President’s Message

Happy New Year!

I hope you were able to enjoy some time off during the winter break to do things you like with people you love. I most certainly did.

Challenges and opportunities come with every new year, and for ACE and FHDA, 2017 is no different.

Challenge:

  • FHDA’s continued decline in enrollment and budget deficit. The district has been clear that we are fine through the 2017/18 year, but if these trends don’t reverse themselves changes may need to be made. ACE will be monitoring district, state and federal funding and policy decisions for changes which could impact ACE members.

Opportunities:

  • Budget concerns. We can all help the district during this enrollment decline by simply taking a class. Learn something new and have it counts towards your Professional Growth Award (PGA), which puts money in your pocket.
  • Classification study. An efficient and effective organization needs logically constructed job families that link and build positions upon each other, and in some cases, demonstrate career ladders within particular kinds of work. More on this below.
  • Professional Development. Partnering with the staff development office at De Anza, ACE will be offering workshops on both campuses covering PGA’s, retirement and other negotiated benefits. Watch your email for more information.
  • Negotiations. Always a give and take but as we wait for the Governor’s initial budget at the end of January, and keeping the district’s budget challenges in mind, ACE will be drafting our proposals to the district and asking for your input along the way.
  • Get involved. The classification study and negotiations will only be successful with your participation. Please take the time to fill out surveys, attend meetings, get to know your chief steward and ACE elected members, and most importantly, ask questions.

Looking forward to working together to make 2017 the best it can be.

Of Service,

Chris White, ACE President
(650) 949-7789, office

New Chair of Negotiations, Cathleen Monsell

Effective January 5, 2017, Cathleen Monsell, division assistant in the PSME department at De Anza, will serve as Chair of Negotiations for the remainder of our Agreement, which is set to expire October 31, 2017. She has served on the negotiations team for the past two years and has a firm understanding of the issues facing ACE and FHDA. We are grateful for her service and willingness to step into this critical role.

Classification Study Update

The contract with Koff & Associates, consultants for the classification study, was approved at the November 2016 FHDA Board of Trustees meeting.  We have tentatively scheduled ACE member orientation meetings for Tues. Jan. 24 at De Anza and Wed., Jan. 25 at Foothill. Several sessions will be provided throughout these days to give you ample opportunity to attend. One session will be live-streamed and archived on our YouTube channel for those who can’t attend. You will receive a formal invitation to these meetings as soon we as secure the dates from the consultant. Look for it in your email.

As a reminder, the goal of this study is to align job descriptions with the current roles and responsibilities of classified employees, develop career ladders where appropriate, and conduct a market analysis of compensation in similar or like jobs in other districts.

As part of our negotiated agreement, Koff and Associates will work in collaboration with the Joint Labor Management Classification Committee (JLMCC) to implement this study.  The JLMCC includes:

ACE
Bradley Booth, ACE Attorney
Chris White, ACE President
Cathleen Monsell, ACE Chair of Negotiations
Anthony Booth, Labor Consultant (non-voting)
Shawna Santiago, ACE Recorder (non-voting)

Management
Marietta Harris, Director of Human Resources
Kevin Harral, Director of Financial Aid, FH
Lisa Mandy, Director of Financial Aid, DA
Myisha Washington, Manager, Compensation, Classification, and Employment Services (non-voting)

ACE Needs Your Voice
Two negotiators are needed to represent De Anza and Central Services.

Negotiating our collective agreement is the single most critical responsibility we have as a union and we can’t do it without you.  If you are creative, patient, fair, respectful, and willing to put the interests of ACE members above your own, you have the skills to be a negotiator.

The Details:

  • $100 a month paid stipend during active negotiations.
  • You must be a permanent, full-dues-paying member.
  • The time commitment is typically less than 2 hours every few weeks during active negotiations.
  • Release time is available and we will work with you and your supervisor to get this arranged.

Our strength at the bargaining table comes from a diverse representation of our membership.  Please consider adding your voice.

Contact Chris White, ACE President, for more information.

New Parental Leave Law

By Bradley Booth, Attorney
Law Offices of Bradley G. Booth

The Short Version

Effective January 1, 2017, Assembly Bill 2393 provides 12 weeks of paid parental leave for the birth, adoption or foster care of a child by an employee.  Accumulated sick leave must first be used to cover the leave. In the absence of accrued sick leave, the employee will be compensated under extended sick leave–Article 10.2 of the ACE Agreement–an amount that equals 66 2/3 percent of the worker’s basic monthly earnings.

The Long Version

Effective January 1, 2017, Assembly Bill 2393 provides for 12 weeks of parental leave for classified employees at community colleges. Parental leave is defined as the birth of a child of the employee, or the placement of a child with the employee in connection with the adoption or foster care of the child by the employee.

Parental Leave  

The parental leave will be full-paid leave as long as an employee has sick leave on the books. If the employee does not, then they would receive differential pay or extended sick leave, if eligible. The employee may use up to 12 weeks of accumulated sick leave to cover the leave so the employee may be paid for the entire period they are on parental leave. Any other use of any sick leave during the parental leave will be deducted from the 12 weeks. Therefore, if an employee has 20 weeks of accumulated sick leave upon the birth (adoption or foster care) of a child they may use 12 weeks of the 20 for parental leave, regardless of employee’s gender (in other words this isn’t exclusively for the mother but the father may also use parental leave). If, however, the employee used sick leave for being “sick” during the parental leave that time will be deducted from the parental leave.

If you only have 6 weeks (or any amount less than 12 weeks) of accumulated sick leave at the beginning of your parental leave, you will receive full pay for the accumulated six weeks. Once your accumulated sick leave runs out, you will receive differential pay in the amount outlined below.

Extended Sick Leave – 10.2 ACE Agreement
Each classified worker shall be entitled to extended sick leave for illness or injury at the end of all full-pay sick leave or at the end of 10 consecutive working days, whichever is later, and continuing for up to 130 working days from the first day of absence because of illness or injury. Extended sick leave shall be granted in increments of not less than one full day for each working day of absence due to illness or injury.

A classified worker on extended sick leave shall be entitled to extended-sick-leave pay as follows:

  • 10.2.1  For a full month’s absence, an amount that equals 66 2/3 percent of the worker’s “basic monthly earnings” on the date he/she was first absent, to a maximum payment of $6000 per month. “Basic monthly earnings” means 1/12th of the worker’s annual contract salary.
  • 10.2.2 For less than a full month’s absence, an amount that equals an appropriate fraction of the extended sick leave pay calculated under 10.2.1. The fraction shall be determined by dividing the number of days of absence during the partial month by 20.

Does Not Impact Collective Bargaining Contract

AB 2393 also states that nothing in the law shall be construed to diminish the obligation of a public school employer to comply with any collective bargaining agreement that provides greater parental leave rights to employees than the rights established under this statute.