Emergency Pay Represented Employees

Posted on March 25, 2020

Dear Managers,

With the rapidly changing circumstances regarding coronavirus and the Governor’s ‘stay at home’ directive, the Chancellor’s Office has advised that the provision of emergency pay for CSUEU and Teamsters 2010 be implemented retroactive to Friday, March 20, 2020 in accordance with each respective collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Emergency pay for employees who are assigned to work on campus will be compensated as per the applicable CBA as follows:

• Teamsters2010: Paid at one times the employee’s straight time rate of pay for each hour worked. At the discretion of management, emergency pay may be awarded as cash or CTO.
• CSUEU: Non-exempt staff shall receive emergency pay of an additional one-half (½) hour for each hour worked up to forty (40) hours per week. Exempt staff shall receive equivalent informal time off at such time(s) as agreed upon by the employee and the Appropriate Administrator.

As such, a certain number of employees represented by the bargaining units referenced above who perform duties in critical functional areas will be asked to stay on-campus and they will continue to receive emergency pay until further notice. Those critical functional areas include: health and safety of those remaining on campus, critical technology services, security of building and property, sensitive research, operation of critical campus infrastructure, and critical campus operations.

“Emergency Pay” does not apply to those employees in the above referenced bargaining units who have been approved to work remotely or who are on paid administrative leave. Employees who are working remotely or are on paid administrative leave are not to report to work on campus without approval in advance by their manager.

The President’s Cabinet, in consultation with each of their respective leadership teams, have identified which employees will: 1) need to remain on campus to continue to support critical functions; 2) transition to work remotely (telecommute); 3) utilize temporary paid administrative leave per the guidelines communicated by Human Resources on Sunday, March 22; or 4) some combination thereof. (i.e. a staff member might telecommute 4 days and report to campus 1 day.)

Please be advised as to the following next steps:

• On Thursday, March 26th, each Vice President/Cabinet member will provide guidance to their Associate Vice Presidents/Deans/Directors for each employee currently working on campus.
• All Managers should plan to have a one-on-one conversation with each employee who is currently working on campus to be sure they understand what this change means for them.

We are strongly encouraging communications occur tomorrow so that the transition to critical functions will be effective, Friday, March 27. However, we recognize that for some areas the transition will begin on Monday, March 30.

Reminders:

• Refer to our March 22 communication regarding the availability of up to 128 hours of paid administrative leave when it is not operationally feasible for an employee to work remotely. If employees have questions about paid administrative leave, please have them email Benefits at benefits@mail.fresnostate.edu.
• Temporary paid administrative leave is also available for employees who are 65 years and older or medically compromised. (See March 15 communication.)
• If you are transitioning employees to telecommute status, please ensure they have the technology required and have completed the online Temporary Telecommuting Agreement Form.
• Further instructions will be provided on emergency pay and paid administrative leave reporting.
• For employees who will remain on-campus, the campus will continue to provide breakfast and lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

The health and well-being of our campus community is our top priority. We appreciate your ongoing efforts to navigate this unprecedented situation and the extraordinary care and compassion we are collectively demonstrating for each other.

Sincerely,
Marylou Mendoza-Miller, SPHR
Associate Vice President for Human Resources