HomeMy WebLinkAboutES06-016 - Other - AFSCME 2006-2008 Labor Agreement - 03/16/2009 - MOU - Furlough Days MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
By And Between
THE CITY OF KENT
And
WASHINGTON STATE COUNCIL OF COUNTY AND CITY EMPLOYEES,
AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local #2617
This Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") memorializes the agreement
between the City of Kent ("City") and the Washington State Council of County and
City Employees, AFSCME Local #2617 ("Union"). The parties agree to the
following, which shall supersede and control over the current 2006-2008 collective
bargaining agreement and the MOU extending the collective bargaining agreement
to December 31, 2009 (collectively referred to as "CBA"), to the extent there is a
conflict between those documents and this MOU.
SECTION 1. PURPOSE
WHEREAS the City of Kent is experiencing a significant financial shortfall in 2009;
WHEREAS the CBA provides for a cost of living adjustment ("COLA") based upon
90% of the June consumer price index (CPI-W), and members of the bargaining will
be receiving the remaining half of their 5.6% (or approximately 2.72%) of their
COLA on July 1, 2009;
WHEREAS the bargaining unit is entering into this agreement with the City in order
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to assist the City with its financial shortfall and to preserve employees' COLA and
step increases, and to reduce the number of layoffs necessary during 2009.
NOW THEREFORE, the City and the Union agree as follows.
SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS
a) Furlough Ineligible Employees - Members of the bargaining unit within the
Corrections Officer and Corrections Sergeant classifications who are not assigned
to the Accreditation assignment or any of the Programs assignments.
b) Furlough Eligible Employees - All members of the bargaining unit who are not
"Furlough Ineligible Employees".
c) Furlough Leave - Days or hours of leave without pay taken by members of the
bargaining unit in accordance with the terms of this MOU.
SECTION 3. FURLOUGH LEAVE
a) All Furlough Eligible Employees shall reduce their hours by 3.08% (48 hours per
year) from March 16, 2009 (for the April 5, 2009 pay check) through December
15, 2009 (for the December 20, 2009 pay check) in exchange for a non-cash
furlough leave bank of forty eight (48) hours. Regular part-time employees will
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City of Kent and AFSCME Local #2617
MOU re: Furlough Days
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have their hours reduction and furlough leave credit based on their positions'
budgeted percentage of full time equivalents.
b) Furlough leave may be taken by employees in not less than one (1) hour
increment, subject to authorization and scheduling requirements below.
c) Employees will work with their supervisor to schedule their furlough leave in
advance of taking such furlough. Scheduling of furlough shall be subject to
management approval to ensure that there will be no increase in overtime and
no additional cost to the City.
d) The following procedure shall be used for the scheduling of furlough leave time
off:
• If two or more employees request furlough for the same dates, and it
is not feasible to allow those employees to take leave during the same
period, then preference shall be granted on the basis of seniority,
provided the employees submitted their requests between March 1 and
March 31 of 2009. Requests submitted after March 31 will be
recognized by date and not subject to seniority.
• Barring extenuating circumstances, written leave requests from
employees shall be responded to with an approval or denial within ten
(10) working days. The ten (10) working days shall include days in
which the approving manager has received the request and that
manager is scheduled to work (not on leave). If the approving
manager is on leave for ten (10) working days or more, the manager
shall designate a leave approving authority in his/her absence.
• Furlough scheduling for bargaining unit employees shall not be
contingent upon leave scheduling for personnel from other bargaining
units.
e) Employees must completely use the furlough leave bank on or before December
15, 2009. There shall be no carry over of the unused furlough or any portion
thereof unless management denies the use of such based on unforeseeable
events or the inability to maintain adequate staffing. If an employee is denied
the use of said furlough time off, carry over exceptions shall be reviewed and
approved by the Employee Services Director on a non-precedent setting case-
by-case basis, as is currently the practice for excess vacation accruals.
f) Employees who volunteer to take additional leave without pay above and
beyond the forty eight (48) hours may do so by request and approval through
their department's chain of command.
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City of Kent and AFSCME Local #2617
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SECTION 4. SENIORITY AND BENEFITS
a) Furlough leave will not be considered as a break in service and shall not affect
seniority or step advancement.
b) Probationary periods will not be impacted in that mandatory furlough leave will
not add to the length of the employee's probation. However, management
retains the right to extend probationary periods based on terms of the CBA.
c) Health care insurance and related benefits will not be affected by furloughs
except where an employee is on unpaid status for one (1) calendar month or
more.
d) Vacation and sick leave shall continue to accrue, and shall not be impacted by
employee's hours reduction or use of furlough leave.
e) Vacation leave carry over shall not be affected by furloughs. Considerations for
vacation carry over exceptions shall follow the CBA and past practice of the City.
SECTION S. NEW HIRES AND SEPARATIONS
a) New bargaining unit members who are classified as Furlough Eligible Employees
are subject to furlough requirements remaining in 2009, which shall be prorated
based on the full number of pay periods remaining in the year. For example, an
employee hired on May 12, 2009 will be required to take seven (7) months of
furloughs, which equals 37.31 hours (7 months times 5.33 hours/month = 37.31
hours) of furlough. Their hours of work shall be reduced on prorated basis
based on the furlough hours remaining in the year.
b) Employees who have submitted resignation/termination notices are required to
take the equivalent furlough based on the number of pay periods they worked
during the hours reduction period (3/16/09 to 12/15/09) of this MOU.
Employees whose last day of work is on or before the 7th calendar day of the pay
period is not required to take that pay period's furlough.
SECTION 6. RETIREMENTS
a) Members of the bargaining unit who have committed to retiring from the City on
or before December 31, 2010 shall be exempted from the terms of this MOU by
providing written request of such exemption to the City. The retirement
commitment must be submitted in writing by March 31, 2009. Once the written
retirement commitment and exemption request form is received by the City, the
employee's hours will not be reduced and the employee shall not receive the
furlough leave bank as outlined in Section 3.a).
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City of Kent and AFSCME Local #2617
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b) If, for any reason, the member does not retire on or before December 31, 2010,
the member shall be responsible to take forty eight (48) hours of leave without
pay or have the equivalent leave hours deducted from their vacation,
compensatory time or eligible cashable personal holiday leave prior to March 31,
2011 or prior to the employee's separation, whichever occurs first.
SECTION 7. MISCELLANEOUS
a) To the extent this MOU conflicts with any provisions of the CBA or City policies,
this MOU shall control from March 16, 2009 to December 15, 2009.
b) The parties acknowledge that all parties have fulfilled their obligations to engage
in collective bargaining over the subjects contained in this MOU.
c) The Union and City will meet as necessary to discuss any other Issues related to
the implementation of the furlough days, with the goal that all eligible
employees will serve equitable required unpaid leaves.
d) The parties agree that the bargaining unit employees' furlough leave use shall
not result in bargaining unit work being performed by non-bargaining unit
employees of the City. For work groups in which City management performs
some of the bargaining unit work in addition to general oversight, management
agrees not to perform more bargaining unit work than in the past when
bargaining unit members were not using furlough leave.
e) Any dispute regarding the interpretation and/or application of this Agreement
shall be handled pursuant to the terms of the CBA's grievance procedures.
f) This Agreement shall not be interpreted to create a past practice nor shall it set
a precedence for either party.
SECTION S. SIGNATURES
By signature below, all parties agree that the above represents the parties' full and
entire agreement with
// regard to the Furlough Days.
Signed this day of March, 2009.
FOR THE CITY: FOR THE AFSCME LOCAL 2617 UNION:
Suze ooke, Mayor E n Fineout, Staff Representative
oAnh Hoang, r Rel ti s Manager Kathleen Etheredge, Local #2 7 President
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