Winter Weather

With the snow piling up, we hope everyone is staying warm and safe! This seems like a good time to remind SHARE members that we have contract language about Inclement Weather that may be useful. The full Article is on page 18 of our Contract.

Time Offset Option for “Non-Essential” Employees

For employees who are designated “non-essential”, if you miss work because of the weather, there may be an option to make up the time you missed instead of using your own vacation time. It will depend on the kind of work that you do, the tasks at hand, the hours that you cover, etc.

The contract says:

Time Offset Option

Employees who are excused from job duties due to inclement weather may, at their discretion, workplace conditions permitting, choose to make up the lost time, instead of using their own earned time. The time missed due to the weather event can be made up in a single instance or in increments, and must be worked within the same pay period as the event.

Your department may already have a standard way of handling this. If not, you can show your supervisor the contract language and discuss how it applies in your case. You should both feel free to reach out to SHARE and/or the HR Office of Labor and Employee Relations to help figure out how to use the time offset option to meet your needs and the needs of the department.

Inclement Weather and "Essential" Employees

Because some essential functions of the Medical School must be maintained, and some departments cannot simply close, usually those that operate 24/7 or 7-days a week, a plan for staffing coverage is needed. To be clear about who has to come to work in these cases, employees need to be designated as “essential” or “non-essential” by their department head. If there is confusion or disagreement about an employee’s designation, it should be discussed by the employee and the department head, either of whom may also ask for help from SHARE and/or the HR Office of Labor and Employee Relations.

Questions?

Please talk to a SHARE Rep in your area or call the SHARE office: 508-929-4020.

Looking Ahead to Winter Weather

Weather is on the way

Some early predictions suggest that, in our neck of the woods, we're going to experience average to slightly-below-average temperatures this Winter. Of course, it's too early to know how many heavy snowfalls we're going to get.

With that in mind, below you'll find some information reprinted from last Winter. We've got a smart weather policy in our contract, and we want it to help your season go a little more smoothly . . .


INCLEMENT WEATHER AND THE TIME OFFSET OPTION

In conversations leading up to the previous contract negotiations, it became clear that SHARE members saw a greater need for flexibility during inclement weather situations, which led us to negotiate the Time Offset Option as a new part of our Inclement Weather contract language.

The contract says:

Time Offset Option 

Employees who are excused from job duties due to inclement weather may, at their discretion, workplace conditions permitting, choose to make up the lost time, instead of using their own earned time. The time missed due to the weather event can be made up in a single instance or in increments, and must be worked within the same pay period as the event.

About the Time Offset Option

This option is only available to “non-essential employees” and your ability to use this option will vary depending on your workplace conditions--for example, the kind of work that you do, the tasks at hand, the hours that you cover, etc. Throughout any weather event, you should have clear communication with the appropriate supervisor about your needs and the needs of the department. 

Since this Time Offset Option is new to supervisors as well as to SHARE members, to minimize confusion we recommend you and your supervisor talk through the specific expectations before the bad weather hits. There might not yet be any standards on how your department implements this new Time Offset Option, so the details might need to be worked out. Please feel free to ask advice and help of your SHARE union rep, who will be happy to help you address your individual needs and work with you and your department to develop standards if needed.

About Inclement Weather and "Essential" Employees

Because some essential functions of the Medical School must be maintained, and some departments cannot simply close, usually those that operate 24/7 or 7-days a week, a plan for staffing coverage is needed. To be clear about who has to come to work in these cases, employees need to be designated as “essential” or “non-essential” by their department head. If there is confusion or disagreement about an employee’s designation, it should be discussed by the employee and the department head, either of whom may also ask for help from the Union and/or the Office of Labor and Employee Relations.

For More Details

The SHARE-UMMS inclement weather policy, including the Time Offset Option, can be found on page 12 of the contract. If you have any questions please email us at share.umms@theshareunion.org or call the SHARE office: 508-929-4020.

Inclement Weather Policy and the Time Offset Option

Winter is coming.

And with it, inclement weather. So far, we've had it pretty good (knock on wood!). Hopefully we won't be seeing the 103 inches of snow we saw last year in the City of Worcester.

However, even if we don't see record snowfall this year, snow might yet cover our streets, causing hazardous conditions that can make it very difficult to travel and come to work. 

In conversations leading up to the previous contract negotiations, it became clear that SHARE members saw a greater need for flexibility during inclement weather situations, which led us to negotiate the Time Offset Option as a new part of our Inclement Weather contract language.

The contract says:

Time Offset Option
Employees who are excused from job duties due to inclement weather may, at their discretion, workplace conditions permitting, choose to make up the lost time, instead of using their own earned time. The time missed due to the weather event can be made up in a single instance or in increments, and must be worked within the same pay period as the event.

About the Time Offset Option

This option is only available to “non-essential employees” and your ability to use this option will vary depending on your workplace conditions--for example, the kind of work that you do, the tasks at hand, the hours that you cover, etc. Throughout any weather event, you should have clear communication with the appropriate supervisor about your needs and the needs of the department. 

Since this Time Offset Option is new to supervisors as well as to SHARE members, to minimize confusion we recommend you and your supervisor talk through the specific expectations before the bad weather hits. There might not yet be any standards on how your department implements this new Time Offset Option, so the details might need to be worked out. Please feel free to ask advice and help of your SHARE union rep, who will be happy to help you address your individual needs and work with you and your department to develop standards if needed.

About Inclement Weather and "Essential" Employees

Because some essential functions of the Medical School must be maintained, and some departments cannot simply close, usually those that operate 24/7 or 7-days a week, a plan for staffing coverage is needed. To be clear about who has to come to work in these cases, employees need to be designated as “essential” or “non-essential” by their department head. If there is confusion or disagreement about an employee’s designation, it should be discussed by the employee and the department head, either of whom may also ask for help from the Union and/or the Office of Labor and Employee Relations.

For More Details

The SHARE-UMMS inclement weather policy, including the Time Offset Option, can be found on page 12 of the contract. If you have any questions please email us at share.umms@theshareunion.org or call the SHARE office: 508-929-4020.

 

Questions about July 3

Q. Do SHARE members have to work on July 3?

A. Most SHARE members will not have to work on Friday, July 3. Some SHARE members may be required to work in order to keep their department open that day. Those employees will have Monday, July 6 off. 

Q. Do I have to use my own time to take July 3 off?

A. No. If you do not have to work July 3, you will be paid for the holiday.

Q. How will my time be counted if I work July 3 and take July 6 off?

A. If you do work July 3, you will earn holiday compensatory time, which you can use to take July 6 off. (For rules about what counts toward the calculation of overtime, see the section "Overtime" on page 24 of the SHARE contract.)

Q. How can I find out if I have to work on July 3?

A. If your department needs to be open on July 3, the department manager will make a plan for the necessary coverage and communicate that to any employees who will be asked to work that day. If you are not sure if you will be expected to work, check with your supervisor.


If you have more questions about any of this, talk to a SHARE rep in your area, or call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020.

UPDATE: Change in Overtime Policy

The negotiated change to the Overtime Policy will be reflected in the next paycheck (the one issued January 30, for this week and last week's work.) SHARE recently received this revised implementation date from Human Resources, which comes sooner than reported in a previous blog post.

These changes will not affect SHARE members in Animal Medicine, Psych Continuing Care Units, and Public Safety.

In the most recent SHARE-UMMS contract negotiations, the Medical School management team approached our union with the intent to reduce the Overtime paid to SHARE members. The SHARE negotiating team contended that many members rely on OT as an essential part of their wages. And, because some departments use OT as an inherent part of their staffing model, or sometimes mandate employees to work OT in order to get urgent work done, maintaining the OT pay standards would be particularly important there.

After research and discussion, we reached an agreement with the employer that makes some changes to the policy, but which works to protect those core concerns. The new policy, as it appears in the current SHARE contract, is copied below.

Overtime

Monday-Friday, day-shift-only departments:

Employees in these departments shall be compensated at the rate of time and one-half their regular rate of pay for authorized overtime work performed in excess of forty (40) hours per week. Effective 1/1/2015, if sick leave, vacation time, holiday compensatory time or personal time is used in the same work week, it shall not be considered as time worked for the purposes of calculating overtime compensation. Holidays shall be considered time worked for the purpose of calculating overtime compensation. It is the intention of the parties that employees in these departments should not generally be forced to work overtime. If a particular department requires the use of forced overtime, the parties will meet to discuss the matter.

Departments with weekend shifts, evening shifts or night shifts:

Employees in these departments shall be compensated at the rate of time and one-half their regular rate of pay for authorized overtime work performed in excess of forty (40) hours per week. For employees in these departments, holidays, vacation time, holiday compensatory time and personal time shall continue to be considered time worked for the purpose of calculating overtime compensation. Sick time shall not be considered time worked for the purpose of calculating overtime compensation. Employees in these departments shall continue to be compensated at the rate of time and one-half their regular rate of pay for authorized overtime work performed in excess of their regularly scheduled shift, as long as that shift is at least 8 hours.

These departments are: Animal Medicine, Psych Continuing Care Units, and Public Safety.

Review of effect of overtime rules:

UMMS and SHARE will convene a joint committee to study the effect of this Overtime article on departments and employees, in both kinds of departments. If there are concerns on either side, the parties will discuss them. (See also Side Letter on Overtime and UMMS Finances.)

Vacation Caps and Overtime

Some of the changes negotiated in the contract will take place a little later than planned. As with the raise and retro, these dates are not guaranteed, but HR Operations has given us their intended schedule:

Vacation Cap Lowered and Excess Paid Out

• 320 hours to 280 hours: March 13, 2015 paycheck (originally scheduled "on or after 11/1/14")
• 280 hours to 240 hours: July 3, 2015 paycheck (originally scheduled 4/1/15)

Overtime Rules Change for Mon-Fri, day-shift-only departments

• February 13, 2015 paycheck (originally scheduled for 1/1/2015). No change for departments with weekend shifts, evening shifts or night shifts.

Below are the contract sections about Vacation Cap Payout and about Overtime. 
Click here for the complete contract language.

Contract Language on Vacation Cap Payout (p.26)

"Vacation accrual caps will be reduced from 320 hours to 280 hours on or after 11/1/14, and then to 240 hours on 4/1/15. Employees with vacation accruals above the cap will be paid the hours in excess of the cap at their current rate of pay. 

Employees who request vacation time with proper notice, are denied the time, and then exceed their cap, will be paid the value of the time that they would have accrued had the request been granted."

Contract Language on Overtime Rules Change (p. 24)

"Monday-Friday, day-shift-only departments:

Employees in these departments shall be compensated at the rate of time and one-half their regular rate of pay for authorized overtime work performed in excess of forty (40) hours per week. Effective 1/1/2015, if sick leave, vacation time, holiday compensatory time or personal time is used in the same work week, it shall not be considered as time worked for the purposes of calculating overtime compensation. Holidays shall be considered time worked for the purpose of calculating overtime compensation. 

It is the intention of the parties that employees in these departments should not generally be forced to work overtime. If a particular department requires the use of forced overtime, the parties will meet to discuss the matter."