ACE Members,
President’s Update
I hope the first few weeks of the quarter have been kind to us all. Enrollment is up and I’ve seen that everyone is busy working across the District. My goal with these messages is to provide them when we have time to read them. Throughout my lifetime I’ve been an infamous Post-it note writer. I try to achieve as much as possible in a few sentences. This update message is not comprehensive of everything that we’re working on but touches upon the four important items for members. I’ll follow up with a separate update message this week to cover more updates, wages, working conditions, and benefits topics.
January Dues Forgiveness
Keen paystub observers will notice that union membership dues were not deducted in January. This was approved by our ACE Executive Board as part of our 2023-24 budget. As an independent labor organization, we determine our dues rate, when dues are charged, and when dues can be forgiven. On average dues are not deducted twice during each year. We can continue to do this because we are a cost-conscious organization with a high level of membership. 90%+ of those who are eligible to become members choose to support the wins we’re able advocate for.
Note: If you forward these email messages to another employee, it may mean that they are not yet a member. Please consider talking to them about joining ACE or have them reach out to @Shawna Santiago or @Scott Olsen to correct any technical glitches that may be causing the message not to appear in their inbox.
Dental and Vision Deductions
Another paystub detail you may have noticed is the omission of line items in your “Voluntary & Mandatory Deductions” for dental and vision. This is a result of last year’s JLMBC MOU (Joint Labor Management Benefits Council Memorandum of Understanding), which states:
SECTION III: EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION RATES for PLAN YEAR 2024
The District shall contribute 85% of the CalPERS rates for each of the medical plan options. The employee shall contribute 15% of the Cal PERS rates for the medical plan they select. In addition, the District shall pay for 100% of the premiums for dental and vision for all qualified employees.
(Source)
All current & past MOUs from JLMBC are available on our website (LINK). We negotiate all we can to keep the cost of benefits for members reasonable in an environment where there are constant health care price increases. Thank you to our negotiations team.
Floating Leave
Tentative Agreements reached by our Negotiations Team and voted by all of us were approved by Trustees at their December 2023 meeting (LINK), which includes a change to what we referred to as Personal Leave at the District, now Floating Leave:
9.3 Floating Leave
Each full-time permanent worker shall be granted up to a maximum of 40 hours of paid leave per year as a floating leave. Permanent part-time workers who work fewer than 40 hours per week are entitled to that proportion of floating leave hours granted full-time workers that is equal to the percent of a full-time contract. Eligibility for floating leave begins on the first of the calendar month following six complete months of employment.
Floating leave may be used for planned absences for which other leaves (sick leave, personal necessity leave) are inappropriate, such as special family obligation (attending a family member’s graduation or marriage ceremony) or celebrating a birthday or special occasion. The worker may, but is not required to, inform the supervisor of the purpose or nature of the request.
Floating leave is not cumulative, will not accrue from year to year, and must be utilized during the college year (July 1 – June 30) or will be lost. Floating leave has no cash-value, and any unused floating leave hours shall not be converted to other leave credits upon separation from service. Floating leave must be scheduled in advance with the supervisor, and must have the approval of the supervisor as evidenced by the supervisor’s signature on the time sheet.
Why was this change made?
Our Agreement has always included Personal Necessity Leave (defined by Ed Code) as a subset of Sick Leave, but our separate Personal Leave led to confusion for new hires in Human Resources.
What changed?
Here’s a table and explanation:
| Pre-2024 | Post-2024 |
| 10.1 Sick Leave (10.1 Personal Necessity Leave) | 10.1 Sick Leave (10.10 Personal Necessity Leave) |
| 10.10 Personal Leave | 9.3 Floating Leave |
Per our new Agreement there are two key things to understand about Floating Leave:
- It is a catch-all for anything which other leaves may not be appropriate for, and;
- You are not required to disclose what you are using it for.
How do I request Floating Leave?
The District is working on updating Banner and LiquidOffice, but the expectation is that our existing pool Personal Leave will be renamed to Floating Leave. Until then you can request to use Floating Leave by emailing your manager/supervisor/administrator a message saying, “I would like to use floating leave on [planned day]. Please respond if you approve my request.”
What if they ask what I’m using Floating Leave for?
The suggested response would be, “I am not required to provide information regarding the purpose or nature of the request.”
Until Banner and LiquidOffice are updated, how do I show that I used Floating Leave?
For now, use the Personal Leave drop down category in LiquidOffice. Add a note where LiquidOffice allows stating that Floating Leave was approved on the days you chose Personal Leave. (Yes, it’s admittedly confusing right now but it will be corrected.)
What if I need to take Personal Necessity Leave?
Personal Necessity Leave is available to permanent and probationary workers and it is drawn from Sick Leave, so you would use the Sick Leave drop down category in LiquidOffice and add a note stating that the Sick Leave was used for circumstances (but not limited to) of personal necessity under 10.10:
10.10.1 Emergencies or obligations related to the worker’s home or family members, including medical or dental appointments for the worker’s family members when the nature of the appointment requires the worker’s presence,
10.10.2 Emergencies or obligations related to the worker, including appointments for the purpose of conducting personal legal affairs or financial transactions, receipt of a court order requiring absence from work, or observation of a major religious holiday of the worker’s faith.
10.10.3 Extending bereavement leave for the employee’s immediate family; or
10.10.4Appearance in any court or before any administrative tribunal as a litigant, party, or witness under subpoena or any order made with jurisdiction.
What if I have more questions or getting leaves approved?
Reach out to a steward @Andre Meggerson, @Anthony Caceres, @Thomas Marks, or @Scott Olsen.
Recommendation for Permanency @ Six Months
ACE and the District agreed through negotiations to include the legal change for the probationary period to be reduced from one year to six months. The Distict is working to update Banner/MyPortal for the change to be reflected. In the meantime, do not be alarmed if it is not properly reflected in the system. As members you are covered under this agreement which took effect when it was approved by Trustees.
7.1 Probationary Employment
7.1.1 Workers and classified hourly employees who are employed for the first time or are re-employed by the District in a new classification serve probation for a period of 6 months or one-hundred thirty (130) days of paid service, whichever is longer from the date of employment or re-employment as probationary workers. At the end of the second and fifth months of employment workers will receive written evaluations of their work and their progress towards permanency. Classified hourly employees are evaluated at the end of the third month of employment.
In Solidarity,
Scott Olsen (he/him) | ACE President
https://acefhda.org | scott.olsen@acefhda.org
650-949-7789 | M-F 8:00am-5:00pm