SUBJECT: Implementation of the January 1, 2005 – December 31, 2006 Commonwealth – Alliance, AFSCME-SEIU, Local 509 Collective Bargaining Agreement for Units 8 and 10

On March 14, 2005, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts signed a labor agreement with the Alliance, AFSCME-SEIU, Local 509, for the period July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2006. On September 30, 2005, an appropriation of funds was approved to cover the fiscal year 2005 and 2006 incremental costs of items contained in the agreement (Chapter 106 of the Acts of 2005). This memorandum authorizes the implementation of the economic provisions of the new agreement effective January 9, 2005, unless otherwise indicated. Information and implementation instructions from the Human Resources Division (HRD), the Office of the Comptroller (OSC), and the Executive Office of Administration and Finance (ANF) are provided below.

The following changes apply to employees in bargaining units 8 and 10. For employees in confidential positions who would otherwise be included in these units, or for intermittent or short-term employees who are incumbents of positions in titles assigned to these units, please refer to the section entitled Confidential, Intermittent or Short-Term Employees at the end of this memorandum.
A copy of the new agreement and this Implementation Memorandum will be posted on HRD’s website at (www.hrd.state.ma.us), as soon as administratively feasible.

INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
Article 4, Section 1: Agency Fee

Amended to enumerate and better define the costs that are excluded in the calculation of agency fee.

Article 4, Section 5: Agency Fee

This new Section ensures that members are entitled to union representation regardless of their dues-paying or agency fee-paying status.

Article 8, Section 1D(2): Sick-in-Family Leave

Effective August 1, 2005, the maximum amount of sick leave that an employee may use for sick-in-family purposes is reduced from sixty (60) to thirty (30) days per calendar year. Please note that references to same sex “domestic partner” are deleted from this Section.

Article 8, Section 1D(3): Sick Leave

An employee may not use more than thirty (30) days of accrued sick leave in a calendar year for adoption-related purposes.

Article 8, Section 2: Domestic Violence Leave

All references to same sex “domestic partner” are deleted from this Section.

Article 8, Section 4: Bereavement Leave

All references to same sex “domestic partner” are deleted from this Section.

Article 8, Section 8: Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)

Effective August 1, 2005, the duration of FMLA family leave is reduced from fifty-two (52) weeks to twenty-six (26) weeks within a twelve-month period. However, at the discretion of the Appointing Authority, employees may be granted extensions of that leave when appropriate.

Article 11, Section 1: Mileage Reimbursement

Effective July 10, 2005, the mileage reimbursement rate is increased to thirty cents ($0.30) per mile for authorized travel related to an employee’s employment. Under a separate Memorandum of Agreement effective September 12, 2005, the mileage reimbursement rate is increased to forty-cents ($0.40) per mile for authorized travel related to an employee’s employment.

Article 11, Section 1: Parking and Tolls Reimbursement

Effective July 10, 2005, the pilot program is eliminated. Effective July 10, 2005, all employees who are authorized to use their personal vehicle for travel related to their employment shall be reimbursed for reasonable associated costs for parking and tolls. Parking and toll reimbursements are no longer limited to those employees who transport or provide services to clients. Authorized employees should utilize the existing mileage reimbursement form, together with parking/toll receipts, to receive reimbursement for parking/toll expenses incurred while performing their job duties.

Since this provision is intended to cover a wide variety of situations (from cities and towns across the state to, and even within, Boston) it is impractical to specify dollar limits for what constitutes "reasonable" parking rates. Managers will have to administer this benefit by relying on their knowledge of parking costs within their area and using their discretion to decide when an employee is requesting reimbursement for costly parking when more affordable parking is available. For example, in Boston, an employee should not be reimbursed for the full rate of parking at the Center Plaza garage (adjacent to the McCormack Building) when lower cost parking is available within reasonable walking distance at the Boston Common garage. If the employee wants to park at the Center Plaza garage they may, but he/she should not be reimbursed at more than the Boston Common garage rate.
Article 11, Section 1: Special Labor/Management Committee

A special labor/management committee is established to discuss parking for employees who are required to utilize personal vehicles to perform essential job duties and where office parking is limited or not available.

Article 11, Section 5: Automobile Allowance

Effective January 9, 2005, the quarterly automobile allowances are increased. Please refer to Attachment E for specific rates.

Article 12, Section 1: Salary Rate Increases

Effective January 9, 2005, base salary rates are increased by 2%.

Effective January 8, 2006, base salary rates are increased by 2%.

Please note that the salary rates for the Correctional Program Officers employed by the Department of Correction are located in Appendices A-1 and A-2, grades C19, C20 and C22. The salary rates for Teachers are located in Appendices B-1 and B-2.

• 
  Employees who received a “Below” EPRS rating on their annual performance evaluation for Fiscal Year 2004, are not eligible to receive the salary rate increase effective January 9, 2005, or any step increase(s). Employees who receive a “Below” EPRS rating on their annual performance evaluation for FY 2005 and beyond, are not eligible to receive any salary rate increase, until their performance is rated “Meets” expectations. (For more detailed information see Article 24A, of the Local 509 collective bargaining agreement).
  
• 
  Employees whose FY 2004 or FY 2005 performance was not evaluated shall not be denied the increase(s) or retroactive payment(s).
  
• 
  Employees on leave of absence as of July 1, 2003, shall also receive the increase(s) and retroactive payment(s), except for employees on so-called “leave from owned” status who were not employed in another Unit 8 or 10 position, as of July 1, 2003.
  

Employees who meet the eligibility requirements, as specified in Article 12 of the Agreement, will receive the January 9, 2005, salary rate increase with their pay advice, issued Friday, November 18, 2005.

Attached hereto, (Attachment A) is a memorandum notifying employees that the pay advices they receive on November 18, 2005, contains the new salary rate effective January 9, 2005. Please distribute a copy of the memorandum attached to each employee receiving the above referenced payments.
Article 12, Section 8: Salary Placement

This section determines salary placement when an employee accepts a voluntary demotion or is bumped from a position during a reduction in force. Please consult the Agreement for specific information regarding this change.

Article 12, Section 12: 2% Bonus Payment

This section is deleted from the Agreement.

Article 12, Section 13: Professional In-Service Program

Effective January 9, 2005, the biweekly 5% Professional Development and Retention payment is eliminated. Effective January 9, 2005, employees occupying job titles listed in Attachment D will be upgraded by one (1) grade, step to step. Additionally, they will retain their current step date for future step purposes.

Article 13, Section 2: Health and Welfare Fund

Effective January 8, 2006, the Commonwealth’s contribution rate to the Fund is increased by $1.00 per full-time employee equivalent.

Article 19, Section 10: Training and Career Ladders

The Training and Career Ladders Fund is eliminated.

Article 23A, Section 14: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

The parties are obligated to schedule at least one day per month for ADR. The Commonwealth shall pay all costs incurred when compensating arbitrators for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

Article 24A, Section 8: Performance Evaluation

The Fund to provide EPRS training for Unit 8 and 10 employees is eliminated.

Article 25, Section 10: Statewide Labor-Management Committee

The Fund administered by the Statewide Labor-Management Committee is eliminated.

Article 25, Section 11: EHS Office Relocations

The Statewide Labor-Management Committee shall be the sole forum for discussing issues of concern relating to Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EHS) agency office relocations.

Supplemental Agreement W: Department of Education

Supplemental Agreement W is deleted from the Agreement.

Supplemental Agreement X: Office for Child Care Services

The language is modified to address agency needs. Please refer to the Agreement for specific language.

MOU: DOC/Chapter of Public Safety

The DOC tobacco prohibition program, as well as the in-service training and hazardous duty compensation are eliminated. DOC Correctional Program Officers shall be compensated in accordance with Article 12 of the Agreement. Each Correctional Program Officer shall receive an annual $750.00 uniform cleaning allowance effective January 9, 2005 and January 6, 2006.

Confidential, Intermittent or Short-Term Employees

In accordance with Section 46 of Chapter 30 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the above changes to Article 12 will apply to employees in confidential positions who would otherwise be included in these collective bargaining units and to part-time, intermittent and short-term employees who are incumbents of positions in titles assigned to this bargaining unit.

Questions regarding the provisions of the new Agreement should be directed to Mark D’Angelo, Deputy Director, HRD/Office of Employee Relations, at (617) 878-9791, or Cheryl A. Malone, Associate Director, HRD/Office of Employee Relations, at (617) 878-9799. Questions regarding the applicability of these provisions to confidential, intermittent or short-term employees should be directed to Sally McNeely, Director, HRD/Organizational Development Group at (617) 878-9726.

HR/CMS INSTRUCTIONS

All of the steps below will be automated in HR/CMS as outlined in the pay periods specified, except as noted:
HRD/ITD will provide departments with both predictive (report only-prior to the actual update) and updated (update-after the actual program runs) reports that will facilitate the identification of Bargaining Unit 8 and 10 employees as follows:

• 
  PPED 11/12/05: Base salary rates are increased to reflect the 2% increase for January 9, 2005. In addition, employees in select titles (See Attachment D) will receive their reclassification upgrade compensation, effective January 9, 2005.
  
  

1. 
   On 11/02/05, all eligible BU 8 and 10 employees will have a row inserted into their job record with an effective date of 10/30/05 and an action/reason of Pay Rate Change/COL (Cost of Living).
   
2. 
   On 11/04/05, all eligible BU 8 and 10 employees in titles scheduled for upgrading will have a row inserted into their job record with an effective date of 10/30/05, effective sequence 1, and an action/reason of Pay Rate Change/REC (Job Reclassification). All employees in the upgraded titles will retain their most current step date for future step date purposes.
   
3. 
   On 11/04/05, all employees occupying titles that receive Professional Development and Retention (PDP) payments, will have a row inserted in Additional pay to discontinue the PDP as of pay period ending 10/29/05.
   
4. 
   Vacant and occupied position titles scheduled to be reclassified, will have a row inserted with an effective date of 10/30/05 and reason code UPD (Update Position Data) to update the position information.
   
5. 
   On 11/03/05, a COLA report (HMCMP03B) will be available in document direct (no predictive COLA report).
   
6. 
   On 11/03/05, a predictive reclassification report (HMPCS01B) will be available in document direct. On 11/07/05, the updated reclassification report (HMPCS01B) will be available.
   
7. 
   Departments should review and validate the predictive and updated reports. Employees with “below” EPRS ratings, salary exceptions, or those that were “not updated” will need to be manually adjusted.
   
8. 
   Departments must make any necessary changes to the position and/or job record by the close of business Friday, November 11, 2005. In some cases it may be necessary for agencies to contact their HRD analyst for position or job record corrections.
   
9. 
   All eligible employees will receive the payment for the January 9, 2005 increase, as well as any reclassification upgrade compensation if applicable, in their pay advice on Friday, November 18, 2005.
   

The Comments on the COLA report are defined as follows:

• 
  Salary Exception: Employee’s salary does not match current rate for their grade and step
  
• 
  Has Future Row: Employee has a row in job with effective date of 10/30/05 or greater.
  
• 
  Invalid Step: Current step is not valid for the current salary chart.
  
• 
  Future Dated Row: Employee was not in the plan before the COLA and has a row in job with an effective date of 10/30/05 or higher.
  

The Comments on the Reclassification report are defined as follows:

• 
  Vacant Position: Vacant position data was successfully updated.
  
• 
  Civil Service – Step was: Employee owns a civil service title. Prior step was #. Job record was successfully updated.
  

• 
  PPED 11/26/05: All eligible employees in BU 8 and 10, who are not occupying reclassified titles will be entitled to a retroactive payment reflecting base salary changes effective January 9, 2005. No historical rows will be inserted into the employee’s job record for these transactions. Instead the following will happen in Additional Pay:
  

1. 
   On 11/18/05, HRD/ITD will run a program that will automatically insert retro regular pay (ROR) and/or retro overtime pay (ROT) amounts into Additional Pay for all eligible employees with an effective date of 11/13/05. The reason field will display “retropay”.
   
2. 
   Refer to Attachment B for a list of the valid HR/CMS earnings codes that were used to calculate the ROR and the ROT payments and Attachment C for an example of the retro calculation.
   
3. 
   Retro regular pay is subject to retirement. Retro overtime pay is not subject to retirement. Both retro earnings codes are taxed at the supplemental rate of 25%.
   
4. 
   A goal amount equal to the ROR and/or ROT payment will be used to ensure the payment is only paid once. Eligible employees on an unpaid LOA will be automatically paid upon their return from leave.
   
5. 
   Refer to page 8 of this memorandum for instructions on how to stop Additional Pay payments.
   
6. 
   On 11/17/05, four predictive retro pay reports (HMCMP07B) will be available in document direct, one for each Local 509 salary plan (8A, 8B, 10A, and 10B).
   
7. 
   On 11/21/05, four updated retro pay reports (HMCMP07B) will be available in document direct, one for each Local 509 salary plan (8A, 8B, 10A, and 10B)
   
8. 
   The report will include all eligible BU 8 &10 employees as of January 9, 2005.
   
9. 
   Departments should review and validate the predictive and updated reports. Employees with “below” EPRS ratings, salary exceptions, or those that were “not updated” will need to be manually adjusted. The retro pay report “Comments” are explained on page 7 of this memorandum.
   
10. 
    Employees will receive their retroactive payment in their pay advice December 2, 2005. The retroactive amounts will appear as separate earnings “Retro” on the pay advice.
    

Possible Manual Adjustments

• 
  The earning codes ADS, ADO, APD, APH, APO, APR, APS, APV, ROR, ROT and IAR (Industrial Accident Adjustments) posted between 01/09/05 and 10/29/05, will be included in this retro payment. If these payments should not be included in this retro, departments are responsible for making the manual adjustments.
  

• 
  Employees who were on Industrial Accident or had a check reversal processed due to a return receipt voucher should also have the figures double checked for accuracy, as they may need to be manually adjusted.
  

• 
  PPED 12/10/05: All eligible employees occupying reclassified titles in BU 8 and 10, will be entitled to a retroactive payment reflecting base salary changes effective January 9, 2005. No historical rows will be inserted into the employee’s job record for these transactions. Instead the following will happen in Additional Pay:
  
  
  

1. 
   On 12/02/05, HRD/ITD will run a program that will automatically insert retro regular pay (ROR) and/or retro overtime pay (ROT) amounts into Additional Pay for all eligible employees in reclassified titles with an effective date of 11/27/05. The reason field will display “retropay”.
   
2. 
   Refer to Attachment B for a list of the valid HR/CMS earnings codes that were used to calculate the ROR and the ROT payments and Attachment C for an example of the retro calculation.
   
3. 
   Employees occupying reclassified titles will have their retro reduced by the amount of the Professional Development and Retention (PDP) Payments received from 1/9/05 through 10/29/05.
   
4. 
   Retro regular pay is subject to retirement. Retro overtime pay is not subject to retirement. Both retro earnings codes are taxed at the supplemental rate of 25%.
   
5. 
   A goal amount equal to the ROR and/or ROT payment will be used to ensure the payment is only paid once. Eligible employees on an unpaid LOA will be automatically paid upon their return from leave.
   
6. 
   Refer to page 8 of this memorandum for instructions on how to stop Additional Pay payments.
   
7. 
   On 12/01/05, three predictive retro pay reports (HMCMP08B) will be available in document direct, one for each Unit (08, 10 and the Teacher titles separately).
   
8. 
   On 12/05/05, three updated retro pay reports (HMCMP08B) will be available in document direct, one for each Unit (08, 10 and the Teacher titles separately).
   
9. 
   The report will include all eligible BU 8 &10 employees as of January 9, 2005.
   
10. 
    Departments should review and validate the predictive and updated reports. Employees with “below” EPRS ratings, salary exceptions, or those that were “not updated” will need to be manually adjusted. The retro pay report “Comments” are explained below.
    
11. 
    Employees will receive this retroactive payment in their pay advice Friday, December 16, 2005. The retroactive amounts will appear as separate earnings “Retro” on the pay advice.
    

Possible Manual Adjustments

• 
  The earning codes ADS, ADO, APD, APH, APO, APR, APS, APV, ROR, ROT and IAR (Industrial Accident Adjustments) posted between 01/09/05 and 10/29/05, will be included in this retro payment. If these payments should not be included in this retro, departments are responsible for making the manual adjustments.
  

• 
  Employees who were on Industrial Accident or had a check reversal processed due to a return receipt voucher should also have the figures double checked for accuracy, as they may need to be manually adjusted.
  

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