WORKFORCE REDUCTION SECTION 1 Layoffs
(A) When employees are to be laid off as defined in the F.S., the state shall implement such layoff in the following manner:
(1) The competitive area for the bargaining unit shall be statewide unless the Department and PBA agree otherwise.
(2) Layoff shall be by class or occupational level within the Security Services Bargaining Unit.
(3) An employee who has not attained permanent status in his current position may be laid off without applying the provision for retention rights.
(4) No employee with permanent status in his current position shall be laid off while an employee who does not hold permanent status in his current position is serving in that class or level unless the permanent employee does not elect to exercise his retention rights or does not meet the selective competition criteria.
(5) All employees who have permanent status in their current positions shall be ranked on a layoff list for the affected class or level based on the total retention points derived as follows:
(a) Length of service retention points shall be based on one point for each month of continuous service in a Career Service position.
1. An employee who resigns from one Career Service position to accept employment in another Career Service position is not considered to have a break in service.
2. An employee who has been laid off and is reemployed within one year from the date of the layoff shall not be considered to have a break in service.
3. Moving from Career Service to Selected Exempt Service or Senior Management Service and back to Career Service does not constitute a break in service unless the employee’s break in service is more than 31 calendar days. Only time spent in the Career Service is counted in calculating retention points.
(b) Retention points deducted for performance not meeting performance standards or work expectations defined for the position shall be based on the five years immediately prior to the agency’s established cutoff date. Five points shall be deducted for each month an employee has a rating below performance expectations.
(6) The layoff list shall be prepared by totaling retention points. Employees eligible for veterans’ preference pursuant to section 295.07(1)(a) or (b), F.S., shall have 15 percent added to their total retention points, those eligible pursuant to section 295.07(1)(c), (d), or (e), F.S., shall have 10 percent added to their total retention points, and those eligible pursuant to section 295.071(1)(f), or (g), F.S., shall have five percent added to their total retention points.
(7) The employee with the highest total retention points is placed at the top of the list, and the employee with the lowest retention points is placed at the bottom of the list.
(8) The employee at the top of the list shall bump the employee at the bottom of the list. The next highest employee on the list and the remaining employees shall be handled in the same manner until the total number of filled positions in the class to be abolished is complete.
(9) Should two or more employees have the same combined total of retention points, the order of layoff shall be determined by giving preference for retention in the following sequence:
(a) The employee with the longest service in the affected class.
(b) The employee with the longest continuous service in the Career Service.
(c) The employee who is entitled to veterans’ preference pursuant to section 295.07(1), F.S.
(10) An employee who has permanent status in his current position and is to be laid off shall be given at least 14 calendar days’ notice of such layoff or two weeks’ pay, or a combination of days of notice and pay. Any payment will be made at the employee’s current hourly base rate of pay. The notice of layoff shall be in writing and sent to the employee by certified mail, return receipt requested. Within seven calendar days after receiving the notice of layoff, the employee shall have the right to request, in writing, a lateral action, reassignment, or demotion within the competitive area in lieu of layoff to a position in a class within the bargaining unit in which the employee held permanent status, or to a position in a class at the level of or below the class in the bargaining unit in which the employee held permanent status.
(11) An employee’s request for lateral action, reassignment, or demotion shall be granted unless it would cause the layoff of another employee who possesses a greater total of retention points.
(12) An employee adversely affected as a result of another employee having a greater number of retention points shall have the same right of lateral action, reassignment or demotion under the same procedure as provided in this section.
(13) If an employee requests a lateral action, reassignment, or demotion in lieu of layoff, the same formula and criteria for establishing retention points for that class shall be used as prescribed in this section.
(B) If there is to be a layoff of employees, the state shall take all reasonable steps to place any adversely affected employees in existing vacancies for which they are qualified.
(C) If work performed by employees in this unit is to be performed by non-state employees, the state agrees to encourage the employing entity to consider any adversely affected unit employees for employment in its organization if the state has been unable to place the employees in other positions within the State Personnel System.
Domestic Violence Leave Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave will be granted in accordance with the
Violence (a) The parties agree that violence shall be defined as any incident in which an employee is abused, threatened or assaulted while performing his or her work. The parties agree it includes the application of force, threats with or without weapons and severe verbal abuse. The parties agree that such incidents will not be condoned. Any employee who believes he/she has been subjected to such incident shall report this to a supervisor who will make every reasonable effort to rectify the situation. For purposes of sub- article (a) only, employees as referred to herein shall mean all employees of the Employer.
(b) The Employer agrees to develop formalized policies and procedures in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee to deal with workplace violence. The policy will address the prevention of violence and the management of violent situations and support to employees who have faced workplace violence. These policies and procedures shall be communicated to all employees.
(c) The Employer will report all incidents of violence as defined herein to the Joint Health and Safety Committee for review.
(d) The Employer agrees to provide training and information on the prevention of violence to all employees who come into contact with potentially aggressive persons. This training will be done during a new employee’s orientation and updated as required.
(e) Subject to appropriate legislation, and with the employee’s consent, the Employer will inform the Union within three (3) days of any employee who has been subjected to violence while performing his/her work. Such information shall be submitted in writing to the Union as soon as practicable.
Family Violence Leave Family Violence Leave as provided for by the Holidays Act 2003 is in addition to other leave allowances within the collective agreement.
Domestic Violence The Company agrees to recognize that employees sometimes face situations of violence or abuse in their personal life that may affect their attendance or performance at work. For that reason, the Company and the Union agree, when there is adequate verification from a recognized professional (i.e. doctor, lawyer, registered counsellor), an employee who is in an abusive or violent situation will not be subjected to discipline if the absence can be linked to the abusive or violent situation. Absences which are not covered by sick leave or disability insurance will be granted as absent with permission without pay.
Violence in the Workplace (a) The parties agree that violence shall be defined as any incident in which an employee is abused, threatened or assaulted while performing his or her work. The parties agree it includes the application of force, threats with or without weapons and severe verbal abuse. The parties agree that such incidents will not be condoned. Any employee who believes he/she has been subjected to such incident shall report this to a supervisor who will make every reasonable effort to rectify the situation. For purposes of sub-article (a) only, employees as referred to herein shall mean all employees of the Employer notwithstanding Article 2.12.
(b) The Employer agrees to develop formalized policies and procedures in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee to deal with workplace violence. The policy will address the prevention of violence and the management of violent situations and support to employees who have faced workplace violence. These policies and procedures shall be communicated to all employees. The local parties will consider appropriate measures and procedures in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee to address violence in the workplace, which may include, among other measures and procedures:
i) Alert employees about a person with a known history of aggressive and responsive behaviours and their known triggers by means of:
A) electronic and/or other appropriate flagging systems,
B) direct verbal communication / alerts (i.e. shift reports),
ii) Communicate and provide appropriate training and education,
iii) Reporting all incidents of workplace violence,
iv) Long-term care home wide violence risk assessments.
(c) The Employer will report all incidents of violence as defined herein to the Joint Health and Safety Committee for review.
(d) The Employer agrees to provide training and information on the prevention of violence to all employees who come into contact with potentially aggressive persons. This training will be done during a new employee’s orientation and updated as required.
(e) Subject to appropriate legislation, and with the employee’s consent, the Employer will inform the Union within three (3) days of any employee who has been subjected to violence while performing his/her work. Such information shall be submitted in writing to the Union as soon as practicable.
Staff Reduction 11.1 When a reduction within the District is needed, the affected employee(s) and the Association will be notified as to which position(s) will be eliminated or reduced at least fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the reduction.
11.2 When a reduction within the District is needed, the Board will determine which position(s) will be eliminated or reduced. An employee whose position will be eliminated or reduced shall have the right to displace an employee in his/her present job classification or another job classification in accordance with the following:
a. The laid off or reduced employee has greater seniority than the employee to be displaced.
b. The laid off or reduced employee had an equal or greater number of hours in his/her regular schedule than the employee to be displaced.
c. The laid off or reduced employee presently has the necessary qualifications to perform the work.
d. The laid off or reduced employee elects to exercise his/her displacement rights within five (5) working days of notification of his/her layoff or reduction. An employee displaced under this section is also entitled to displacement rights under this section.
11.3 When filling vacancies which occur after a reduction in staff, laid off bargaining unit members who have been released less than two (2) years, shall be recalled in the order of seniority, with the most senior member being recalled first to any position for which he/she is qualified. Effective July 1, 1991, newly hired bargaining unit members shall be subject to recall for two (2) years. If the employee fails to report to work within ten (10) working days from the receipt of the recall notice via certified or registered mail, that person shall be considered a voluntary terminated employee. However, if an employee is recalled to a position of lesser hours, he/she shall have the option to refuse the position and shall not be removed from the recall list as a result of this action.
11.4 An employee may elect to accept layoff rather than exercise his/her bumping rights.
11.5 For the purposes of this agreement, qualified shall be defined as capable of skillfully and efficiently performing the job duties as summarized in the job description in a competent manner with minimal instruction. The District reserves the right to test employees as needed. Qualified includes the following:
a. Any licenses, certification and training necessary to perform the job, and
b. demonstrated skills and merits. The most senior qualified employee shall be selected, excepting that a less senior candidate may be selected if he/she has greatly superior training and skills. The burden of proof of greatly superior training and skills shall be on the Board.
Workplace Violence (a) It is recognized that at certain worksites or in certain work situations employees may be at risk of physical violence or verbal abuse from clients, persons in care or custody, or the public.
(b) Where such potential exists:
(1) employees at those worksites or in those work situations shall receive training in the recognition and management of such incidents;
(2) physical and procedural measures for the protection of employees, applicable to those worksites or work situations, shall be implemented.
(c) The Permanent Occupational Health and Safety Committee shall be consulted regarding the curriculum of training and the applicable physical and procedural measures referred to in (b) above.
(d) The Permanent Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee shall jointly develop a new or approve an existing training package on risk assessment.
(e) Employees shall be informed concerning the potential for physical violence or verbal abuse from clients, a student, instructors or other members of the public, subject to statutory limitation.
(f) Immediate critical incident stress debriefing and post traumatic counselling shall be made available for employees who have suffered as a result of violence. Leave required to attend such debriefing or counselling sessions will be without loss of pay.
Price Reduction Notwithstanding any other provision set forth in this Warrant, at any time and from time to time during the period that this Warrant is exercisable, the Company in its sole discretion may reduce the Purchase Price or extend the period during which this Warrant is exercisable.
