Summer 4/10 Schedule and WorkForce
Another Spring semester is coming to the end and with it the start of the Summer 4/10 Schedule. Starting this coming Sunday, Mt. SAC begins the Summer 4/10 Schedule with a four-day work week and a closed campus on Fridays. If you have not already, you need to enter your schedule in the District’s new time-keeping system WorkForce. Log into the employee portal and click the “Employee” tab. From there, enter WorkForce.
You have three basic options for your Summer 4/10 Schedule. If you are a full-time employee, you will work nine (9) hours per day, Monday through Thursday, and then use (1) hour of paid or unpaid leave to total ten (10) hour days. During the first four weeks, the District will provide you with 16 hours of “Summer Schedule Leave” (you use one hour per day for four weeks). During the second four weeks, you must use one hour of your own leave, whether vacation, comp time, or floating holiday. If you use the District’s 16 hours, then you are required to use your own leave for the remainder of the Summer 4/10 Schedule.
A second scheduling option is to work the entire 10 hours per day. You must have manager approval prior to working a 10-hour day. Make sure you enter your schedule in WorkForce so your manager can approve your schedule before Friday, June 14.
Your third schedule option is to work eight hours per day during the Summer 4/10 Schedule. If you select this option, you must have manager approval, and you can use the District’s 16 hours during the first four weeks, but you also need to add one hour of your own leave credit (work 8 hours + 1 hour District time + 1 hour your time = 10 hours total). During the second four weeks, you will need to use TWO hours of your own leave credit each work day. In total, you need to make sure you have at least 38 hours of leave credit if you plan to work only eight hours per day.
WorkForce will replace the paper time-sheets or the Banner time-sheets starting June 1. You will use WorkForce to request time off, enter your work time each day, look up your leave credits, which Payroll has ensured us is accurate as of May 2019, and other schedule-related tasks.
Members to Vote Changes to Chapter Constitution
The next Chapter meeting on June 15 can potentially bring big changes to the election process for your Chapter 262. A revision of the Chapter Constitution and By Laws will permit for the first time online voting for Chapter Officers, delegates, and contract ratifications.
If members approve the changes, the revised constitution will be submitted to CSEA headquarters for review. CSEA will check to make sure our Chapter Constitution does not violate or contradict CSEA policy (remember that CSEA policy is member-written policy via resolutions at Annual Conference or by Area Directors at monthly Area Director meetings). Once approved by CSEA, the changes will become effective and Chapter 262 can begin the process of converting to online voting. The plan is to complete the process by November or December prior to the election of new Chapter Officers.
For several years, Chapter members have asked whether they could cast a vote with an absentee ballot or by proxy or by using a mail-in ballot. The answer has always been no due to the high cost of maintaining the required mailbox and printing and mailing the ballots. Mail-in and absentee voting is cost-prohibitive, slow, and takes a great deal of time and effort. Association Policy also does not permit proxy voting, and our Chapter Constitution currently only permits in-person voting.
If members approve the revisions, voting will be more inclusive of the membership. Typically, our Chapter members respond to current online surveys in the sixty to seventy percent range, which is extraordinarily high for surveys (usually a 20 to 30 percent response rate is considered amazing). With online voting, your Chapter 262 will be even more representative and participatory than ever. Make sure you attend the June Chapter meeting and vote!
New Laws Favor Police & Campus Safety
A new bill in the California Legislature would help both community colleges and their police officers in disability cases. Assembly Bill 346 would amend Labor Code Section 4850, which provides certain peace officers, firefighters, and other specified state and local public employees, including Lifeguards. are entitled to a leave of absence without loss of salary while disabled by injury or illness arising out of and in the course of employment. The leave of absence is in lieu of temporary disability payments or maintenance allowance payments otherwise payable under the workers’ compensation system. School peace officers, however, were left off the list of “certain peace officers,” so worker’s compensation had to be used. With the high cost of worker’s compensation insurance and the high frequency of injury or illness in peace officers, including school peace officers like our campus police will greatly reduce costs to the District but provide our campus police officers financial security while recovering. This bill only applies to sworn peace officers, however, not all Public Safety employees.
There is another bill in the Legislature that will cover our Public Safety officers. Senate Bill 390 would amend Section 7583.45 of the Business and Professions Code and Sections 38001.5 and 72330.5 of, and to add Sections 38001.4 and 72330.4 to, the Education Code. Currently, school security officers or security guards who work 20 hours or more per week are required to complete a course of training developed by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs in consultation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. The bill would change this law to include all security officers and guards regardless of the number of hours worked. Since Public Safety Officers are expected to perform the same duties whether they work 40 hours a week or 10 hours a week, this law would ensure proper training and procedures by all PS officers, which also ensures a safer work environment for everyone.
When Can Off-Duty and Off-Campus Lead to Discipline?
0Last March a case came was discussed by the Labor Arbitration Institute regarding an off-duty transit customer service employee who got into an argument with passengers on a bus upon which he was riding. Making matters worse, the employee was also intoxicated beyond the legal limit. The transit company, which owned the bus, terminated the employee. The question before the arbiters was whether the termination could be upheld. The answer was yes, the termination was upheld.
Isn’t the employee entitled to have a private life? If he were off-duty, can his employer terminate him for conduct in his private life? These are good questions, and the answer is “Yes, they can,” but only under certain circumstances. It all hinges on a principle called “nexus” or a “connection.” In this case, since the employee was on a bus owned by the company for which he worked, that was a sufficient nexus to discipline the employee for violating company policy. The employee of the company was on company “property,” so was expected to obey company policy because his actions reflect on the company.
This is a good example to learn from when considering classified employees who are off-campus on personal time but at a Mt. SAC function. This happens quite often. Many Mt. SAC classified employees attend conferences, ceremonies, awards dinners, Planetarium events, athletic events, even professional development activities. Mt. SAC Athletics hosts a dinner for outstanding student athletes and the Student Life office hosts a dinner for outstanding scholars. Clearly, there is a nexus or connection to Mt. SAC, so if you attend one of these ceremonies, even if you are simply in the audience, be on your best behavior. If you get drunk and argue with other people in the audience, there is a good chance you could receive some kind of discipline.
The key, though, is the connection to Mt. SAC. In July, your Chapter 262 Conference Delegates will attend the CSEA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Now, whatever happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but what would happen if one of the delegates misbehaves and gets arrested while at the conference? Could the delegate be disciplined by Mt. SAC? Probably not. As you might guess, CSEA Annual Conference is NOT a Mt. SAC event, and delegates, even though Mt. SAC employees, are not representing Mt. SAC. Delegates represent the union — CSEA. In another example, what about participants at Great Staff? If someone attending great staff gets drunk and causes a fight, could Mt. SAC discipline the employee? If serious enough, yes, the employee should expect some form of discipline. Great Staff is a college-sponsored event, and attendees are employees and expected to follow the same policies as they would while working on campus.
The point is to always be on your best behavior in public, especially when you are attending a Mt. SAC activity or any nexus or connection to Mt. SAC can be established. Yes, you have the right to a private life, but if you choose to be present at any Mt. SAC activity, you will be expected to follow the college’s policies and code of ethics. Your actions reflect on all of us at Mt. SAC. Please act accordingly.
National Classified Recognition Program Law Passed
A new federal law passed on April 12 will designate an official national award for classified school employees. H.R. 276, The Recognizing Achievement in Classified School Employees Act creates an award program to highlight the outstanding contributions of classified employees.
“The achievements of classified employees deserve to be recognized at the national level,” said Association President Ben Valdepeña. “We have been asking for this award program for several years, and it’s finally a reality. Classified employees deserve this honor and have earned the respect that comes with it.”
Under the Recognizing Achievement in Classified School Employees Act, the Secretary of Education will select outstanding school employees from one of the following classified staff categories: paraprofessionals, clerical services, custodial and maintenance services, transportation services, food services, skilled trades, health and student services, security services, and technical services. Similar to the National Teacher of the Year Award program, governors from each state will work with educators, associations and other stakeholders in identifying nominees.
"Classified school employees work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the success of our students and schools. Yet, too often their contributions go unrecognized. This award will honor the dedicated employees who devote time and effort to help students become the best versions of themselves,” said Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada, who sponsored the bill.
Dorothy Bjork Assistance Fund Raffle
CSEA is holding three raffles to help the Dorothy Bjork Assistance fund. You can purchase tickets to enter one, two, or all three raffles by filling out the form at the bottom of each flyer. All proceeds will go to the Dorothy Bjork Assistance Fund. To be eligible for these raffles, you must be a CSEA member in good standing. Tickets will be sold through the last morning of Annual Conference. There is no limit on raffle ticket purchases. The cost of tickets varies for each raffle.
The first raffle is for a new car. The winner will be drawn at the Annual Conference, Friday, August 2, 2019. You do not have to be present to win.
The second raffle is for a 7-night stay in Maui. The drawing will be held at the CSEA State Board Meeting on Saturday, November 16 2019. Winner need not be present. Details for the trip to Maui are on the flyer.
The third raffle is for a 7-day vacation in Escondido! You will stay at a condo with pool, jacizzis, water slides, tennis courts, fitness center, and an activity center. Winner will be drawn at Annual Conference and does not need to be present.
Open the attached flyer (csea-raffles.pdf) and fill out the form at the bottom of each page. Details, terms, and conditions are on the flyers. You can mail in your entry form to CSEA headquarters or call the Member Benefits Service Center at 866.487.2732.
Pre-Retirement Seminars
CalPERS will be holding the next pre-retirement seminars at two locations in June:
June 14 & 15, 2019 – Hilton Pasadena, 168 S. Los Robles Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101 / Register for Pasadena / Flyer (PDF)
A valid email address is required to register online (it will be used for business purposes only, including electronic notifications of educational events and surveys).
Member Tip: Keep track of all your education history by signing up for events, classes and appointments through my|CalPERS instead.
If you need special accommodations at the event, and are unable to register online, please call us at 888 CalPERS (or 888-225-7377).
Download class presentations on the Event Classes page before attending the event.
“To improve the lives of our members, students, and community.”
CSEA Chapter 262 • 1100 N. Grand Avenue Walnut, California 91789 • 909.274.6262 • www.csea262.org