– 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
– 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!!!
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