SECTION 16.10 SENIORITY
Last Update: 1/09
Guidelines on Seniority
- A contract covered
employee's seniority date is defined by the applicable collective
bargaining agreement:
AFSCME: An
employee's length of continuous service with the Employer in a permanent
position since the employee's date of hire. Any length of service in a
temporary position shall be included in the computation of seniority if the
employment was in the same classification as, and contiguous to, the
appointment to a permanent position. All project appointment time is included
in seniority date computation if the project appointment is made to an AFSCME covered class.
In the
2003-2005 negotiations, AFSCME/Iowa
Council 61 and the State modified the calculation of an employee’s bargaining
unit seniority, as follows:
·
Employees
covered by SPOC or UE/IUP have no
seniority upon entrance or return to an AFSCME
covered position.
·
If a
bargaining eligible employee was not in an AFSCME
eligible class on July 1, 2003, seniority will be calculated beginning on the
date the employee entered the AFSCME
covered class.
·
Current
non-contract employees who were in their non-contract covered class on July 1,
2003 will continue to accrue AFSCME
bargaining unit seniority based on the original date of hire with the state.
·
Employees in AFSCME covered classes on July 1, 2003 who later
move to a non-contract job class will have their original seniority date frozen
as of the date they moved to the non-contract class.
·
Employees
hired after July 1, 2003 in non-contract job classes will not accrue AFSCME seniority, nor would they have any seniority
to apply in cases of bumping to an AFSCME
covered class.
UE/IUP: Employees
entering the bargaining unit subsequent to 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 computing their
seniority.
The following is the method of computing seniority
dates for UE/IUP covered employees
and employees in collective bargaining exempt positions who previously held UE/IUP covered classes.
a.
If the employee
was in the bargaining unit on 7-1-87, then the seniority date will not be
adjusted for time spent in a collective bargaining exempt position;
AND
b.
If the employee
was not in the bargaining unit on 7-1-87, but has reentered the bargaining unit
since 7-1-87, any time spent in a collective bargaining exempt position will
not count for seniority date purposes;
AND
c.
Any time spent in
a collective bargaining exempt position after 7-1-87 will not count for
seniority date purposes.
EXAMPLES:
UE/IUP: Employee A is employed with the State in 1978
and becomes a supervisor in 1980. That
employee only has two years of seniority in the bargaining unit and does not
get to count supervisory time because Employee A entered the bargaining unit
after 1987.
Employee B is employed with
the State in 1986 in a bargaining unit position. Employee B becomes a
supervisor in 1989. Because of the
layoffs, Employee B bumps back into the unit in 1991. Employee B has the 3
years seniority from 1986 to 1989 and for the period 1991 forward.
Employee C is hired as a supervisor in 1988. During the layoffs, Employee C has to
bump. Employee C has no seniority to
bump within the bargaining unit because that employee will be entering the
bargaining unit after July 1, 1987.
SPOC: The employee's length of service with the Employer
in a peace officer classification in the department conducting the layoff.
- Seniority dates must
be calculated and submitted to DAS-HRE with the recall form for
non-contract covered employees who are laid off as they may elect to bump
or be recalled to contract covered classes. If a person in a position
exempted by statute from collective bargaining includes one or more UE/IUP or AFSCME
classes on the application for recall, the seniority date must also be
calculated as outlined in this section.