BCEA Director/Memberhship Meeting, Tuesday, May 24, 2005 @ 5:30 p.m.
Location: Candi's Deli, 2625 Aztec Dr, Hegan Lane, Chico, CA
Everyone is encouraged to attend
Shop Steward Training, Tuesday, May 16, 2005 @ 5:30 p.m
Location: BCEA Office, 2210 5th Ave., Oroville, CA
Everyone is encouraged to attend
For an update on BCEA Negotiations & Meetings, please log onto our negotiatons page.
www.mypage.onemain.com/bcea-gcea/hotlinks.htm
Newsletter
After eighteen months BCEA has finally prevailed against the County in its Unfair Labor Practice Charge. This charge stems from an incident at the Public Works Yard in September 2003 in which eight BCEA Members were denied their Weingarten Rights. Weingarten Rights are as a result of a Court case decided in 1975 which states that “an employee may be represented by the Union at an investigatory interview with his /her employer when the employee reasonably believes that the interview may lead to disciplinary action”. The eight employees were subject to investigatory interviews (some more than once) and denied Union representation regarding the finding of more than 300 pornographic magazines in the Public Works yard on September 25, 2003.
County Counsel tried unsuccessfully to argue that one must have an “objective” belief of discipline and not just a “subjective” belief and that the employees were given advisories that they were not under suspicion of wrongdoing. The PERB Administrative Law Judge of over twenty years however ruled that “I find under Weingarten principals that employees were entitled to Union representation during investigatory interviews concerning the discovery of pornographic material at the worksite”. … “that the inquiry to determine if an employee is entitled to representation is not whether an employer assures an employee that he is not the target of the investigation rather the inquiry is an objective one based on a “reasonable evaluation” of all the circumstances.”
The remedy to this unfair charge is that the County must post notices in areas where notices to employees are customarily posted. The notice must state that they have committed an Unfair Labor Practice and the notice must stay posted for 30 working days. Please make sure that these notices are posted prominently in your work place. If you discover that it is not posted please notify BCEA immediately
BCEA has requested that all Shop Stewards and Site Reps post the Weingarten Know Your Right card for everyone to have for reference in case you need to answer the age old question “Hey the boss just called me into the office what are my rights?”
The dreaded “dress code” and “blue jeans” issue has reared it’s head again. It was reported to me a couple of weeks ago that during the Department of Social Services new employee orientation; when discussing the Suggested Dress Guidelines; that if the supervisor deemed the clothing being worn by an employee was inappropriate, the employee could be sent home to change, and I agree that it can be an acceptable solution to the problem. However, my concern is that the wearing of blue jeans was specifically mentioned. You CAN NOT be sent home if the ONLY reason is that blue jeans are being worn. It appears that only the General Unit clerical employees are given this message. Granted, if the blue jeans or any other clothing is torn, dirty, or otherwise inappropriate, steps can be taken by the supervisor, but NOT just because blue jeans are being worn.
Per the Suggested Dress Guidelines, the following clothing items are generally considered inappropriate:
*Tee shirts or clothing with decoration or printing which is humorous, obscene, sexually provocative, or contains advertisements.
*Clothing adornment or accessories having inappropriate advertisements or political meaning when worn while you are representing the County in public.
*Thong footwear made of any material.
*Clothing that is sloppy or revealing.
The Dress Guidelines do say the whatever is worn should be modest, in good taste and worn with common sense.
NOTE: Nowhere are blue jeans mentioned.
Where is it? Held up as usual!
This year's BCEA Picnic will be on Saturday, September 10, 2005 at the Oroville Forebay.
More Information will be in newsletters to follow.
BCEA Local 1 Office, 2210 5th Avenue, Oroville, CA
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of our members that BCEA only sends out emails to members who have
specifically requested to be on our email listings. Although, there is not much happening right now that we are reporting
on, in the future if you wish to receive updates from BCEA, please remember that we must have your permission before we
can send out emails.
The Annual BCEA Picnic is set for Saturday, September 10, 2005, if you wish to volunteer your services, please notify the BCEA office.
Notary services are provided by me, please call for more information at 533-8003.
Please remember all of the Veterans on Memorial Day. Thank them for all of our freedoms!
Following is a list of BCEA, Local 1 members in need of donations for catastrophic leave. If you choose to donate vacation or compensatory time off to either or all in need, you can pick up forms at the BCEA Local 1 office or off of our website, under the forms icon.
* At this time, Michele Evenson, Employment & Social Services; Patricia Frieze, Public Health; Julie Heussner, Probation; Geraldine Jones, Employment & Social Services; Shirley Koenig, Employment & Social Services; Jerry Massie, Behavioral Health; Doris Mitchell, Employment & Social Services; Kimberly Tatum, Child Support Services; Sandra Tonies, Employment & Social Services; are in need of Catastrophic Leave Donations.
You can print a form by clicking:
Printable FORMS
Here we are, another month gone. We have already sprang into May and summer will be here soon. As I sit here and consider what topic I would like to address this month, the same topic keeps coming to mind. I want to talk about your place in the union.
All members need to know that BCEA has a place for you. BCEA is only as strong as the strength of its members. The union means that you have a written contract with your employer (Butte County). BCEA is here to ensure that no one can just be moved in to take your job. BCEA has fought for better pay and benefits. Your union is here to make sure you are treated with fairness not favoritism and that you are treated with dignity and respect.
BCEA needs your support and participation. We need to know about all of the problems that are occurring, no matter how small they may seem. Small issues if left unattended turn into big issues. BCEA wants to hear your input. We will be having our monthly meeting in Chico, on May 24, 2005 at 5:30pm. I encourage everybody to attend. (Please check the calendar below for location details).
by Tiffany Gerbing, BCEA Safety Committee Representative
Have you ever seen something you didn’t think looked safe? Did you consider telling anyone or finding out how you could make it safer? Inside the County’s Injury and Illness Prevention Plan, Section 5.0 outlines the Communication of Safety and Health Matters. 5.1 Reads: “Employees are encouraged to report safety hazards to their supervisor by submitting a ‘Report of Safety Hazard’ form.” (Your name is optional) 5.6 Reads: “A notice shall be posted on safety bulletin boards explaining the procedures for reporting safety hazards in the workplace. The departments shall provide the ‘Report of Safety Hazard’ forms to employees so that hazards are communicated to responsible persons.”
With all that said some of you may never have seen this form, so I asked that one be included in the newsletter this month. This form is also available on the county back-bone in Public Folders/General Services/Safety Folder Index/Forms and is now on the BCEA website under “Forms” Section 5.7 Reads: “There shall be no reprisal to any employee who makes a complaint to their supervisor, department safety representative, the Butte County Risk Management/Safety Office, or Cal-OSHA.” (Preferably in that order.) At this point, I suspect some of you are rolling your eyes saying “yea, sure”. Well just remember, when it comes to my safety, I want to be sure. Safety must start with observation then follow through with communication. If you don’t let someone know, then there is no possibility for change. And if you don’t want to fill out the form then find someone who will do it for you. Eventually you’ll run out of excuses and realize that you may be the person depended on to tell someone. Have a safe day.
When I first came to Butte County for the second time in the Spring of 2000, I was amazed at the frequency of unscheduled evaluations. It later became evident to me that these evaluations were being used to document discipline as it was the only format that management in Butte County understood. It was easy, they could just check the boxes that said you were bad, with no explanation. Much to the credit of our Human Resource department they started teaching management on how to write counseling memos to document bad behavior. My experience however in dealing with these counseling memos is that they were poorly written and really took the form of written reprimands.
I believe that to correct this, Human Resources now has introduced a new tool for management and it is called the “discussion record”. Once again management has an easy way of telling you are wrong as this record comes in a handy dandy fill in the blanks format.
In reality the discussion record and the counseling memo are one in the same thing. What should you do when you get one of these things? First if management calls you in the office make sure that you ask them if this meeting will entail a discussion record or a counseling memo, if they say yes call a Union rep, if they say no get a witness to that effect, to keep them honest. Management may say you are not entitled to Union representation, that is pure baloney! These may lead to discipline, plain and simple! Why just the other day management called a member in and he asked me to be there at the meeting, we talked and behold a week later the manager issued him a discussion record and it had nothing to do with the content of the meeting. In another incident, management called a member in and talked with them about a problem, a week later management announced they were going to start using discussion records and to my amazement gave this person two discussion records retroactively.
Remember, you have rights, get a witness preferably a Shop Steward as they are trained to deal with managements tactics, don’t let management put words in your mouth, it is not to your advantage.
By Karen Jantzen
The following information about Short-Term Disability Insurance is in response to the employee questions and concerns we have encountered lately at the Auditor’s Office-Payroll Division I hope that this additional information will prove valuable to employees and will alleviate some of the confusion that arises from the SDI process.
There is a 7-day waiting period for SDI benefits to begin. The amount received in benefits from SDI will be calculated on the amount earned in the previous four consecutive quarters, and is generally 50% of the employee’s current bi-weekly rate.
Employees will need to provide the Payroll Division of the Auditor-Controller’s Office a copy of each check and the “Explanation of Benefits” received from SDI, no matter if the employee has used leave credits or not.
The information obtained from check copies and the “Explanation of Benefits” will be used to calculate an adjustment to the employee’s gross wages. The adjustments are made as soon as possible to prolong the employee’s County compensation. Please be aware that any money you receive from SDI is a portion of your wages, so you will need to be prepared for a smaller payroll check from the County. A good strategy is to hold onto the SDI check until you see an adjustment from your Payroll check, then deposit the check.
Wage adjustments are calculated per the MOU. The employee’s gross bi-weekly wage is multiplied by 85%, the product has the SDI check amount subtracted from it. The result will be the new adjusted gross wage. The employee’s gross bi-weekly wage with the new adjusted gross wage subtracted from it will yield the adjustment amount.
We will be making positive adjustments to the employee’s leave balances and negative adjustments to the gross pay the employee receives from Butte County. This process is called “Coordination of Benefits”. This Coordination of Benefits has been provided for Butte County Employees as a means to enable employees to continue to receive full salary (net County check + SDI check) while using leave balances at a reduced rate. Your Union has negotiated for this benefit.
Receipt of wages from an employer while disabled will affect benefits paid by SDI. SDI benefits plus employer paid wages cannot exceed the employee’s regular weekly wage. In essence, an employee cannot be paid by both SDI and the County at his full salary level for the same period of time. The employee would be double-paid for that time, hence the wage reductions to bring the amount received from both sources combined back into line with his true salary level.
The amount of SDI payments received will not equal the amount of wage adjustments. Wage adjustments will always be greater. The net of County pay combined with SDI benefits will be very close to your pre-disability net.
For each wage adjustment that is made, leave will be credited back to the employee's leave balances in order to prolong their County compensation. A full 14-day wage adjustment will generally credit the employee with approximately 40 hours of leave. The amount of leave to credit back is calculated by dividing the amount of the SDI check by the employee’s hourly wage.
Taxes will be calculated on the adjusted gross wage. The adjusted gross wage is the amount remaining after wage adjustments have been made. Wage adjustments will continue until sick leave balances are exhausted, short-term disability benefits end, or the employee becomes non-compensated by the County. Please refer to your individual bargaining unit agreement (MOU) for leave usage other than sick leave.
It is not uncommon for the employee to have returned to work and still need to final disability adjustments deducted from subsequent paychecks. This is why it is extremely important that SDI check copies are turned in to the Auditor’s Office in a timely manner. Until the Auditor-Controller’s Office receives check copies and the “Explanation of Benefits”, it will be necessary to charge the employee’s sick leave balances at 100% to cover the time that he is off work.
Essentially, without Coordination of Benefits employees would only receive SDI payments, no County wages, and no leave would be returned to them. Without County compensation, employees may also find themselves owing the County’s portion of Health Insurance payments and other benefits.
Pamphlets containing additional information are available from the Auditor’s Office Payroll Section. Short-Term Disability Insurance Program representatives can be contacted at 1-800-480-3287.
By Deidre Rodriguez, Labor Relations Representative
One of the most frequent questions we receive from employees is, “Do I have to sign this?”
In general, your signature on a document of any kind only means that you have read the document. Unless it states otherwise, your signature is an acknowledgment of receipt, NOT an admission of guilt or agreement with the content of the document.
Many times employees are requested to sign memos, letters of reprimand, etc. and the employee does not agree with the contents of the memo. You do have a right to refuse to sign the document. Your supervisor should simply write, “employee refused to sign” on the signature line. You do not have to initial this statement. You can also sign the document and next to your signature write, “I do not agree” or “ I acknowledge receipt only.
Policies, rules, regulations, and expectations are another type of document you may be asked to sign. The above paragraph applies in these situations as well. You need to know that you will be held responsible for adhering to the rules or expectations whether you sign the document or not. Some Supervisors or Departments send certain documents out to the employees once or twice a year and ask for a signature each time. You should read and be familiar with the policies.
You should receive a copy of any document you sign or refuse to sign – immediately. If you do not agree with the contents of the document or have any questions, call BCEA Local 1.
If you have a County computer then you have a computer password. In the near future when KRONOS comes on line then everybody will have a password to enter their time in an electronic time card. These passwords are yours and yours only and it is a violation of the County’s Computer Policy to give your password out to any one. This includes your Supervisor, his/her supervisor or your Department Head. BCEA, Local 1 has heard that some Supervisors are asking for your password, again this is a violation of the Computer Policy and they do not need them. Information Systems and your Supervisor can access your computer with their password and this leaves an electronic trail as to who was using your computer and when. This ensures the integrity of the County’s computer system.
If your Supervisor has ever asked for your password, if you have ever given your password out to anyone we would suggest you change it immediately. If your Supervisor insists they have a copy of your password notify BCEA, Local 1 at once, as stated above this would be a violation of the Computer policy by not only you but your supervisor.
Local 1 now has a rent-a-car benefit for our membership. The discount is through Enterprise Rent-a-Car and is 10% off rates in Northern California.
Internet:
http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/home.do
By Phone:
Call their toll free number at 1-800-rent-a-car (1-800-736-8222. Or the branch in Oroville
(530) 534-8891 or the Chico branches at: (530) 899-1188 or (530) 342-7300.
Make sure you call the BCEA, Local 1 office at 538-7380 for the corporate number before you set up a reservation so you can receive your 10% discount.
Pleas join us and help improve and preserve the benefits for both Active and Retired Public Employees.
For information call: 533-2496 or 343-7727.
This counter was initiated on July 4, 2000