SECTION 12.20 SENIORITY
Last Update: 11/03
The
negotiations for the 2003 – 2005 agreement between AFSCME/Iowa Council 61 and
the State resulted in a modification to the calculation of an employee’s
bargaining unit seniority. The most
significant modification is that employees covered by a different collective
bargaining agreement have no seniority upon entrance or return to an AFSCME
covered position. For all practical
purposes that means that the bargaining status of any contract eligible
employee on July 1, 2003, will determine the employee’s AFSCME bargaining unit
seniority. As such, unless the contract
eligible employee was serving in an AFSCME eligible job classification on July
1, 2003, that employee will have NO AFSCME bargaining unit
seniority for purposes of transfer or layoff, even if the employee later
reenters a job class covered by AFSCME.
This is true regardless of any prior service in a job classification
that was covered by AFSCME prior to July 1, 2003.
Current
employees in non-contract job classes effective July 1, 2003, will continue to
accrue AFSCME bargaining unit seniority based upon the original date of hire
with the State of Iowa. However,
current AFSCME contract eligible employees who promote or are reclassified to a
position or job class that is not contract covered after July 1, 2003, will
suffer no reduction in the accrued AFSCME bargaining unit seniority accrued to
that date. This means that employees in
an AFSCME covered job classification who after July 1, 2003, move to a
non-contract eligible position or job class will not accrue additional AFSCME
bargaining unit seniority upon entrance to the non-contract eligible position
or job class. In essence, the AFSCME
bargaining unit seniority for such employees will be frozen in time as the date
of entrance into a non-contract eligible position or job class for purpose of
transfer and layoff. As such, employees
in that situation may exercise bumping to a previously held AFSCME job classification
or lower class in a job class series based only upon the seniority accrued
prior to becoming a non-contract eligible employee.
Employees
hired after July 1, 2003, in non-contract eligible job classes will not accrue
AFSCME seniority, nor would those employees have any seniority to apply in
cases of transfer or layoff to an AFSCME covered job class. Demotion, promotion, or reclassification to
an AFSCME covered job class for employees hired after July 1, 2003, in
non-contract job classes will result in the employee having an AFSCME bargaining
unit seniority date effective with the date the employee enters the AFSCME
covered job class.
In the
SPOC agreement, seniority is the length of service in Peace Officer
classifications in the department.
In the
IUP agreement, seniority is the length of service in any position covered by
any collective bargaining agreement. In
the IUP agreement, employees entering the bargaining unit after July 1, 1987,
from positions exempted by statute from collective bargaining shall include
only time spent in positions not exempted by statute from collective bargaining
in their seniority. More information
about seniority is found in Article V of each of the agreements.
Seniority Application
Seniority
as defined in the agreements should only be applied when required by the
agreements. For example, seniority is
used to determine transfer rights, scheduling vacation within a work unit if
the employee is requesting vacation sixty (60) calendar days in advance,
approval for educational leave without pay, layoff, tuition reimbursement for
the Fiscal and Staff Unit, training to carry out assigned duties, and overtime
assignment.
Part-time Employment
A
part-time employee’s seniority date will not be prorated due to the employee’s
part-time status.
Breaks in Service
An
employee’s continuous service for purposes of seniority is broken by
resignation, discharge, or retirement.
If an employee returns to state service after such a break, a new
seniority date will be established. If
an employee leaves work for any other reason, such as a layoff, long term
disability, or an approved leave of absence without pay, seniority will not be
broken unless the absence exceeds two years or the employee’s previous length
of service whichever is less. [The SPOC
agreement only provides for retention of seniority only if an employee is laid
off and recalled within eighteen (18) months.
In this instance the original seniority date will be adjusted for the
time the employee was laid off.]
Retroactivity
The
AFSCME and IUP agreements prohibit retroactive application of the guidelines
for setting seniority dates. Employees
will retain seniority dates which were established prior to the effective date
of the current agreements.
Appeals
AFSCME
or IUP covered employees may appeal their seniority dates within (90) calendar
days after the date of posting. An
appeal may be in the form of an official grievance or simply a verbal inquiry
with the personnel officer.
If the
seniority date is incorrect as posted, it will be corrected a promptly as
possible. The time needed for
correction will vary depending on whether the error is merely typographical or
requires a records search by the Department of Administrative Services – Human
Resources Enterprise.
Credit for Temporary
Employment
Temporary
service for AFSCME or IUP employees will count towards the seniority date if it
is in the same class as and contiguous to a permanent appointment.
Special Notes on Seniority
The
“adjusted employment date” should not be confused with the contractual
seniority date. The adjusted employment
date’s sole purpose is to determine an employee’s annual leave accrual
rate. An employee’s ADJUSTED EMPLOYMENT
DATE may or may not be the same as his or her SENIORITY DATE. One reason for the difference is the way in
which temporary service is credited.
Only temporary appointments in the same class as and contiguous to a
permanent appointment will count towards the employment date.