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tea » archives » December 1, 2015

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October Topics

Leave Donations Request
Monthly TEA Meeting
Wastewater Bargaining Committee
Transit Bargaining Committee
Council of Representatives
Paid Family Leave Update

1. Leave Donations Request

Brent Hokenson, in WTD's Civil Engineers & Designers group, is in need of leave donations.

If you would like to donate, please contact your Human Resources office for the appropriate forms and process for donations.

2. Monthly TEA Meeting

There is no monthly meeting scheduled for December.

3. Wastewater Bargaining Committee

The contract was signed and transmitted to King County Council.

Please contact Alton Gaskill, TEA Wastewater Bargaining Chair, if you have any questions or concerns.

4. Transit Bargaining Committee

Please contact Jerry Williams, TEA Transit Bargaining Chair, with any questions.

5. Council of Representatives

The next lunch-hour training to be offered by the TEA Attorney will be take place on Tuesday December 8, 12-1pm in the 2nd floor 2A/2B conference rooms. This month's topic is Just Cause and Discipline.

Please contact Ken Madden, Council of Representatives Chair, for additional information.

6. Paid Family Leave Update

Below is information from the King County Office of Labor Relations regarding the Paid Family Leave Pilot program. TEA has not edited the content of the following:

If passed by Council, the Pilot is expected to become effective on or about January 1, 2016, and expire December 31, 2016. Below is a brief summary of the proposed legislation and the principles that form the basis for the proposal.

King County is committed to supporting our employees during one of the most important times in their life - the addition of a new family member.

The Executive strongly supports guaranteeing 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents.

This must be accomplished in a way that is fiscally-responsible and in partnership with our unions.

The supplemental leave will ensure that all employees will receive 100% of their salary for up to 12-weeks following the birth, adoption, or foster-to-adopt placement of a child. An employee's supplemental Paid Parental Leave benefit would be calculated based on the employee's existing leave accruals at the time of the qualifying event, while permitting the employee to reserve one week of sick leave and one week of vacation leave (or the equivalent for Benefit Time).

Eligible employees are those who have been employed with the County for at least six (6) months of continuous service at the time of the qualifying event.

Starting with a pilot is a smart, lean way to approach this - it will allow us to gather more information, test our assumptions, and make sure the program is meeting our goals: namely, that it:

is compassionate toward our employees and their families;

embodies our principles of equity and social justice and treats employees fairly; and,

is fiscally feasible and sustainable.

The County will require agreement to the FML/FMLA concurrency (as in Coalition MOU) as part of this Pilot.

A paid parental leave benefit beyond 2016 would need to be bargained in the total compensation framework. The Pilot will help inform these negotiations. All employees represented by unions who sign onto the Pilot via an MOU, and all non-represented employees, will be eligible to participate.

This approach:

establishes King County as a leader on this issue;

demonstrates that you can support families and do right by your employees; and,

be a good steward of public resources.

The Office of Labor Relations is planning to send a Memorandum of Agreement to King County Union representatives offering agreement to the terms of the Pilot outlined above. You can expect to receive this Agreement via email once the proposed legislation is passed. In the meantime, should you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call the OLR negotiator assigned to your CBA.

An additional resource for employees with questions about this Pilot is King County's Human Resource Division(HRD). As explained in the attached November 23 email notice to employees, HRD has created a FAQ webpage to assist employees who would like additional information about the PPL Pilot. Instructions for using that website are included in the attached email.

The link to the FAQ is www.kingcounty.gov/audience/employees/pay-benefits/paid-parental-leave/FAQs.aspx

TEA will be holding a Special Meeting on Thursday December 3, 2015, to discuss the pilot program and implications for our membership. Please join us at noon in the 5th Floor conference room Cloaca Maxima.

TEA Board

John Phillips, President
Jane McPherson, Vice President
Hillary Schafer, Secretary
Elizabeth Wright, Treasurer
Alton Gaskill, Wastewater Bargaining Chair
Jerry Williams, Transit Bargaining Chair
Ken Madden, Council of Reps. Chair