CBA 5.5-5.6

02. November 2018 · Comments Off on CBA 5.5-5.6 · Categories: News, Your Contract

What’s in Your Contract? Insurance and EAP

Article 5.5 covers a few insurance-related benefits, mostly for permanent civil service employees. Civil service employees working at least 20 hours per week have long-term disability coverage that activates after 180 calendar days out of work and will replace up to 50% of your lost income, up to $1000 per month.

SFUSD LTD Class 1Download

SFUSD also provides active employees with a term life insurance policy for the duration of your employment; this policy also covers dismemberment and other serious injuries that prevent you from working. Supplemental coverage for the employee and dependents is available if you are interested – the plan document has all the details.

SFUSD Life Cert Class 1Download

5.5.2.1 details the District’s responsibility for the family of an employee who passes away. Unfortunately, changes in City statutes around employee health coverage limit our ability to extend coverage for families of employees hired after January 8, 2009. The District will proactively reach out to family members to make them aware of all available benefits to help them during their time of need.

5.5.3 reflects, compliant with Ed Code, that Thanksgiving, Winter Break, and Spring Break are not breaks in continuous service for employees.

5.5.4 covers workers compensation and modified/light duty. More detail on this is contained in the Return to Work Policy.

Return to Work Program AppendicesDownload

5.5.5 provides that the District will continue paying the employer portion of all benefits while you are on a job-protected leave such as CFRA, FMLA, or using your sick leave (including donated leave):

When protected and paid leaves expire, and 12 additional weeks have passed, the District will cease paying these employer contributions.

CBA 5.5.5

5.5.6 allows for “blending” of disability payments and sick leave to retain 100% of your salary while you are on state disability leave.

The Employee Assistance Program in CBA 5.6 can provide a variety of confidential advice and assistance on financial, mental health, and addiction issues. EAP will also provide grief counselors to worksites in the event of the death of a coworker or other similar situation.

Symetra EAP FlierDownload

CBA 5.2 – 5.4

30. October 2018 · Comments Off on CBA 5.2 – 5.4 · Categories: Civil Service, Union Perks, Your Contract

What’s In Your Contract?

Articles 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 – Retirement, Health, and Dental

Retirement
Unlike every other school district in California, classified staff in SFUSD are not part of the CalPERS system. We participate with other civil service workers in the San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS). SFERS is governed by a retirement boardelected by public employees in San Francisco. The retirement board makes important decisions about how your pension dollars are invested, and how much of your paycheck is contributed to pensions.

SFERS also provides for retiree health care, which is funded by a 2-3% contribution from member paychecks in City and County departments. In SFUSD, retiree healthcare benefits are instead paid for by QTEA tax revenues and do not come directly from your check.

Civil service employees become eligible for the retirement system upon permanent appointment, or after working 1040 hours in a 12 month period. Your specific benefits vary based on your hire date, and you can get all the details of your specific benefits at www.mysfers.org. 

SFERS Plan III A8.603 (hired on or after 1/7/2012)

SFERS Plan II A8.600 (hired on or after 7/1/2010 and before 1/7/2012)

SFERS Plan I A8.587 (hired on or after 11/2/1976 and before 7/1/2010)

SFERS Plan A8.509 (hired before 11/2/1976)

2018 Retiree Health Benefits Guide

You are entitled to a yearly consultation on retirement benefits, and can also voluntarily contribute to a 403(b) planfor additional retirement savings. For more information regarding 403b and 457 Plans, please contact Guillermo Garcia in the Payroll Operations Department at 241-6114, EXT.3075.

Health Insurance
Health insurance for SFUSD employees is provided through the San Francisco Health Service System. The HSS boardnegotiates rates and coverage details on our behalf, and your union negotiates the employer/employee split with the district. 

2019 Health Benefits Guide
WageWorks FSA Form

Dental and Vision
In SFUSD, all members who qualify for health insurance also qualify for visionand dentalcoverage. You can additionally sign up for a Flexible Spending Accountto save money on taxes for your personal health care spending.

There is a lifetime maximum benefit of $750 for orthodontia, per covered person. Each year your dental insurance will cover $1500-$2000, depending on whether your dentist participates in the Delta Premier program. Coverage starts at 70% for the first year, and goes up 10% per year you consistently visit the dentist, to a maximum of 100% coverage.

How to Qualify for Health Coverage
The qualification is a little complex – so I’ll break it down into a few categories.

1. Regularly scheduled workers who are assigned 30 or more hours per week
If you are hired into a regularly scheduled position (your check does not say “as needed”) and work at least 30 hours per week, you will qualify for health insurance on your first day of work.

2. Regularly scheduled and as-needed workers who work at least 20 hours per week, on average
If you average at least 20 hours per week for all hours worked between July 1 and June 30 in a year, you will be eligible for health insurance starting the following January 1, and must sign up during open enrollment.

3. Permanent Exempt employees working less than 20 hours per week
The District will cover 75% of the employee-only cost for the Kaiser plan if you are PEX and work less than half time

4. PEX workers in Student Nutrition Services
The District will cover 100% of the employee-only cost for the Kaiser plan if you are an employee of Student Nutrition appointed Permanent Exempt and don’t otherwise qualify for health insurance. This provision addressed one of the long-standing inequities for SNS workers who were improperly assigned. No current members fall into this category.

Retiree Dental
If you would like to keep your SFUSD dental coverage when you retire, you are able to pay out-of-pocket to maintain it for 18 months. Generally, it’s a better idea to sign up for the retiree dental coverage instead.

Contract – Art. 5 (part I)

29. October 2018 · Comments Off on Contract – Art. 5 (part I) · Categories: Stand Up!, Union Perks, Your Contract, Your Rights

What’s In Your Contract?

Articles 5.0 and 5.1 – Compensation and Longevity

Article 5 is where wages and benefits live in our contract, except for leaves (in articles 12 and 13).

5.0 details the negotiated raises for the current term of the contract: 5% on July 1, 2017; 4% on July 1, 2018; 3% on July 1, 2019. Together with the parcel tax salary adjustment (more on that at our chapter meeting next week), our members will see a 15.875% increase over the three years of the contract – over 16% when you consider compound interest!

5.0.1 details the lump sum payment our members received on ratification of the contract in 2017. We negotiated a fixed-dollar lump sum payment because it provides extra benefit to our lowest-paid members, where percentage salary adjustments benefit our highest-paid members the most. It’s important that we make sure everyone gets a fair shake at affording life in the Bay Area.

5.02 details some salary adjustments for classes that have no incumbents, or did not for many years – these classes had fallen behind everyone else’s schedule, so when we hired a new shade and drapery worker the starting pay was only $17/hr.

COMMITTEE ALERT! There’s a committee in 5.0.2.4 that will start meeting soon to work on wages and hours for SNS workers. If you’re interesting in being involved, please contact Jesse Tangk so we can include you. We want lots of member representation on this committee.

5.1 Longevity Premium
To thank our most experienced members for sticking around, we have longevity premiums for members that have worked at least 10 or 15 years. At 10 years, it’s a 30 cent per hour premium, and at 15 years it’s 60 cents (up from a previous 40 cent premium). That works out to $24 or $48 per paycheck if you work full time.

New in this contract cycle, you don’t have to work a minimum schedule to qualify and previous city service counts for the 15 year level (it used to only count for the 10 year level).

Check your pay stub! If you have worked at least 10 years and are not currently receiving longevity pay, please let us know right away. The computer doesn’t always automatically set it up, so we need you to keep an eye out and report if you have a problem.

Next week we’ll look at 5.2 retirement, 5.3 health, and 5.4 dental (we get a lot of questions about these, so send me your questions and I’ll cover them in the explainer!)

CBA 4 – Translation

25. October 2018 · Comments Off on CBA 4 – Translation · Categories: Your Contract, Your Rights

What’s In Your Contract? Article 4 – Translation and Distribution

“Upon ratification… the District and Union shall cause this contract to be translated into Spanish and Chinese.”

It’s important that all of our members can read and use their contract. Because so many of our members speak and read languages other than English at home, the union and the district should provide translated versions of the contract for easier understanding. As a union, we have also discussed adding a tagalog translation to the contract.

Unfortunately, because of the cost, we have not distributed a properly translated contract since 2013. This is where we need your help: I know we have many bilingual members who can assist with translation, and we can pay for your time to do so. If you are able to help and work some extra hours, please contact Jesse Tangk, Tracy Brown, or Ken Tsui.

Article 4.2 specifies that when we file grievances or lawsuits, we do so with the English-language version of the contract.

Articles 4.3 and 4.4 cover distribution of the contract. The contract is to be posted online (see draft here) and hand delivered or sent through school mail to all members. A copy of the contract is also provided to all principals, site administrators, and new hires.

We are currently waiting to resolve a couple of changes in Articles 8 and 9 based on new state laws, and the final calculation of the Prop G salary supplement, before we send the current contract to the printers.

Next week we’ll start in on Article 5 – Compensation and Benefits. It’s the biggest article of the contract, so I’ll deal with it in pieces.

CBA 3 – Nondiscrimination

24. October 2018 · Comments Off on CBA 3 – Nondiscrimination · Categories: Your Contract

What’s In Your Contract?
Article 3 – Nondiscrimination

“No employee shall be discriminated against because of… non‐merit/non‐job related factors.”

That’s the basis of the nondiscrimination language, which is supported by Board Policy 4030. Several specific categories of prohibited discrimination are listed, and protection from sexual harassment is specifically called out.

If you believe you are being mistreated on the basis of non-job-related factors, including protected category discrimination, you may report to:

  • the employee’s immediate supervisor;
  • the District’s Human Resources Department (Executive Director of Talent Management or Chief Administrative Officer);
  • the District’s Labor Relations Department (Senior Labor Relations Representative or Chief of Labor Relations);or
  • the District’s Office of Equity (Director).

In general, these reports take the form of a Uniform Complaint. A uniform complaint triggers an investigation, and the District is bound to provide a report of findings and action within 20 business days.

If the complaint is specifically about discrimination in hiring or firing, it should be instead reported to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the City’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. 

You are protected by contract, policy, and law from retaliation for filing a complaint of discrimination, and the union and the District are bound to strict confidence in handling the complaint, which means no unnecessary sharing of information in the course of investigation. However, you should be aware that the investigation will include interviews with those against whom you make allegations.

If you have a fear of retaliation or an employment-related discrimination concern, please contact a steward for assistance so we can ensure all of your rights are protected.

If you have been assaulted or threatened, you have additional protections and options under contract Article 24.

CBA – Frontmatter

23. October 2018 · Comments Off on CBA – Frontmatter · Categories: Your Contract

What’s In Your Contract?

Preamble, Article 1, Article 2

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be going through your contract to get you familiar with what’s inside. Today we start at the beginning: these first three articles lay the foundation for the agreement, but they’re a little dry. Bear with me and I promise it will get more interesting!

Keep in mind that this is a draft of the contract, and may have minor updates before it is final.

Preamble – Statement of Purpose
The preamble (formerly held in Article 2) has been updated for the new contract to reflect a broader vision of the work we do together: “This Agreement supports the efficient operations of the District and bargaining unit members’ vital contribution to fostering a successful, intersectional, equitable learning environment for the children and families of San Francisco.” It’s important to remember why we’re here, and why we invest all this effort in organizing and fighting for better working conditions – our working conditions are the students’ learning conditions.

Article 1 – Recognition
Membership matters. In article 1, we identify who SEIU 1021 will represent in the district. In the past couple of years, we have added several new classifications as the result of organizing and policy work, because when we work together we are better able to achieve our goals. Section 1.1 details the procedure for recognizing these new classifications. If there are disputes about whether a class is properly part of our unit, the CA Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) will make a ruling according to the Educational Employee Relations Act (EERA). As public employees, we are not subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board like workers at private companies.

Article 2 – Term of Agreement (and other matters)
Three basic contract tools exist in article 2: term, severability, and scope. 2.0 Term specifies how long this contract will last, before a new one is negotiated. Your current contract expires on June 30, 2020.

2.1 Severability accounts for the possibility that some part of this contract may become out of compliance with the law. If that happens, the rest of the contract will not be impacted.

2.2 Full Agreement represents that there are no other agreements outside of this contract that impact the rules inside of this contract. No employee handbook or private deal can overrule the terms of the contract. What you see is what you get.

Section 2.3 contains a “reopener” clause that allows us to return to the table to discuss wages whenever our members at the City get a raise that we do not get.

Next Thursday we’ll cover Article 3, Nondiscrimination, in some detail. See? It does get more interesting.

Sick Leave Donations – What You Need to Know

11. May 2018 · Comments Off on Sick Leave Donations – What You Need to Know · Categories: Stand Up!, Your Contract, Your Rights

In the 2016-2017 Contract, SEIU added language to support donation of sick leave to your coworkers. Unlike some other units, we don’t have a limited “open enrollment” period or a “bank” to manage, instead we collect donations for each individual who needs leave.

How to Donate
First, let us know you have leave available that you’re willing to donate.

If you already know whom you want to donate to, you can download the donation form here and turn it in to any steward.

Otherwise, we’ll keep you informed when members need donations, and ask you to fill out a donation form for each member in need.

One of our stewards will collect the forms for each member in need and deliver them to Labor Relations.

Donations will be used in a cycle, 2 hours at a time. Any unused leave will be returned after the member’s needs have been met.

How to Request a Donation
Just let any steward know you need help. Gesner Nazaire at Cesar Chavez is your steward in charge of catastrophic leave.

You must meet the eligibility requirements:

  1. Unable to work because of your (or an immediate family member’s) illness or injury for at least 30 days
  2. All of your sick leave will be used up
  3. You have documentation of your medical need*
  4. You are eligible for accrued sick leave
  • We respect your privacy: you do not need to tell us, or HR, the specific nature of your medical condition. We only need “a statement signed by a doctor, dentist, podiatrist, licensed clinical psychologist or Christian Science practitioner with information sufficient to certify your illness”

Read all the details in your contract

Take a look – it’s in a book

26. July 2017 · Comments Off on Take a look – it’s in a book · Categories: Your Contract, Your Rights

There’s lots of important info in your contract to help you be happy and productive at work. Read all about it

What’s your cost of living?

20. March 2017 · Comments Off on What’s your cost of living? · Categories: Stand Up!, Your Contract

Help us get information on what our members spend on housing, health, and commuting so we can make better economic proposals at the bargaining table.

Take the Survey »

We must stand together! Help activate your worksite

05. March 2017 · Comments Off on We must stand together! Help activate your worksite · Categories: Stand Up!, Your Contract

Do you want to bargain, or beg for scraps? We need every school and worksite to raise their voices for the pay parity we deserve. City classified workers just negotiated a 6% raise over the next 18 months, which would leave us 21% behind if the school district doesn’t step up.
Tell your coworkers, tell your supervisors, tell the school board: It’s time for pay parity.

Join the CAT team to get inside info on bargaining and updates on workplace actions and other things you and your coworkers can do to make sure the district treats us with respect. Call Arlene Sharp at 415-370-0498 or click here!

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