2004 - Union Release Time Bank

Category

Collective Bargaining

Audience List

• Labor Relations Officers
• Personnel Officers
• Personnel Transactions Supervisors

Synopsis

This policy

• Provides the Union Release Time Bank (URTB) processes for Bargaining Units (BUs) 2, 6, 7, and 8

Introduction

Union Release Time is leave donated by bargaining unit members or employees [depending on the applicable Memoranda of Understanding (MOU)] used for union business/organizational activity as described in the BU 2, 6, 7, and 8 MOUs.

Statement

Amount of leave donated and used from the URTBs, eligible types of leave that can be donated to the URTBs, and manner of requests for union release time are covered in each applicable MOU.

Application

Bargaining Unit 2:

Donation

Each department with BU 2 employees shall establish a URTB. The purpose of the BU 2 URTB is to allow BU 2 employees to voluntarily contribute Compensating Time Off (CTO), holiday credit, personal leave time, annual leave, or vacation for use by other BU 2 employees identified by CASE, who work for the same department. Time donated to the BU 2 URTB shall be for engaging in organizational activity. Donations are irrevocable and shall be donated in one hour increments. Each department will establish and publish procedures for donating time to the BU 2 URTB. Departments may limit the number of times each year that BU 2 employees may donate to the BU 2 URTB.

Usage

The value of each hour donated and each hour used shall be considered the same. Time shall be used in eight hour increments. BU 2 employees using donated time must provide their immediate supervisor of designee with reasonable advance notice. Absences due to the use of donated release time shall be granted unless it interferes with department operational need. Each department will establish and publish procedures for using time from the BU 2 URTB.

Review

Departments shall permit CASE to review BU 2 URTB donation and use records upon reasonable notice from the union. Review will not occur more than one time every four months in each department.

Bargaining Unit 6:

Donation/Contribution:

BU 6 members shall accrue one less hour of annual leave or vacation in the July pay period, which will be donated into the BU 6 URTB. BU 6 URTB shall be established to allow BU 6 employees to contribute any earned leave credits with the exception of sick leave. The contributions shall be in two or more hour increments, and fractions of hours are not allowed. Contributions to the BU 6 URTB shall be computed once per month provided they are received by the second Friday of that month. CCPOA shall make available an information sheet explaining the means by which a BU 6 member may contribute time into the BU 6 URTB.

Withdrawal:

Any of the five (5) designated CCPOA-paid representatives or BU 6 representatives may authorize time withdrawal from the BU 6 URTB for use of a BU 6 member to conduct bona fide Association business. CCPOA shall notify the department’s labor relations office of the identity of the five representatives by August 1 each year.

Authorized BU 6 employees may be released with seven days or more advance notice for regular, ongoing time off or 24 hours on an ad hoc basis. There will be no releases with less than 24 hours’ notice unless approved by the Undersecretary or designee. Granting of time off shall be subject to the approval of the Hiring Authority, operational needs, emergencies or other standards limiting usage.

In no case shall the State be required to release a BU 6 member if:

• It would require the State fill the released BU 6 member’s position at time and one-half (1 ½), and the union is unwilling to reimburse the State hour for hour; or
• If there is no time credited to the bank at the time of the request.

Time drawn from the BU 6 URTB shall be in four hour increments for the purpose of travel and eight hours increments for all other purposes. Except to attend the union’s annual convention, no more than two BU 6 members per facility or parole region shall be released at one time unless approved by the Undersecretary or their designee.

The State shall not deny BU 6 URTB time for unreasonable or capricious reasons. CCPOA agrees that it shall not cause the State any undue burden in carrying out the mission of the Departments through the application of the BU 6 URTB.

Review:

The State and CCPOA shall be responsible for jointly creating a record-keeping system. Records shall be compared, verified, and adjusted/corrected as the parties agree is necessary.

Bargaining Unit 7:

Accrual Reduction Process/Donation

No later than June 15 each year, CSLEA shall notify CalHR of the number of hours, up to two  hours, to be deducted from BU 7 members or the deduction will remain the same as the preceding year. This reduction of vacation/annual leave accrual is for one pay period per year only. The State shall credit the BU 7 URTB with the specified number of hours for each BU 7 member whose vacation/annual leave was reduced no later than August 15 each year.

Departments on the California Leave Accounting System (CLAS)

• In each July pay period, the State Controller’s Office (SCO) will automatically reduce BU 7 employees’ vacation/annual leave accrual by up to two hours as provided by CSLEA.

Departments on the Human Resources Information System (HRIS)

• In each July pay period, departments will update HRIS to reduce BU 7 employees’ vacation/annual leave accrual by up to two  hours as provided by CSLEA.

Non-CLAS or HRIS Departments

• In each July pay period, departments NOT on CLAS or HRIS must manually reduce the BU 7 employees’ vacation/annual leave accrual by up to two  hours as provided by CSLEA.

Note: Departments on CLAS and HRIS will not need to notify CalHR Labor Relations of the total number of BU 7 employees in the department.

BU 7 employees may also donate additional leave to the BU 7 URTB, including vacation, annual leave, holiday credits, CTO, personal leave (PLP), and excess time.

State Credit

The State shall credit the BU 7 URTB with 4,000 hours annually in October.

Usage

CSLEA will identify authorized CSLEA employees who can request the use of the time bank. Only employees designated by CSLEA may utilize the BU 7 URTB for either representational or other legitimate union business.

Time off is subject to the operational needs of the department. Filling behind a position on overtime cannot be used as the sole reason for denial of leave under this provision. If the position must be filled behind on overtime, then the equivalent of time and one-half (1½) must be deducted from the time bank for all leave hours. The department must immediately notify CalHR and CSLEA when filling behind a position on overtime.

Example:

• 12 hours deducted for a 8 hour day,
• 15 hours deducted for a 10 hour day,
• 6 hours deducted for a 4 hour day,
• 9 hours deducted for a 6 hour day.

Each time an employee requests to use the BU 7 URTB, CSLEA will submit the request utilizing the online Bargaining Unit 7 Time Bank. Departments shall approve or deny the request utilizing the same system. CalHR Labor Relations will be responsible for maintaining the BU 7 URTB.

As designated by CSLEA, the CSLEA President and one  other BU 7 employee shall be granted full release time.

Reconciliation

The BU 7 URTB must be reconciled on a quarterly basis.

Bargaining Unit 8:

Donation

BU 8 employees shall be permitted to contribute to the BU 8 URTB for use by BU 8 representatives in conducting business with the State. There shall be no limit on the amount of time donated. Time donated may be from CTO, vacation and/or holiday hour credits. Hours shall be donated in full-day increments.

Usage

Twenty employees designated by CAL FIRE Local 2881 may regularly draw upon the URTB for meeting and conferring, handling grievances, representing members, and other legitimate Association business that does not conflict with the goals and operations of CAL FIRE. Four designated representatives may authorize other BU 8 employees to draw from the BU 8 URTB to conduct Association business upon reasonable (normally 72 hours) advance notice. CAL FIRE Local 2881 shall provide verification, upon request, that any employee withdrawing from the BU 8 URTB was indeed on Association business. CAL FIRE shall reasonably grant request release time based upon the operational needs of the department.

All hours shall be treated equal. Hours shall be recorded and used at the 40-hour clock. BU 8 URTB hours shall be calculated as follows:

The State shall allow up to two full years of release time per year for the President of CAL FIRE Local 2881 (or designee) and one other designee to conduct legitimate Union business. Such full time release time shall result in no loss of compensation (salary or benefits). Once each year, on or about November 30, the employer shall buy down the leave credits of the President and the other designee to either the normal carry-over maximum or the amount of leave the person brought into office, whichever is higher.

Verification

The Department shall keep records of donations by BU 8 employees for examination and verification upon request by CAL FIRE Local 2881. Such verification shall be provided no more than quarterly. The hours each BU 8 employee contributes shall be transferred into the BU 8 URTB with a quarterly total of the hours available in the Bank to be provided to CAL FIRE Local 2881 upon request.

Authorities

• Bargaining Contracts - MOUs

Resources

PML

• PML 2011-029: California State Law Enforcement Agency (CSLEA) - Bargaining Unit 7 Union Release Time Bank (UTRB)

Authorized By

Paul M. Starkey
Deputy Director of Labor Relations, Labor Relations Division

Contact Person

Labor Relations Division
Labor Relations Officer , Labor Relations Division
Phone: 916-324-0476
Fax: 916-322-0765
Email: lr.info@calhr.ca.gov

Superseded Policies

History

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