level 2 state employees who are able to telework shall telework for the duration of the storm related closures"
March 13, 2023 - "...we are directing all level 2 state employees to stay home on Tuesday, and those whose job duties allow them to work remotely should do so"
There was no disagreement that if an employee was scheduled to telework on the storm days then the employee was obligated to telework or use accrued Vac/PL time. However, there was a dispute whether employees who were scheduled to be "in-office" on the storm days could be directed to Telework instead.
A&R was fully aware that the Telework Agreement was crafted to ensure that Telework is always an "employee choice" and is not to be an employer mandate. A&R made it clear to members that they had (and still have) the choice to Telework (or to choose NOT to telework) when a building is closed when they are scheduled to be in the office and under those circumstances if the employee chooses NOT to telework then they did not need to use Vac/PL...so A&R filed a grievance requesting that the State:
- cease and desist making this improper directive
- recoup any improperly charged Vac/PL/Comp time
- make whole any "in-office" employee who was compelled to work on those snow days
The arbitration decision was awarded yesterday August 20, 2024 and the arbitrator ruled that there was nothing in the agreement that allowed the State to direct office-designated employees to Telework. To the contrary, the arbitrator noted that this exact situation was described in the agreement and that telework was voluntary under these circumstances. As a result, the arbitrator has ruled as follows:
- Directed the State to cease mandating employees authorized to telework to telework on days that State offices are closed and the employee(s) is not scheduled to telework
- Employees that were not scheduled to telework on Feb 28 and/or March 14, but were directed to telework on one or both of those days and did telework as directed shall be offered a compensatory day off
- Employees that were not scheduled to telework on Feb 28 and/or March 14, but were directed to telework on one or both of those days, and did not telework but used accrued leave on that day(s) shall have the accrued leave used restored to their applicable leave balance.
A big, collective thank you to all involved in this grievance including our A&R Chief Steward Patrick Lamb, A&R attorney Marshall "Chip" Segar, and SEBAC attorney Dan Livingston. Going forward, if you are scheduled to be in-office and the office is closed, you are NOT required to telework (you certainly may if you choose) and you are NOT required to use Vac/PL days to cover the workday...however, if you are scheduled to telework and the office building is closed then you are required to telework as scheduled.