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Incentive Award Announcement

CUE won a big victory recently -- we had filed two Unfair Labor Practices against UC for the way they handled the Incentive Awards. Both those ULPS were settled in an informal settlement conference last week.

In the recently concluded contract bargaining CUE fought hard to have "incentive award" monies distributed equally to all clericals. We informed UC from the beginning that it was our intention to end the incentive award program. Nevertheless in some locations some clericals were told that they had been given awards but could not get the checks because of contract bargaining. As a result CUE filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the State of California both because UC failed to provide CUE with information about the IAP's that we needed and because we felt UC's insistence on telling employees that they would receive awards except for bargaining was calculated to make CUE look bad. In an informal settlement meeting, UC agreed to pay the awards which had been promised. The following is a joint communication written by attorneys for CUE and UC.

We hope you will spread this widely to local stewards and activists.

February 16, 2001

JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AND THE COALITION OF UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES ("CUE") REGARDING PAYMENT OF INCENTIVE AWARDS

TO: University Employees Currently in the Clerical Bargaining Unit and University Employees Who Were Reclassified Out of the Bargaining Unit on or after July 1, 1999

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between CUE and the University provided that 0.8% of the range and step adjustments for 1999-2000 would be funded from monies previously set aside for the Incentive Award Program ("IAP"). As a result, all employees in the unit received a 0.8% increase to their base pay as of October 1, 1999. However, between July 1, 1999 and December 20, 2000, some clerical employees who are represented by CUE were promised incentive ("IAP") awards for which no payment was received. (These awards may be called "merit-bonus" or "spot" awards.) Clerical employees who were promised IAP awards between July 1, 1999 and December 20, 2000 may be eligible to receive their awards under the following claims procedure.

CLAIMS PROCEDURE

  1. CLAIMS PERIOD: Between March 1, 2001 and April 16, 2001, employees in the clerical bargaining unit (or who were reclassified out of the clerical unit on or after July 1, 1999 or who retired from the unit after December 20, 2000) may submit claims for IAP awards to their campus labor relations office. Claims should be addressed to the campus Labor Relations Manager and may be hand delivered, mailed or faxed.
  2. WHAT MUST THE CLAIM INCLUDE? Clerical employees who believe they were promised IAP awards between July 1, 1999 and December 20, 2000, may submit the following documentation to their campus Labor Relations Manager:
    1. A letter, certificate, print-out of an e-mail, etc., from the University to the employee, containing a promise to pay an IAP award. (If you no longer have the documentation previously provided to you, your supervisor, department head or labor relations manager will provide you with a duplicate copy upon your request.)
    2. A letter or memo from a University official confirming a verbal promise to the employee to pay an incentive award. (If a verbal promise was made, please ask your supervisor or department head to confirm the verbal promise in writing.)
    3. An employee who was notified only that she/he was nominated for an IAP award is not eligible to receive payment, unless the employee can submit additional documentation confirming that the University intended to award the employee an IAP award (for example, a letter or certificate showing that the employee was honored at a ceremony along with other IAP awardees, or a memo from a University official stating that a decision had been made to award the employee an IAP -- not just nominate the employee for the award).
  3. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CLAIMS ARE SUBMITTED? Claims which promise an exact amount of money will be reviewed by the campus Labor Relations Managers within 15 days of their submission. All claims will be reviewed by campus labor relations by May 2, 2001. The University will make every effort to pay claims accepted by the campus labor relations as soon as possible, and all claims will be paid no later than July 2, 2001.
  4. WHAT HAPPENS IF CAMPUS LABOR RELATIONS DETERMINES THAT NO AWARD IS DUE? If campus labor relations determines that no award is due, the affected employee and CUE will be provided with notice of the proposed denial by May 2, 2001. An employee may contest a proposed denial of a claim at the campus labor relations level. The campus Labor Relations Manager will, upon request, meet with CUE representatives in order to discuss the employee's appeal and to consider CUE's input before making a final decision. Final decisions by campus Labor Relations Managers shall be issued by May 17, 2001.
  5. CALCULATION PROCEDURE: If it is determined by campus labor relations that an award is due, and the employee was promised an exact amount of money by the University, the University shall pay 100% of that amount to the employee (less applicable taxes). If no specific amount was noted in the claim documentation, the campus will award, in its sole discretion, an appropriate amount, taking into consideration the past practice of the employee's department/division/college, etc.
  6. APPEALS TO OFFICE OF LABOR RELATIONS: If an employee's claim for an incentive award is denied by the campus Labor Relations Manager, it may be appealed to the Office of Labor Relations ("OLR") in the Office of the President. Such appeals should be mailed, faxed ((510) 268-0602), or hand delivered to Sharon Hayden in OLR. OLR will, upon request, meet with CUE representatives in order to discuss the employee's appeal and to consider CUE's input. Claims must be appealed by May 31, 2001, or within 15 days of the final decision of campus labor relations, whichever date is later. The OLR shall meet with CUE and issue final decisions no later than June 15, 2001. Pay-outs of appealed awards shall be no later than August 15, 2001.

Employees with questions about the claims procedure should contact their local CUE office or representative.

http://www.cueunion.org/bargaining/iap.php        21-November-2008 13:09:53
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