Present: Tim Lokensgard, Bonnie Wold, Jason Anderson, Christina St. Germaine, Justin Wright, Jennifer Montgomery, Cory Vargason, Matt Stenger, Molly Kennedy, Amanda Mathiowetz, Tim Headlee, Scott Grefe, Melissa DuChene, Terry Kneisel, Ann Zimmerman, Zacharie Sowieja

10:00 a.m. AFSCME AGENDA ITEMS

1. Unpaid leave for DCT Support Services through June 30, 2015 a. There was an announcement on the homepage put out by DHS as a whole for non-direct care services in regards to using non paid leave. The announcement stated that these employees can use unpaid leave in lieu of vacation as a salaries savings. This would also keep accruals intact. There is a comp code that allows for this. b. Jennifer Montgomery stated that this has been approved for some and not others. Moose Lake management asked who had been approved and that this is the first they have heard of it. Would anyone be opposed to approving this for non-direct care services? Management stated that they would need to double check with Human Resources and would not necessarily be opposed. Scott Grefe stated that this was set up on March 6th. There is a website that was on the homepage as well. This is addressed in MMB # 7.

2. Employee Engagement Committee Update a. This was on a previous agenda. AFSCME asked if there have been meetings? Management stated that they sent an email to Pat Todd, who is heading up this committee, and she stated that they have met a couple times. The committee sent a recommendation to the Senior Management Team but did not give any more specifics than that. b. AFSCME would like to know when this recommendation was sent and what the timeframe is on getting a reply. Bonnie Wold said that she would get that information to Matt Stenger.

3. Vacant positions for both Moose Lake and St Peter a. Including LOA’s and WOC’s St. Peter Security Counselor vacancies are around 20-24. There are 12 on 3rd Watch, 4 on 2nd Watch, and 4-6 on 1st Watch. b. Moose Lake has roughly 32 vacant positions between SC’s & SCL’s. They did not have a break down by watch. c. AFSCME asked if these are dead bids? Management stated that all dead bids have 1768’s submitted.

4. The amount of inversing for both sites over the last two pay periods a. Moose Lake stated that in the past two weeks they have had a lot. A large amount of 1st watch staff were inversed due to hospital coverage, transports, and some unique funeral trips. Overall they stated that the numbers do not even come close to last years. Last year there was a lot more overtime. AFSCME asked if this is because we are now running with lower numbers. Management stated that nothing has changed. b. AFSCME asked what the success rate is with 1768 submissions. Tim Lokensgard stated that no one has been hired since October. The only new staff they get are from MSH and Moose Lake transfers. Every Thursday the Commissioner and Senior Management Team meet and review where hires are needed. As of right now we are still only able to go through internally. AFSCME asked if these 1768’s are not being submitted because there has been some success in other areas. Moose Lake stated that they have had some success with non-Security Counselor’s, like food and property. St. Peter stated that they have a supervisor position on hold.

5. Cross training for St Peter and Moose Lake a. Staff want this for overtime and holiday purposes. St. Peter stated that they have tried this with one staff but none since. With low numbers right now this is hard to accomplish. AFSCME stated that staff have sent emails to supervisors wishing to be cross trained. Tim Lokensgard stated that he was not aware of this. b. Moose Lake: Ann Zimmerman stated that they do not want to get caught up in people getting pulled from their bid positions to cover areas with vacancies. AFSCME explained that when someone accepts overtime and they are not trained where the need is, this would prevent the regularly scheduled staff from being placed out of their bid positions. Ann stated that this can be good and bad; that they have ran into it being a bad thing. AFSCME stated that staff who want overtime want to be cross trained. Management stated that they can only have so many people training at one time and that slows the process down. Management said that Level 2 and 3 cross training is hard to do but they are doing it. c. Moose Lake staff wanting to be cross trained can contact Steve, Randy, or Rich. St. Peter staff can contact the area’s supervisor or JR.

6. Scheduling System update a. Is this still set to possibly pilot in March, run in July? Management stated that it will be piloted in St. Peter and Moose Lake. Right now the vender has signed the final contract and it is in transit at Central Office. IT is working on setting up the databases and servers. Once IT is done with their questions we will hear from the vendor on when they can come and do some of the developmental work. There will be a development troubleshoot before we all go live. There will be a lot of work that needs to be done over the next 2-3 months. b. There will be a committee formed. The schedulers will be a part of this and Molly Kennedy. From there it will depend upon what the needs are and what the vendor wants.

7. Discrepancies on the rounds of bidding a. This is a follow up from St. Peter meeting last month. Recently a couple discrepancies have been found by the AFSCME member tracking rounds. Management stated that when these discrepancies are found, let JR and Human Resources know.

8. Lead Start Dates a. When promoted, the start date is the day you begin to work the position. In some cases start dates have been pushed back for one employee accepting a promotion due to being temporarily reassigned to their current work area due to being short staff. AFSCME asked if this could be taken case by case if an employee gets held back on a unit? Management stated that they would talk to HR about this.

9. Negotiations Assembly – March 13th

10. Day on the Hill – March 24th

11. Leaving staff short a. On March 11th at the 3rd Watch shift change meeting staff was told that people were going to be getting pulled in order to avoid overtime. AFSCME stated that they understand trying to avoid overtime but want to avoid precedence. We do not want to see this as something we start to go forward with. b. There are a lot of concerns about units being down to one staff for a majority of the shift and have that be the status quo. Scott Grefe asked if this is the programs intent as standardized staffing for extended periods of time. Tim Lokensgard stated that he does not know what the definition of extended period of time is. He stated that there are certain areas that run 1 staff for an hour at a time (for example break coverage). Management stated that they have no issues having an A-Team person covering to help out. If an ICS occurs, then they would report to that situation. c. Management would like to make sure staff are where the clients are. For example, if there are 30 clients in the Outeryard the 2nd unit staff can be helping the rec post in the yard. AFSCME stated that this can leave 1 staff alone with 8 clients which is not safe either. This is not only a physical issue but a job security issue. This has the potential for a situation to occur where it is one Security Counselor’s word against 8 clients. MSOP clients are quite litigious. AFSCME stated that this leaves staff open for liability that could negatively affect them. Management stated that there are multiple areas that have cameras. Also, staff carry radios. Often times there are one staff with numerous clients in the Social Center, for example. There are other job classifications like nurses and clinicians who are put in this situation a lot as well. d. Moose Lake stated that they are constantly gaging the atmosphere of the facility on an hour by hour, watch by watch basis. Moose Lake management mentioned that this goes both ways. When the Omega units were at high risk, they staffed above normal numbers. e. If staff are uncomfortable, call A-Team. It is acceptable to not go out onto the unit if you are feeling uncomfortable. f. Scott Grefe stated that he is not talking about 1 hour, he has concerns over leaving 1 staff for 5-6 hours. AFSCME stated that they understand the pressure of the budget and having to reduce overtime but this cannot be done at the peril of the staff serving the clients. Just because this practice is currently going on and has gone on, does not mean it is a good thing. AFSCME stated that this will continue to be a concern of ours going forward.

10:45 a.m. MANAGEMENT AGENDA ITEMS

1. DCT Policy Discussion a. Tim Lokensgard and Ann Zimmerman are working on this along with Tom Christensen in MSH. This is an overall DCT policy change. MSOP policies will not be changing but you will see references to DCT policy. This is bridging us all together. This will be a long process. b. Currently working on the Contraband and Transport policies.

2. Changes in Supervision and duties in our division a. In Moose Lake the Security Services AGS was eliminated. That person has been moved to a different position. b. There was a 3rd Watch AGS lay off in Moose Lake. That staff went back to his SCL position. c. Moose Lake will be adding transport, visiting, AMS, and Count Coordinator to the Security Services department. Letters will go out to these staff and it will be posted on the homepage.

3. Hospital Coverage a. More for Moose Lake staff as a general awareness: there were concerns from hospital administration there over staff from MSOP asking hospital staff where they could sleep. Clarification: not acceptable to sleep while doing hospital coverage. b. With construction going on at the hospital in Moose Lake, it was communicated to staff where the new entrances are, where they can eat, and general expectations.

4. Investigations a. Reminder to all staff that investigations are confidential. Please remember to respect your peer’s privacy. This is not about spreading rumors. There have been a couple situations recently that have come up and they will be addressed with those individuals.