2014 Additions Language

AFSCME Sick Leave Bank

SECTION 1. Eligibility to donate sick leave

To be eligible to donate sick leave under this Bank, the employee must:

1. Be a regular full-time or part-time member of the bargaining unit who is eligible for plan benefits;

2. Have an accumulated sick leave balance sufficient, at the employee’s FTE, to carry the employee through 720 hours; and

3. Not have submitted a resignation or retirement to the District prior to making the donation.

SECTION 2. Eligibility to receive sick leave

1. To be eligible to receive sick leave under this Bank, the employee must:

a. Be a regular full-time or part-time member of the bargaining unit who is eligible for cafeteria plan benefits. Employees meeting these criteria who are on a district-approved medical leave of absence are also eligible

b. Have exhausted her/his accumulated sick leave and all other paid leave, such as accrued vacation, if applicable, at the time the recipient requests a donation from the Bank

c. Be eligible for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) prior to the beginning of the need for donated sick leave

d. Not be receiving benefits from Workers Compensation or Social Security

e. Not be receiving long term disability benefits

f. Not be serving a disciplinary suspension

g. Not have submitted a resignation or retirement to the District

h. Must have a serious medical condition or need leave to care for the serious medical condition of the employee’s spouse, parent or member of the employee’s household

i. Due to the serious health condition, need a prolonged absence from duty and suffer a substantial loss of income

2. Definitions:

a. A “serious health condition” has the same meaning as in 29 C.F.R. §825.113(a) of the FMLA regulations, except that elective surgeries and minor illnesses are not covered as serious health conditions

b. A “substantial loss of income” means the employee has exhausted all paid leave available and has been unpaid for five (5) duty days at the employee’s usual FTE

SECTION 3. Process for Donation

1. To donate sick leave to the Bank, an eligible employee must complete a sick leave contribution form and submit the completed form to Human Resources.

2. Contributions must be made in whole hour increments and may not exceed eighty (80) total hours during the time the donor is employed by the District.

3. Donations, once made and processed by Human Resources are irrevocable.

4. Donations are not taxed to the donor and are not tax deductible.

5. Days donated are donated at the donor employee’s regular rate of pay

SECTION 4. Application for Benefits

To receive sick leave from the Bank, an eligible employee must complete a sick leave donation form and submit the completed form to Human Resources. Employees are required to provide medical documentation of their eligibility. Updated documentation of the serious medical condition must be provided by the employee upon request by Human Resources.

SECTION 5. Sick Leave Bank Benefit

1. Sick leave time received may only be used on a prospective basis beginning with the first day following determination of eligibility. Sick leave time received shall not be used for a back period or for periods of unpaid time.

2. A recipient may not receive more paid time under this Bank than they would otherwise receive if they were working. For example, non-contracted work days shall not be compensated nor shall an employee receive pay for days or hours in excess of their FTE.

3. A recipient’s pay will continue to be taxed in accordance with state and federal tax tables, and all authorized deductions will continue to be deducted from the recipient’s paycheck.

4. Recipients shall not accrue additional sick leave based on hours received from the Bank.

5. Any use of the Bank will run concurrent with leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Use of the Bank will not extend the FMLA period.

6. Hours received are paid at the eligible recipient’s regular rate of pay.

7. In no case shall the benefit received through the Bank exceed 480 total hours at the employee’s FTE during the time the recipient is employed by the District.

8. In the case of an employee receiving a donation due to the need to care for the serious medical condition of the employee’s spouse, parent or member of the employee’s household, the maximum benefit received shall not exceed the time permitted in Article 11, Section 1, Subd. 5.

SECTION 6. Administration of the Bank

1. The identities of donors and recipients are private data consistent with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. The recipients of sick leave from this Bank shall not be informed of the identities of the donors and donors may not be informed about the identity of recipients nor shall donors be allowed to designate specific recipients for their donation. Employees shall not intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other employee with respect to donating or receiving leave under this Bank.

2. The Bank shall be administered by the District’s Human Resource Department subject to the terms of this Memorandum. The decisions of the District in administering the Bank are final and not subject to the grievance procedure.

3. Donated hours shall be distributed to eligible recipients on a first-come, first-served basis and in no case may the number of distributed hours exceed the number of hours donated. If more than one qualifying request is received on the same day and insufficient donations exist in the Bank, existing Bank donations will be divided equally among the qualified recipients.

4. Any recipient found to have provided fraudulent information shall be immediately removed from the program, subject to disciplinary action, required to repay money received from the program, and criminal prosecution may be pursued.

MOA replacing MOA signed 3/27/14

Proposed Changes & Additions for Continuous Operation Employees

1. CONTINUOUS AND EXTENDED OPERATIONS

A. Definitions.

1. Continuous Operations. Any employee or group of employees engaged in an operation for which there is regularly scheduled employment on a twenty-four (24) hour a day, seven (7) day a week basis shall be known as continuous operations employees.

2. Extended Operations. Any employee or group of employees engaged in a work operation for which there is regularly scheduled employment for more than the normal work day and/or normal work week as defined in Section 2B and who are not continuous operations employees, shall be known as extended operations employees.

B. Work Day. The normal work day shall consist of eight (8) hours, nine (9) hours, ten (10), or twelve (12) hours of work within a twenty-four (24) hour period, exclusive of a duty-free lunch period. A shorter work day can only be scheduled in conjunction with the eight (8), nine (9), ten (10), or twelve (12) hour days to complete a normal work week/pay period.

To depart from the normal work day or to establish a shift that is not currently being used by that Administrator in the interest of efficient operations, to meet needs of the public or a department, to provide for more beneficial client or student services, or to better use facilities or the working forces, no less than twenty-eight (28) calendar days notice will be given to the Local Union. This does not preclude assignments required to meet the need of an emergency. Upon request, the Administrator will discuss the new schedules with the Local Union affording it an opportunity to express its views, prior to the posting period required in Section 2C. When schedules are changed the new schedule shall be posted pursuant to Section 2C. Existing schedules may remain in effect.

C. Turnaround Time. The number of hours between scheduled shifts shall not be less than seven and one-half (7-1/2) hours. Violations shall be compensated at the rate of time and one-half for all hours worked on the shift following the hours of rest.

An employee who works twenty-four (24) consecutive hours has the right to use vacation, compensatory time, alternate holiday, or leave without pay for his/her next scheduled shift, if that shift is contiguous to the hours worked.

D. Rotating Shifts. The provisions of Section 2B shall not apply to rotating shifts. Rotating shifts will be determined by the Department Administration. An example of a rotating twelve hour work schedule shall be on a 14 day work cycle contemporaneous with Section 2D and as may look as follows:

Week A. two (2) days on, two (2) days off, two (2) days on, one (1) day off;

Week B. two (2) days off, two (2) days on, two (2) days off, one (1) day on

For payroll purposes and in order that Continuous Operation Employees are paid for not less than eighty (80) hours per pay period (unless on leave without pay or suspended without pay), within every fourteen (14) day work schedule, the employee shall be paid four (4) hours of pay for hours the employee did not work during one week, and in one week the employee shall work four (4) hours which shall not be paid or computed as overtime hours. Each bi-weekly paycheck shall show four (4) hours without pay during the “short” week.

2. HOURS OF WORK

General.

A. Consecutive Hours. The regular hours of work each day shall be consecutive except that they may be interrupted by unpaid lunch periods. No split shifts will be implemented without the mutual agreement of the Local Union and the Appointing Authority Administrator. Each party may cancel such agreement with thirty (30) days written notice to the other party.

B. Work Shift. A work shift is defined as a regularly recurring period of work with a fixed starting and ending time, exclusive of overtime work. The Administrator may change the starting or ending times of an existing shift up to and including two (2) hours after providing the notice period required in Section 2C.

C. Schedule Posting. Except for the situation referenced in Section 1B which requires a twenty-eight (28) day notice, work schedules showing the shifts, days, and hours of all employees shall be posted at least fourteen (14) calendar days in advance of their effective day. All schedule changes shall require such fourteen (14) day notice absent some unusual condition or situation which may arise, for departmental operational necessity, or unless an emergency is declared by the Administrator. In addition, employees being returned to work as part of a workers' compensation placement are not entitled to a fourteen (14) day notice.

D. Work Week. The workweek will be a calendar week starting with the first full shift as determined by the Department Administraton and pay period cycles. These work periods shall be used for computation of pay for all work falling within the workweek.

E. Time-Trading. Employees who are qualified and capable may mutually agree to exchange days, shifts, or hours of work with the approval of their supervisor which shall not be unreasonably denied and provided such change does not result in the payment of overtime. Hours worked as a result of employee shift/time trading shall be noted by the employee on their pay period time sheets. Hours worked shall be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay and shall not be computed for overtime (overtime pay or compensatory time off) purposes. It shall be the sole responsibility of the employees involved to keep track of traded hours and arranging for the paying back of traded hours. There shall be no work shift trading in excess of thirty (30) consecutive days without prior written authorization signed by the Administrator.

F. Daylight Savings Time. Employees required to work more than their regular shift due to the change from daylight savings time to standard time shall be paid for the additional hour worked at the rate of time and one-half (1-1/2). Employees required to work less than their regular shift due to the change from standard time to daylight savings time shall be paid for the actual hours worked. Employees may use vacation time or compensatory time to make up for the one (1) hour lost. Employees in the first six (6) months of employment who would be eligible to accrue vacation, may be advanced one (1) hour of vacation time which shall either be deducted from their vacation leave balance, or deducted from their last paycheck if the employee is separated prior to accruing vacation.

3. OVERTIME

A. Overtime Hours. Except as otherwise provided in this section, all hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week, outside the established work day in Section 1B, before or after an employee's regular scheduled shift, or on any regularly scheduled day off, shall be considered overtime.

For employees assigned to a rotating schedule based on a fourteen (14) day pay period as defined in Section 1D, all hours worked in excess of eighty (80) hours per pay period, outside the established work day in Section 1B, before or after an employee's regular scheduled shift, or on any regularly scheduled day off, shall be considered overtime.

All paid vacation time, paid holidays, paid sick leave, compensatory time off, and paid leaves of absence shall be considered as "time worked" for purposes of this Article.

Part-time employees whose established work day is less than eight (8) hours shall not be considered to be working overtime until having completed eight (8) hours of work.

B. Overtime Rates. All overtime hours shall be compensated at the rate of time and one-half (1-1/2).

C. Scheduled Overtime. Scheduled overtime is overtime which is assigned by the end of the employee's last worked shift prior to the overtime assignment and which does not immediately precede or immediately follow a scheduled work shift.

Unless notified otherwise in advance of the scheduled starting time of the scheduled overtime assignment, any employee who is scheduled to report for work and who reports as scheduled shall be assigned at least two (2) hours work. If work is not available, the employee may be excused from duty and paid for two (2) hours at the employee's appropriate rate. If the employee begins work but is excused from duty before completing two (2) hours of work, the employee shall be paid for two (2) hours at the employee's appropriate rate.

D. Distribution. An effort shall be made to distribute overtime work as equally as possible among employees in the same job class and in the same work area who are capable of performing the work and who desire the overtime work. When practicable and if the supervisor knows an overtime assignment is necessary, he/she shall begin the distribution process at least two (2) hours in advance of the overtime assignment. This does not preclude assignments required to meet the need of an emergency.

The overtime work shall first be offered to the employee(s) then on duty, qualified, on the same shift, and work area who that has the least number of overtime hours to his or her credit. Should the employee choose not to accept the overtime assignment, the employee with the next fewest overtime hours to his or her credit shall be offered the assignment. Offered overtime hours not worked shall be considered as "worked" in calculating the equitable distribution of overtime.

New employees entering the bargaining units shall be credited with the number of overtime hours equal to the highest number of hours to the credit of any current employee in the same class and same work area.

The Administrator shall not be required to cut in on work in progress in order to maintain an equitable balance of overtime. An accumulative record of overtime hours worked or offered each employee shall be made available to the Local Union Representative upon request. The record of each employee's accumulated overtime hours worked and overtime offered but not worked shall be adjusted to zero (0) hours once per year on a date determined by the Administrator. The Administrator shall notify the Local Union of the date within thirty (30) calendar days of the execution of this Agreement, for the term of the Agreement.

In the event all capable employees in the same shift and work area decline overtime work, the Administrator shall have the right to assign overtime based upon inverse order of Classification Seniority among capable employees.

The assignment shall be rotated each pay period beginning with the least senior capable employee based on Classification Seniority. In all instances, the overtime work shall first be assigned to employees then on duty if such overtime is for the immediately subsequent shift.

Employees may request not to be offered voluntary overtime by means of a written waiver submitted to the local personnel officer, provided, however, that the Administrator retains the right to assign overtime, in inverse order of Classification Seniority among capable employees in the event that all capable employees decline overtime work. Employees may rescind such waivers upon fourteen (14) calendar days written notice to the local personnel officer.

In emergencies, notwithstanding the terms of this Article, the Administrator may assign someone to temporarily meet the emergency requirements regardless of the overtime distribution.

4. SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL

Shift differential for Continuous Operations Employees working on assigned shifts which begin before 6:00 A.M. or which end at or after 6:00 P.M. shall be five (5) percent of the employees hourly rate for all hours worked on that shift. Such shift differential shall be in addition to the employee's regular rate of pay and shall be included in all payroll calculations, but shall not apply during periods of paid leave.

Employees working the regular day schedule who are required to work overtime or who are called back to work for special projects shall be eligible for shift differential only for the hours that fall within the 6:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M. time frame.

All shifts between 6:00 P.M. on Friday through 6:00 A.M. on Monday will receive shift differential.

Employees who are typically assigned to a shift that is eligible for shift differential, but who work an overtime shift outside of their normal schedule (voluntary or forced) will receive shift differential regardless of the hours.

5. HOLIDAYS

A. Shift Work. For purposes of this Article, when a work shift includes consecutive hours which fall in two (2) calendar days, that work shift shall be considered as falling on the calendar day in which the majority of hours in the shift fall. When a work shift includes an equal number of consecutive hours in each of two (2) calendar days, that work shift shall be considered as falling on the first of the two (2) calendar days.

B. Holidays on Day Off. When any of the above holidays observed in Article 7. Holidays fall on an employee's regularly scheduled day off, the employee shall be paid. in cash for the holiday at the discretion of the Appointing Authority. If the Appointing Authority does not choose to pay the holiday hours in cash, the employee may choose to receive the holiday hours as vacation or compensatory time. (The employee must be eligible to accrue and use vacation in order to choose to receive payment as vacation.)

C. Work on a Holiday. If more employees in a work unit would normally be scheduled or are scheduled to work on a holiday than necessary, and there are conflicts in requests for the holiday off, the Administrator shall grant the holiday off on the basis of seniority as determined by the Administrator, provided that the Administrator retains the right to schedule employees with the ability and capacity to perform the job.

Of the employees normally scheduled to work who do not request the holiday off at least twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to the holiday, the most senior employees shall be assigned to work the holiday.

D. Payment. Compensated on a time and one-half basis in addition to regular holiday pay per Article 7. Holidays.

6. VACATION

A. Vacation Period. Every reasonable effort shall be made by the Administrator to schedule employee vacations at a time agreeable to the employee insofar as adequate scheduling of the work unit permits. If it is necessary to limit the number of employees in a work unit on vacation at the same time, the Administrator shall determine whether conflicts over vacation periods shall be resolved among classes or within a particular class based upon staffing needs. In either event, vacation schedules shall be established on the basis of seniority within the employee's work unit.

B. Requests. Whenever practicable, employees shall submit written requests for vacation periods at least four (4) weeks in advance of their vacation to their supervisor, on forms furnished by the Administrator. When advance written requests are impractical, employees shall secure the approval of their supervisor by telephone or other means at the earliest opportunity. Supervisors shall respond to vacation requests promptly and shall answer all written requests in writing no later than ten (10) calendar days after such request is made.

Any request for a vacation of five (5) working days or more, including holidays, which is submitted five (5) calendar weeks or more in advance of the requested date of the start of the vacation shall be posted within five (5) calendar days in the work unit of the employee requesting the vacation for one (1) calendar week to allow other employees who may desire to request vacation for the same period to do so. All such requests must be submitted to the supervisor within the posting period.

Conflicts involving vacation scheduling shall be resolved as provided above. Supervisors shall respond to the request(s) within one (1) calendar week of the end of the posting. No request may be submitted for a vacation period more than six (6) months in advance of the request. However, an employee may request vacation which commences more than six (6) months in advance if a posted request contains days which are within six (6) months. With the agreement of the Local Union, the Administrator may establish deadlines for vacation requests within the six (6) months period.

When an employee decides, more than fourteen (14) calendar days in advance, not to use vacation time which was approved under the posting system, the Administrator shall post a notice of this fact in the work unit and consider new requests for vacation.

No vacation requests shall be denied solely because of the season of the year but shall be dependent upon meeting the staffing needs of the Department.

C. Work During Vacation Period. No employee shall be required to work during the employee's vacation once the vacation request has been approved.