Management: Nancy Johnston, Gary Grimm, Cindy Jungers, Tim Lokensgard, and Bonnie Wold. Kim Franek via ITV.

AFSCME: Molly Kennedy, Scott Grefe, Matt Stenger, Andy Jones, and Chuck Carlson.

MANAGEMENT AGENDA ITEMS

Non-Uniform Dress Code Expectations – CPS Staff

Gary Grimm said the expectation is that staff will wear business casual clothes on client outings unless such outings involve physical activity that would make business type clothing impractical. Scott Grefe noted there is a newly developed DHS dress code policy and asked if MSOP would be governed by the Agency wide policy. Neither St. Peter Administration nor MSOP Human Resources were aware of this policy.

Overtime Sign-Up Sheets

Tim Lokensgard, St. Peter Scheduler, announced that effective the beginning of the next schedule, advance known and subsequent shift overtime will each have their own sign-up sheet. Clipboards for both will be available in the OD office. Subsequent shift sign-up sheets will be brought to each roll call. He added that the program is working on electronic overtime sign-ups but will use the two separate sign-up sheets to bridge the gap until that procedure is operational.

MANAGEMENT NON AGENDA ITEMS

Staff Expectations Policy

Melissa Gresczyk joined the meeting via telephone to explain that the Staff Expectations Policy had been revised after much discussion with the unions and is tied to the General Ethics policy. She explained that the facility is obligated by statute to notify licensing in situations where employee behavior could interfere with their ability to pass the required background study. By making the employer aware, assistance can often be given to help the affected employee remain in employment status. A newly-updated version of the policy was passed out to those in attendance.

AFSCME AGENDA ITEMS

Uniform Receipt Drop Off Area

Gary Grimm shared that the announcement on the home page was inaccurate in part. He said the Mail Room is the appropriate place for staff to drop off their uniform receipts. When the door to the Mail Room is locked, staff can slide their receipts under the door. Management agreed to post a corrected announcement on the home page.

Grievance Process

The Union said they are considering dropping step 2 of the grievance process. They said in the big picture of things step 2 is being heard by a supervisor who is then present for the step 3, which is counterproductive to a fresh set of eyes at each step. Scott Grefe added that first-line supervisors who respond to step 1 are saying they do not have the authority to change anything. Management said they will explain to supervisors that they are the responder at step 1 and should be reviewing the content of grievances and responding appropriately. It was agreed between Management and the union that for continuity, the Scheduler can respond to all step one overtime grievances.

GMW/GRW Job Duties

The union presented that General Maintenance Workers and General Repair Workers are being expected to supervise clients, to include hiring and terminating client employment, completing time books, and evaluating job performance. This was previously the work of the Work Therapy Assistants (WTA) and it seems reasonable that the employees in the maintenance job classes are working as WTAs and not within their classified positions. Human Resources agreed to research this issue program-wide and provide feedback to the union.

Use of Control Center Zone 5 as Extra

The union said if an OD is short, they put A Team staff on 4-5 hours as extra coverage for Zone 5, which limits the A Team ability to respond as needed. Bonnie Wold, Facility Security Director, clarified that Zone 5 does not need to be covered 8 hours per day and she will communicate this with supervisors. She added that B Team members are also available to respond to facility needs.

Supervisors Editing Employee Time Sheets Without Notifying Employees

The union stated there have been several episodes of supervisors changing time sheets without telling the employee(s). They said they believed when this occurs, the affected staff should be made aware. Management agreed, stating there may be instances when an employee is absent for a period of time that the supervisor cannot notify them immediately. Management agreed to remind supervisors of the direction to inform staff.

Fifteen Minute Rest Periods

The local explained this topic applies primarily to CPS staff. There are times due to outings when they cannot always take their break near the midpoint of the shift and staff would like the ability to decide for themselves whether to take the break, be paid 30 minutes of overtime, or leave work 30 minutes early. Management answered the staff would not be given options. Breaks will be provided as close to midpoint as possible, and overtime will be paid when appropriate. Meal expense reimbursement for employees accompanying clients on outings was again discussed. Management shared the amount approved to be spent my employees per outing is determined by a supervisor, and employees are then allowed to use the Imprest card up to the set amount. Management’s position that meals will not be reimbursed by expense reports still stands, as employees are not considered in travel status unless they are 35 miles or more from their home work location. Scott Grefe requested expense reimbursement reports for all MSOP employees for a one-year period of time. Request was noted by HR.

Nancy Johnston told AFSCME that Management is committed to cleaning up the break issue at CPS and also reviewing the Imprest Policy in regard to payment for client outings.

Utility Pool Holiday Scheduling

AFSCME presented that holiday scheduling is working outside of the 21 day period. Within those 21 days, however, the holiday should be scheduled by seniority and work unit. It is unclear whether or not Utility Pool staff are needed on those days; however, the decisions should be based on seniority regardless. The union added that since the Utility Pool staff are designated to backfill work areas, they should be the first staff scheduled (in seniority order) to work a holiday, then the remaining staff can be scheduled by seniority.

Electronic Postings – Follow Up

The union said they had been brainstorming the best way to manage meeting the contract language for vacancy postings. They requested a one-time announcement on the home page instructing staff how to set up an alert when new announcements are posted on the HR site. By setting up this alert, staff would receive e-mail whenever a new vacancy announcement is posted on the HR homepage. HR will draft this announcement and submit to the Union for review before posting. AFCME stated this would satisfy the contract language. It was also agreed that this process would be communicated to new employees at orientation.

Order of A-Team Cross Training

Labor presented there are staff who do not want to be on the A-Team, as they are no longer performing actual A-Team duties. They questioned if Management ever looked at the reasons why staff are not volunteering to be cross-trained. Management explained that when the A-Team was first implemented, there was a different client population on campus. Currently there are not as many client-related behavioral problems; however, the A-Team staff are still needed and the facility must ensure we have an appropriate number of staff cross-trained and available. Because Utility Pool staff backfill for all areas of the facility, they must be cross-trained to do so. The union then said that employees do not want to be cross-trained into A-Team positions due to how these positions and the associated job duties are viewed by staff. The Union argued that the A-Team is responsible for all of the “negative” duties and thus staff do not want to be cross-trained into these positions. When Management asked how the Union would suggest that these duties be redistributed, AFSCME agreed they would discuss this issue internally a bit further.

AFSCME NON AGENDA ITEM

Labor asked for an update on the Pexton break room. Nancy Johnston said that furniture and a microwave have been ordered. Labor again asked if a regular-sized oven could be ordered. Nancy agreed to check with maintenance and provide a response to the union.