Common use of Emergency Overtime Clause in Contracts

Emergency Overtime. A) Emergency overtime occurs when the University faces an emergency, declared by the President of the University or his/her designee, and it is necessary for bargaining unit members to respond immediately to the situation. Emergency overtime generally, but not always, requires that the bargaining unit member be “called in” to perform duties outside his/her normal eight (8) hour shift. The University will attempt to notify all qualified bargaining unit members to report for emergency overtime prior to notifying any permanent part-time or intermittent bargaining unit members. Situations involving emergency overtime include snow removal; floods; major failures of electrical, water, or mechanical systems; the absence of a bargaining unit member scheduled to work in an area such as the Central Utility Plant, when state law or regulations require the presence of that bargaining unit member or someone of comparable ability; and other situations where in the judgment of the President of the University or his/her designee emergency conditions require the presence of bargaining unit members on campus. A bargaining unit member shall be required to work overtime when notified of the emergency and then assigned under the provisions of Section 12.3.A., failure of bargaining unit member to report for duty when called in to perform emergency overtime, or failure to remain on the job when instructed that the situation involves emergency overtime, shall be unauthorized absence, and shall be subject to the provisions of Article 7 (“Employee Discipline”). Any bargaining unit member who does not wish early notification of assignment to emergency may so notify his/her department head, and shall not be telephoned for call-in purposes until the decision is final that the bargaining unit member is to report for emergency overtime duty. Disciplinary action will not be taken under the provisions of this article for bargaining unit members failing to report in for emergency overtime until the Chief Human Resources Officer or his/her designee has met with the bargaining unit member to determine if he/she had a valid reason for failing to report on duty. B) If in the judgment of the President or his/her designee there are general situations which by definition would constitute an emergency as defined by Section 12.3.A (e.g., failure of an electrical system, predicted snowfall in excess of a certain accumulation, etc.), the President or his/her designee shall prepare a written directive specifying the situation(s) so designated and shall provide copies of the directive to the Union and to bargaining unit members in the department(s) or work unit(s) involved. The purpose of this provision is to seek to standardize, where possible, the designation of emergency situations. In any situation which has not been previously designated by a directive, only the President or his/her designee may declare an emergency situation for the purpose of Section 12.3.A of this Agreement. C) When a bargaining unit member is called in to work emergency overtime prior to his/her scheduled workday, the bargaining unit member shall have the opportunity to work the regularly scheduled eight (8) hours in addition to the work performed during the additional call-in period. If, conversely, the bargaining unit member wishes to quit work after having worked eight (8) hours from the beginning of the call-in period, and if the University can spare the bargaining unit member for the remainder of the day, the bargaining unit member shall have the right to quit work after having worked eight (8) hours.