On Thursday, June 30, UAPD met with the State. UAPD started the day with a proposal on Hours of Work, clarifying that working an average of 40 hours per week over a 12 month period means that some weeks should be shorter than 40 hours to offset those which are longer. We also clarified that the prohibition on “timekeeping devices” in our contract extends to methods where the stated purpose is something other than timekeeping. This includes things like personal duress alarm systems, identification badge swipe systems, sign-in sheets, and the like – none of these should be used to track a doctor’s time at work. UAPD also proposed that doctors be held responsible only for reasonable objectives in the workplace. An example of an unreasonable objective is CCHCS holding individual physicians responsible for meeting their facility’s overall, court-ordered objectives for patient visits, when short staffing means the work is divided between too few doctors.
UAPD also proposed doing away with the distinction between lifetime board certification and limited-term board certification in setting salaries. Some departments pay limited-term board certified doctors up to $13,000 more per year than doctors who are lifetime boarded, despite the fact that there is no data to suggest that one group is more skilled than the other. UAPD proposed that all doctors are paid at the limited-term board certification rate.
Management passed a number of proposals to rollover existing language. The UAPD team will review those proposals to see where we believe language improvements are necessary. For On Call Assignment, the State proposed language to clarify that when an employee is called back within a few hours of the start time of their regular shift, call back credit shall be received only for those hours remaining before the shift start. To pay both call back and regular pay for the same hours would be considered double compensation, and is against the law. They stated that they are obligated to adhere to the law, but want it in contract to make it clear to members.
Management proposed a number of changes to the EAP (Employee Assistance Program) language to bring the contract in line with the form the program now takes. They also proposed deleting the long article on business and travel and relying instead on a PML memorandum to describe travel allowances. UAPD is reviewing that memorandum to make sure it compares favorably with what is currently in the contract. The hotel allowances in the PML are significantly higher in some areas, which is positive. At the table UAPD members discussed the shortcomings of the CalATERS system and asked for simpler alternatives.
Management also proposed a new article on vacation and annual leave cash out, which would allow employees to cash out up to 80 hours of time at the end of the fiscal year if their Department budget allows. They also proposed extending the amount of time doctors have to use their unused Personal Leave Program 2010/2012 time. Some doctors still have time on the books that is set to expire July 1, 2016.
