All members should know their rights under the contract. We want to remind members of the following changes to our contract relating to winter weather:
DELAYED OPENINGS
In the instance of a Governor (designee) delayed opening of 11:00AM or later, Article 16 Section six of the A&R contract shall not apply and employees shall be expected to arrive at the Governor (designee) declared start time. In instances where an employee arrives after the Governor (designee) declared start time, said employee may opt to either make up the extended delay or charge said excess time to accrued leave. In all other regards, including delayed openings prior to 11:00AM, Article 16 Section six and MOU VIII language shall control.
Article 16 Section Six allows for 1 hour for inclement weather and an additional 1.5 hrs based on severity of weather and other conditions. If the latter 1.5hrs is not granted, that time can be charged to leave accruals or made up during the pay period.
Also, if the Governor gives a start time prior to 11:00 or declares a delayed start of an hour or 2, then the 1hr (as listed above) is "stackable", meaning, you can add the hour to the delayed start (this was confirmed via arbitration award)
SHIFT CANCELLATIONS
When a shift off (or any portion thereof) is granted by the act of the Governor (or his/her designee) an employee scheduled to charge vacation accruals, sick, or personal leave on that shift shall not be charged. However, this provision shall not apply in the event the employee had leave scheduled for the entire week (e.g..: Monday - Friday).
ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES
When an employee is required to work despite the Governor (designee) ordering a closing of some or all of that employee's normal shift, the following shall apply: In addition to any overtime involving the shift, the employee shall receive straight compensatory time, in addition to the employees' regular pay, for the hours worked during the employee's normal shift when the State has been ordered closed.
The above items were all incorporated into the A&R contract as a result of face-to-face negotiations.
The changes boil down to the following:
- For delayed openings of 11:00AM or later, report at the time specified. The lateness provisions of Article 16 section six are still applicable, but only for delayed openings before 11:00AM.
- If you have taken PL or VAC time to ride out the storm, you are no longer required to burn the PL or VAC time if your shift (or any portion thereof) is canceled. Accruals will still be charged if you had leave scheduled for the entire week.
- Essential employees - If you are required to work during a shift cancellation, in addition to your regular pay, you will now receive comp time for the hours worked.