Teaching Experience Recognized Years of Experience: Uncredited Experience:
CREDIT FOR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE All employees shall be classified according to previous comparable supermarket experience. Previous comparable experience shall be granted on the following basis:
A. Out of the industry for less than one (1) year will receive credit for fifty percent (50%) of their previous experience to a maximum credit of twelve (12) months' credit for previous experience.
B. Out of the industry for more than one (1) year, will receive credit for fifty percent (50%) of their previous experience up to a maximum of six (6) months' credit for previous experience. No previous experience will be considered unless it has been stated by the employee on his or her Application for Employment form. (This provision shall not apply where employees fail to indicate their previous comparable experience by agreement with Management.) New employees having previous comparable experience may be paid at a lower scale of wage than their claimed experience calls for but not less than the minimum rate established by this Agreement for an evaluation period not to exceed forty-five (45) days from the date of employment, providing that if the employee's services are retained, then after the forty-five (45) day period they shall receive any difference between the evaluation rate paid and the rate for which their experience qualifies them retroactive to the date their employment started, and shall receive written notification showing the credit granted for previous experience. In the event of any disagreement as to the credit granted for previous experience, such disagreement shall be considered a Grievance and the Grievance Procedure provided in this Agreement shall apply. Providing that the Employer has:
i) Provided the employee with the "New Employee" letter provided for in Section 3.02 of this Agreement not later than two (2) weeks from the date of employment, and
ii) Provided the employee with the written notification showing credit granted for previous experience within the forty-five (45) day period required by this Section, and
iii) Provided the Union with a copy of the letter showing credit granted for previous experience within the same period then no consideration will be given to any disagreement pertaining to credit for previous experience if presented later than sixty (60) days from the date of employment.
Expertise Such Member alone, or together with its representatives, possesses such expertise, knowledge and sophistication in financial and business matters generally, and in the type of transactions in which the Company proposes to engage in particular, that such Member is capable of evaluating the merits and economic risks of acquiring and holding the Units, and that such Member is able to bear all such economic risks now and in the future;
Previous Experience 31.01 New employees will be classified according to previous comparable experience for the purpose of establishing wage rates. The Co-operative shall not be required to recognize previous experience of new employees who have not worked in the same or similar business in the past two (2) years. Recognized credit for previous experience shall be applicable to qualifying employees commencing with the first working day following completion of said employee's probationary period.
31.02 It shall be the responsibility of the employee to supply proof of their previous experience prior to the completion of their probationary period. Otherwise, all claim for credit for previous experience shall be forfeited by the employee.
31.03 In the event of any disagreement as to credit granted for previous experience, such disagreement shall be considered a grievance, and the Grievance Procedure provided in the Agreement shall apply.
IRO Independence and Objectivity The IRO must perform the Claims Review in a professionally independent and objective fashion, as defined in the most recent Government Auditing Standards issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Financial Exigency 14.01 The termination of the employment of any Employee because of financial exigency shall only occur after a declaration of financial exigency by the Board of Governors.
14.02 The Board of Governors shall not declare a state of financial exigency except on bona fide financial grounds.
14.03 If the Board of Governors believes a financial exigency exists it shall give notice to the Union of that belief together with a statement of the financial reasons for that belief and shall establish a financial commission of three (3) persons. The Board of Governors shall consult the Union to establish an agreed list of names from whom these three (3) shall be chosen. The three (3) persons shall be selected by the Board of Governors within thirty (30) days of the decision to establish a financial commission. The terms of reference of the commission shall be:
14.03.1 to assess whether in the light of a full examination of the University's financial situation a bona fide financial exigency exists;
14.03.1.1 the commission shall have access to all that financial information referring to the operations, assets and the ancillary enterprises of the University which is necessary to make a judgment as to whether there is a financial exigency or not;
14.03.1.2 the commission shall invite submissions or written representations from the Union, the faculty and the student representative council;
14.03.1.3 the occurrence of an operating deficit in any given year shall not necessarily constitute a bona fide financial exigency;
14.03.2 to make recommendations, if it sees fit, as to what measures might be taken, whether through reductions of academic staff or other means, to resolve the exigency;
14.03.3 to assess whether a decision to resolve the financial exigency through reductions of academic staff is necessary.
14.04 The report of the commission shall be advisory to the Board of Governors. The report shall be submitted to the Board of Governors within twenty (20) Days of the commission being constituted. After receiving the report the Board shall make a decision as to whether or not a financial exigency exists, and shall promptly communicate this decision to the President, the Senate and the Union. The Board may not unreasonably disagree with the report of the commission. If the Board declares that a state of financial exigency exists it shall make the report of the commission available to the Senate and the Union.
14.05 It is the responsibility of the Senate to recommend the general areas, by discipline, in which reductions are to be made.
14.05.1 Within twenty (20) Days of receiving the commission's report, the Senate shall make its recommendations to the President. If the President does not accept all the recommendations of the Senate he or she shall, within twenty (20) Days of receiving them, convoke a meeting of the Senate to discuss his or her reasons for rejecting or modifying them. Within thirty (30) Days of this meeting the President shall communicate his or her final decisions to the Departments with a statement of all the reasons of which the decisions are based.
14.05.2 The decision of the President shall not be subject to arbitration procedures as set out in Article 15 of this Agreement unless the grievance to be submitted to arbitration is based on an alleged violation of Article 2.04, Article 2.05 or Article
DEVELOPMENT OR ASSISTANCE IN DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS/ STATEMENTS OF WORK
Professional Development Funds 23.1.1 Two Professional Development Funds, a Professional Development Support Fund and an Education Leave Fund, shall be established to support professional development activities as defined in 23.2. On April 1st of each year, the College will allocate an amount equal to no less than 0.9% of total faculty salary (exclusive of severance payments) to the Professional Development Support Fund, and an amount equal to no less than 0.6% of total faculty salary to the Educational Leave Fund. Any unused balances in these funds shall carry over to the next budget year.
23.1.2 The College agrees to provide the Association with the authority to administer the program on behalf of the College for those activities approved by the College in accordance with 23.2, 23.4 and 23.5.
23.1.3 Nothing in this Agreement prevents the College from funding professional development activities in addition to those activities supported through the Professional Development Funds (23.1.1) in accordance with the procedures described in this Article.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT A. The Board of Education agrees to pay the actual tuition costs of courses taken by a teacher at accredited colleges or universities up to three courses per two (2) year fiscal periods from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008 and July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2010 respectively, except as follows:
1. No teacher may be reimbursed for courses taken during the first year of teaching in Vineland.
2. Teachers taking courses in the second and third years of employment in Vineland will not receive remuneration until tenure has been secured. The remuneration will then be retroactive and will be paid to the teacher in a lump sum within sixty (60) days after the teacher has secured tenure.
3. All courses must be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee subject to the following requirements:
(a) A teacher must provide official documentation that he/she has obtained a grade of B or better;
(b) Reimbursement shall be paid only for courses directly related to teacher’s teaching field which increase the teacher’s content knowledge and are related to the teacher’s current certification, as determined by the Superintendent or his/her designee in his/her sole discretion; no reimbursement shall be paid for courses leading to a post graduate or professional degree in a field other than education or teaching. Further, effective September 1, 2010, all newly hired teachers shall not be eligible for reimbursement until they are tenured, and they shall not be eligible for retroactive reimbursement upon gaining tenure for courses taken prior to being tenured.
(c) The maximum total payments to be made by the Board shall not exceed $130,000.00. Courses shall be applied for no earlier than the following dates: Summer Session - April 1 Fall/Winter Session - June 1 Spring Session - October 1 Courses must, as set forth hereinabove in this sub-article 18.A.3, be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee, prior to the teacher commencing the course(s); and
(d) Teacher taking courses shall sign a contract requiring them to reimburse the Board for all tuition paid for a course if the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board within one (1) full school/academic year of completion of said course, except that reimbursement shall not be required when the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board due to a significant, documented life change.
4. Tuition reimbursement costs shall be a sum not to exceed the actual cost of college credits charged in an accredited public State college/University of the State of New Jersey.
B. When the Superintendent initiates in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs designed to improve the quality of instruction, the cooperation of the Vineland Education Association will be solicited. Notwithstanding the above, the initiation of in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs shall be determined solely at the discretion of the Board.
C. One professional leave day may be granted to a teacher upon request, according to the following guidelines:
1. The professional day may be for attendance at a workshop, seminar or visit to another school for the expressed purpose of self professional improvement for the job.
2. The request shall arrive in the office of the Superintendent of Schools at least ten (10) working days prior to the date requested and shall be reviewed by the immediate supervisor prior to submission. The Board reserves the right to deny a professional leave day before or immediately following a holiday or on a day which by its nature suggests a hardship for providing a substitute.
3. No more than two teachers from any one elementary school or from any one department in the secondary schools may be granted a professional leave for a given day.
4. The teacher may be required to submit a report to the Superintendent of Schools, Assistant Superintendent, supervisor (s), principal and staff regarding the activity of the professional day.
5. Costs incurred by the teacher for the professional day authorized under this Section shall be the teacher’s responsibility.
6. A maximum of 90 professional leave days may be authorized for the school year which shall be apportioned as follows: elementary, 35; grades seven and eight, 20; and high school, 35.
D. If the Board initiates a teacher’s attendance at a professional workshop, seminar or visit, the expenses shall be the responsibility of the Board. Further, this day shall not be subtracted from the 90 professional leave days granted to teachers of the Association.
E. The Board agrees to pay the full cost of courses taken by secretaries related to skills and knowledge improvement when such courses are required and approved by the Board.
F. The Board and the Association agree that it is important to communicate when developing and implementing current and future learning technologies, including but not limited to distance and on-line learning.
Professional Development Fund Article 20
