An engineer grapples with TSR – what do you expect? It’s about math and numbers…

- By Paul Pickett
TSR Leave and Annual Leave: One of the quirks in the contract involves TSR Leave, Sick Leave, and Annual Leave. Everyone now agrees that if your TSRL has been approved for future use, it’s no longer “available” - so you can schedule SL as needed. However, if you have TSRL approved for future use and then want to take additional AL, you have to cancel your future TSRL and use it immediately, then reschedule future AL.

Union leaders and staff think this is a pain in the neck, and Ecology management seems to agree. However the State Office of Labor Relations won’t budge. So we are working with the union to ask for a special side-agreement to let TSRL be used with AL just like it’s used for SL. If this moves forward, we’ll let you know.

TSR Leave for Part-time employees: Full-time employees have it easy. After you work 80 hours you get 5.2 hours of TSRL. Simple. Unfortunately PT employees have to wait until the end of the month to know what their accrual is and the catch is if you are taking vacation on the first of the next month, you need to know that TSRL accrual to make an accurate request so you use the TSRL before your annual leave.

What also makes it tricky for part time employees is that your holiday, personal leave, and personal holiday, as well as your TSRL accrual, are based on your percent of actual work time each month, but your percent time actually worked includes your holiday, PL, and PH time. For Excel users, this is called a “circular reference”.

I’ve asked management how they do the calculation, and I haven’t gotten an answer back yet. So to get a close estimate, as a PT person myself, I’ve set up a spreadsheet to do the calculation. I have my monthly timesheet in Excel with the hours I actually work recorded for each day. Then I total the hours for the month and calculate the percentage I worked for the month.  I multiply that percentage by 8 to get my holiday, PL, or PH time, and by 5.2 to get my TSRL accrued.

Another quirk is that TSRL is reported to 1/100th of an hour (36 seconds!), while you can only request leave to 1/10th of an hour (6 minutes).  This seems silly, but it does create a Catch-22: if you ask for too little TSRL before using AL, or if you ask for more TSRL than you accrue, either way you violate the contract.

Management has agreed to a practical solution: track your TSRL to the 1/100th, but round down to the nearest 1/10th when you make a request. That dangling 1/100th will roll over to the next month. Worst case is you won’t be able to use up to 9/100th when TSRL ends – but luckily that’s only 5.4 minutes of pay lost.  ■

Exchange time goes to a statewide summit with management

-  By Scott Mallery

A month or so back, I attended the first meeting between state-wide management and several Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) members from a few other state agencies.  This meeting was to discuss overtime-exempt employees’ use of exchange time, part of our current contract that was effective July 1, 2011.  It was also to discuss Memorandum of Understanding #8 (Overtime Exempt use of Exchange time).

During this meeting, we (WFSE members) expressed concerns about how exchange time is being implemented by agencies and how we would like to see it managed.   It appears right now that major agencies are having employees adjust their schedules like we do at Ecology, and very little or no exchange time “for the books” is allowed.  Our suggestion for managing exchange use was:


• Let exempt employees have the choice of adjusting their schedules or bank exchange time for later use
• One for one hour exchange time after 40 hours
• Consistent between agencies similar to exchange time policy prior to July 2005

• Management gave some feedback on our suggestions during the meeting.  A more formal response will be given at our next meeting, not yet scheduled. 

Here’s a quick summary of management’s response:


• We want to ensure that the employee has the best quality of life and adjusting their schedule helps that.
• With one for one, this might give the appearance that the employee is overtime-eligible and the employee could lose their overtime-exempt status. There was a lot more discussion than what I summarized here—but that is the nut shell of what we discussed.  I am looking forward to the next meeting.

We also requested data from agencies documenting the use of exchange time from July 2007 to now.  From the material I reviewed (which I thought was from July 2007  to current), I found that about 200 employees had exchange time on the books.  I sent an email in accordance with Article 39.3.C to individuals listed letting them know they might have exchange time.  I asked them to check a spreadsheet and double check with their time keeper to verify the time.

From that email, it was pointed out that some of the information I sent out was not correct.  I found out that the information was only from July 2007 to June 2009 and that there was another report covering July 2009 to June 2011 sent to WFSE a couple days prior to my email.

From all this it is important to know that Ecology has notified individuals of their correct exchange time and beginning on the September 26 payday, your Earning Statement will now show your exchange time balance. Further, you can also use your accrued exchange time before TSR leave. 

Finally, I would appreciate from you any suggestions about the accrual of exchange time, and/or any other ideas on exchange time.  It will help me represent you at the next statewide meeting on overtime-exempt use of exchange time.  You can contact me at scott1221@live.com.  ■

Evaulation season is here!

- Recommendations from Stewards and Staff

Stewards keep running into problems with employee evaluations because employees don’t understand the process or know their rights. Here are a few basic tips that should help:

1.    Evaluations are just your supervisor’s opinion. They are supposed to be constructive, based on objective findings, not disciplinary, and you don’t have to agree with what they say.

2.    Review the evaluation and suggest edits. The best situation is where you can negotiate language that you can both live with. If something bugs you, try wording it differently.  And it’s ok to agree to work on areas of improvement.

3.    If your supervisor won’t change language to something acceptable, write a rebuttal into Section 4. Feel free to add extra sheets. This is your chance to tell your side of the story. They have to include it whether they like it or not. Be respectful because this form goes into your permanent personnel file, not your supervisor’s personnel file.


4.    You have to sign the evaluation or face a charge of insubordination. You are just signing that you have read it, not that you agree. If you don’t like the evaluation, make a note above your signature that you have read the evaluation but disagree with the findings.

Here are a few pointers for updating PDF’s:

• The form needs to be a consensus document that both you and your supervisor agree reflects what you actually do in your job.

• Do not agree to put anything on the PDF that is above your job specifications.  If you sign such a PDF, you are agreeing to perform higher level duties for lower level pay.  You can still work above your level to develop skills, training, etc., just leave it off the PDF.  Document your performance of higher job class work in your evaluation and in your personnel file.
• Do not put on the PDF any duties that are from other job classes.  For example, if you are performing administrative duties like filing, copying, etc., but these duties are not part of your job specification.

• Be clear and precise.  Eliminate vague, undefined, or flowery words.  Use action words to describe your work.

• Pay close attention to the skills and abilities section, and make sure it is accurate.  This is critical and is relied upon heavily by Human Resources in the event of a reduction-in-force.

• If there is a disagreement over your PDF you can get help by contacting a steward.  ■

Bargaining Unit Bulletin - July 2011

Making the Most of TSR Leave
– by Paul Pickett

Employees are now under the new contract as of July 1. “Temporary Salary Reduction Leave” or TSR leave is on everyone’s minds. The new frequently asked questions (FAQs) posted on the intranet are helpful and you are encouraged to look them over.  Here are few additional observations to help you make the most of TSR leave.

The Basis for TSR Leave
TSR leave is an attempt to fix the problems that furloughs created for both management and employees during the last contract. The union still stands by the principal that if you are being paid less, you should work fewer hours.  Instead of a fixed day when the agency is closed, your pay is reduced up-front and you get TSR leave to give you some time back equivalent to the lost pay.

Loss of pay is never a good thing, but with the severe budget shortfalls union members fought hard to make the best of a bad situation. The 3% pay cut is meant to reduce the number of employees losing their jobs. TSR leave gives you more free time and avoids the mess that came from being temporarily overtime eligible, along with building closures and other complications.

Smart Planning for Time Off
TSR leave is handled like Annual leave, but there are a couple of tricky aspects to consider. The restriction that many employees are complaining about is the requirement to use TSR leave before Sick Leave. If you want to protect your Sick Leave, there are some things you can do.

The easiest is to request your TSR leave now for your future vacations between now and September 2013.  If you supervisor approves your TSR leave request, the leave is considered “used” and you can now use sick leave when you need to. It’s ok to request TSR leave before it accrues, same as you can for AL. If the day finally comes to use the TSR and you haven’t accrued enough you will need to modify your request, or management will modify it for you. And like any leave, you can cancel it or change it with your supervisor’s approval.

Remember that the 3% salary cut and TSR could go away before the end of the contract. If the economy improves significantly before the end of the contract (one can only hope!) the pay cut can be canceled. If that happens, no more TSR will accrue.

In any case, using that “loophole” to tie up your TSR depends on your supervisor’s approval. If you have TSR accrued that you can’t commit to vacation time, then you may have to use it for your medical needs instead of SL. Or simply use the TSR as fast as it accrues and enjoy your free time!

Except for the requirement to use accrued but unscheduled TSR leave before AL or SL, it’s pretty much exactly the same as AL. You can bank it, or you can use it in combination with other leave days, exchange or comp time, or holidays. But as July 2013 approaches don’t forget to “use it or lose it”. Only 16 hours can be extended through July and August 2013, and at the first of September it’s gone. ■

Furlough Grievances Move to Arbitration
– By WFSE Staff

In 2010-2011 WFSE filed grievances for almost a hundred Ecology employees because of how management was implementing furlough days (a.k.a. temporary layoff days or TLOs) mandated by the legislature. These cases were consolidated and are working their way toward arbitration hearings. The grievances at Ecology (and also in a number of agencies) cover the following TLO-related issues:


• Refusal to allow reasonable schedule changes for those with alternate schedules (e.g., 9-80, 4-10, etc.). Many lost an extra 1-2 hours of their pay for each of the first two furlough days in July and August 2010. (After those two furlough days a Memorandum of Understanding was reached that created a process for how TLO-related schedule changes would be implemented).
• Failure to adjust and reduce overtime-exempt employees’ workload commensurate with the pay cut created by the TLOs. (In other words, allow a 5% decrease in workload to match the 5% pay cut).
• Failure to fully implement the Spill Responders exemption. While this is an Ecology-specific case, there are similar cases filed in other agencies who failed to fully exempt staff assigned to functions exempted from the furloughs.
• Part-time staff being reduced to less than 20 hours during furlough weeks and losing service time.
• Additional issues related to TLOs are being processed but the list above covers most of the grievances filed for staff in Ecology. Arbitration hearings on these grievances are scheduled starting in August.  As these wrap up, we’ll let you know the outcomes. 

■

UMCC Group Convened Final Meeting Before Elections
– Kerry Graber

The UMCC met on June 10 with managers one last time before “retiring.”  In fact most of the original members of the UMCC were not present for various reasons, so a number of substitutes represented employees, including Sally Lawrence, Norm Peck, Scott Mallery, and Charles San Juan.  Regular members Kathy Conaway and I were present along with WFSE staff Debbie Brookman and Susanna Fenner, and guest Paul Pickett.

The meeting opened with a serious discussion of a piece of correspondence provided to the group as an attachment to the agenda from Ted Sturdevant to Governor Gregoire asking for a veto of certain budget provisions.  The letter asked the Governor to remove provisions that would restrict the ability of layed-off managers to bump classified staff, be placed into vacant, classified positions, or have their pay “y-rated.” 

We conveyed both dismay and concern at this position taken by our Director.  The discussion was not productive, but helped to clarify for us their thinking as well as raise a number of issues that will likely be taken up by the next UMCC.  For a full text of the notes from this meeting please visit the Ecology blog at www.wfse.org.

Other topics discussed:

• Opportunities for management/employee collaboration
• Email migration project
• HR Information Portal
• Use of lunch periods to make up time for OT eligible employees
• “Lean” update and Ecology “reset”
• Inclement weather
• Fleet Management
• Facilities update
• ES Review – class study
• Budget update                                                                    

Overtime Eligible Employees can file a claim for back pay
– Kerry Graber

If you are now defined as overtime eligible and have kept track of uncompensated hours over 40 hours per week you can possibly file a complaint for back pay.  The best documentation would be timesheets, but other records may help.

Visit the U.S. Department of Labor website at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/complaint.htm   to find out more about the limitations and how to file a complaint for back pay.  Don’t wait too long, there is a cut off on how far back you can make your claim. 

Are you thinking about a transfer?

Article 4.3 of the new union contract allows an employee to transfer to a new position if they are qualified for that position and have seniority. Check out the contract language at http://www.ofm.wa.gov/labor/agreements/11-13/wfse.pdf.

Note also that the agency is now posting transfer opportunities on the agency website (http://www.ecy.wa.gov/jobs/CurrentOpenings.html). Check this site regularly – the transfer opportunity is only open for 5 calendar days, which could mean only 2 or 3 business days.

Election Process Underway for State-wide UMCC and Local 443 Representatives

Ballots will be mailed soon so please do not throw out your union mail without looking at it first.  Please Vote!!!
■

Tips on overtime designation

by Paul Pickett, Ecology Steward

By the time you read this, you will have received a letter from Ecology’s Human Resources Office. The letter says your position was reviewed and a determination made whether you are Eligible or Exempt from receiving paid Overtime.

Your letter will tell you that nothing has changed. However almost one-third have received notice that their status has changed from OT Exempt to OT Eligible.

Your union stewards and WFSE staff representatives have been working hard on this issue for over a year. A few newsletters ago we worked out a settlement on this issue that provides a few new benefits:

• You are getting a letter letting you know about your review, regardless of how the review came out. Management previously was only notifying those whose OT status had changed.
• You are getting seven working days to provide HR with more information if you aren’t happy with the decision. This is a new benefit that will apply for this year to our agency alone, and was not previously in the contract.
• If you provided HR with new information, they will inform you how the information affected their decision, whether it changed anything or not.

Chris Parsons, Ecology’s HR Director, is going around the state giving presentations on these changes. He provides a good review of what’s going on, and we hope you will attend one or view his slides on the agency Intranet. But if you are changing from OT Exempt to OT Eligible there are some practical implications that you might need to know about, so we wanted to provide a few observations on how to manage this change:

Eligible is the norm.

First, keep in mind that in the world of Labor you should always be paid time-and-a-half overtime if you work over 40 hours per week. The history of Labor included a long battle to ensure the 40-hour week and paid overtime. That’s why the term “Exempt” is used – it should be the exception, not the norm. Ecology was unusual in the number of OT Exempt positions it had, and the agency’s liability for a U.S. Department of Labor audit led to this review.

You might prefer the flexibility of Exempt and don’t expect any Overtime.

This is true for me and for many people I talk to, and it’s one reason many Ecology staff have fought the OT Eligible designation. However, it’s been the experience of union staff that the benefits of OT Eligible designation usually outweigh the negatives. Ecology member stewards have fought for the rights of employees to have their say, regardless of which OT designation they prefer.

You might feel insulted by the Eligible designation. One of the OT Exemptions is called “Learned Professional."

HR is interpreting this to mean that if a college degree is required for your job (as designated in your Position Description Form), you get that exemption, but if a degree is not required you are OT Eligible. This is jargon from Federal Rules and you shouldn’t take it personally. The fact remains that the agency depends on your education and experience to accomplish its mission. In fact, it means you are valuable enough to get some extra pay for those long weeks in the field or preparing for a deadline.

If you are unhappy with the change, you have options:

1. Use the 7-day period to provide written documentation about why the decision was incorrect. This will take some very quick research on the rules and what you can argue.
2. Your options for a grievance are still open. However, keep in mind that this issue has already been grieved, and it’s within management’s powers to make the OT eligibility determination.
3. Work with your Supervisor to change your Position Description Form. This is the most likely way you can change your OT designation. If the PDF is changed to show a different requirement of qualifications or duties, then the position could be reviewed again for OT designation. A common situation would be if a PDF allows “experience or education”, which would usually trigger an OT Eligible designation. Changing it to a requirement for a college degree could return the position to OT Exempt status. But it might not, if positions with equivalent duties do not require a degree. Also keep in mind that the “experience or education” requirement has kept career paths open for staff without degrees to promote in the agency through on-the-job training. 
4. You could file a complaint with the Department of Labor. However, remember that Eligibility is the norm.
5.  The Department of Labor website (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/backpay.htm) suggests that you might be able to file a claim for backpay for any hours over 40 per week that you worked for the last 3 years.

Learn what your options are and start talking with your Supervisor.

If you are now OT Eligible, you can be paid time-and-a-half for any hours over 40 per week if you have your Supervisor’s approval.  Or, if you and your Supervisor agree, you can get Comp Time instead, i.e. time-and-a-half paid time off. Either way you should be talking to your Supervisor about what situations you envision in the year ahead where you both agree you will need to work more than 40 hours for a week. You will need your Supervisor’s authorization for OT hours, although they could be authorized in a block over a project or a field season. And if you agree on Comp time, you will need to agree on when you take the time off – it has to be used before the end of June in each Fiscal Year.

You still have flexibility in your schedule.

Most Ecology employees are listed in Appendix B of the Contract, which allows you extra flexibility in your schedule. So you should be able to flex your schedule within a 40-hour work week. Also, if you are working a “9-80” alternative schedule (eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day with a flex day off during two weeks), you can redefine your work week so the two weeks are still each 40 hours long. (Your work week might begin at noon on Friday, for example.)

Workload management and field work scheduling will be more difficult.

There’s no sugar-coating this! You will have to watch your hours carefully and work closely with your Supervisor on how to fit your work into 40 hours per week when you aren’t authorized for Overtime. This is where having a clear communication strategy and a good relationship with your Supervisor is very important.
Don’t give your time away for free.

When you are OT Exempt it’s easy to work extra hours and not book it on your time sheet. It goes against the union principle of being paid for the work and time you give to your employer. But it’s still the choice of many employees who care about the work they do. If you are OT Eligible, this is not an option. The agency is liable if you work over 40 hours and don’t pay you Overtime. And you could be subject to discipline if you work over 40 hours per week without being authorized for Overtime. Just don’t go there! Manage your time within a 40 hour work week, or work with your Supervisor on Overtime options. And enjoy the extra time you have for the rest of your life!

Give yourself some transition time.

It may take a while to work out the kinks. Talk to your Supervisor a lot and figure out what works well for your personal style.

Get help if you are having problems.

Talk to a union steward if you are confused or if you are having difficulty with your Supervisor. We want the changes to be to your benefit. And we want to problem-solve so you can continue doing your good work with minimum stress.  ■

Monosyllabic Day, June 1

Governor Gregoire today announced that June 1, 2011 would be honored as "Monosyllabic Day".

"I like Plain Talk, and want all staff to use it" she said. "On this day all staff should speak just with words of just one syl..., er, just short words." The Governor went on to say that if Monosyllabic Day was a success, she might also declare a "Short Sentence Day". "That's good too" she noted.

Summit with Ted - Stewards and UMCC representatives meet with the director

- by Kerry Graber

The sometimes difficult relationship with management seemed to turn a corner when stewards and elected representatives from across the agency met with Ted Sturdevant, Polly Zehm, Chris Parsons, and Amy Heller.  The purpose of the meeting was to find common ground and move from conflict towards a more productive relationship.

To prepare for the summit members and stewards held a number of internal discussions with members.  We went over both our issues and complaints brought to the table as causing conflict.  Some of these difficulties have been highlighted in past  bulletin articles (see Ecology Blog at www.wfse.org), issues that seemed to hit a brick wall with management when brought to the UMCC meetings.  The complaints from management's side were primarily about how the union was pursuing the interests of members, including using this bulletin as a forum to express editorial opinion.

Our internal discussions centered on agreeing to our values, and then holding up our various positions against those values to see if they were still appropriate.  Then we came up with our list of priorities and suggestions to present to Ted at the summit as opportunities for collaboration.

We were able to explain our values as we presented each opportunity to Ted during the meeting.  For example we felt we still had more ideas to offer regarding effective communication and training around the overtime eligibility audit, with the value that clear, upfront communications need to be provided to employees with "no surprises."  We renewed our request to work collaboratively on budget issues such as efficiencies and overhead costs within the agency, in order to pursue participatory management of the agency we all work for and care about.  And we suggested collaboration on training and policy development around "inappropropriate behavior" (or workplace bullying), for a safer and healthier work environment.

The discussion on the last topic stirred up a lot of questions for Ted and Polly.  They both said they were very concerned to hear our characterization of Ecology as having a management culture that allowed workplace bullying.  We gave specific examples, and the stewards were able to illustrate the nature of the problem and the challenge we have representing people who are afraid to come forward in a bullying situation.

Ted wrapped up the meeting by agreeing to provide feedback on these offers of collaboration at the next UMCC meeting (to take place as soon as the legislative session is complete).  He also said he would plan on attending the UMCC meetings as a rule.

Next UMCC meeting scheduled for June 10, 2011.