(Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles exploring some of the benefits for UUP members contained in UUP’s new four-year contract with New York state.)
Did you know that you can use accrued sick leave for death or illness in the family? Or that the number of sick leave days you may use for family leave increased from 15 to 30 per year? Are you aware that the state will pay some of your dependent care expenses? Did you know your dependent children can get a scholarship to attend SUNY state-operated colleges and universities? These are just some of the benefits included in the latest contract UUP successfully negotiated with the state.
Expanding family sick leave
One of the major concerns UUPers expressed during campus visits and in suggestion forms was the need for more flexibility from SUNY management to allow members to take care of their spouses, children or aging parents in times of illness. The negotiations team responded to that concern by doubling the number of accrued sick days per year that members of the bargaining unit can use.
The expired contract stipulated that only 15 days of accrued sick leave per year could be devoted toward family leave. UUP negotiators pushed the need to improve that benefit during the negotiations. Now, members can use up to 30 days of their accrued sick time per year due to illness or death in the employee’s family (see Article 23.4).
“With this contract article, UUP is leading the way among public employee unions in providing more family-friendly working conditions,” said UUP President Phillip Smith.
Negotiations Team member Jamie Dangler of Cortland, who chaired the UUP Team’s Family Leave Workgroup, said the increase in the use of sick days will have an immediate and significant impact on many of our members.
Dangler also noted another unique feature of UUP’s negotiations was SUNY’s pledge to encourage its campuses to be more understanding and more flexible about the increasing need today’s employees have to balance the time demands in their personal and professional lives.
“SUNY’s promise to send a written communication to campuses encouraging them to be flexible will help in our efforts to create a more supportive work environment for people who have to balance work and family needs,” Dangler said.
Dependent care benefit upped
Another example of the family-friendly nature of the new contract is UUP’s achievement in improving the negotiated benefit members have to help pay for the costs of child care, elder care and disabled dependent care. The Dependent Care Advantage Account (DCAA) allows members to have up to $5,000 deducted annually from their paychecks so they can prepay such expenses tax-free. The new contract increases the amount New York state will pay toward those dependent care costs and widens the salary ranges for eligible members who can enroll in the program (see Article 46, page 67).
The amount that the state will contribute ranges from $300 to $800, depending on the member’s salary. Under the former contract, the amount paid by the state ranged from $200 to $600, and fewer members benefited by the salary ranges.
Covered expenses include babysitters, before and after school programs, nursery school, home aides, family day care pro-viders, summer day camp, and adult day care.
The deadline to enroll in the program for 2009 is Nov. 14. You can sign up online via an application available at www.flexspend. state.ny.us. Members without Web access should call (800) 358-7202.
The new contract also benefits members whose children have reached college age. Under the 2007-2011 agreement, UUP negotiators obtained additional funds for the UUP scholarship program, providing aid to the eligible dependents of UUP members who attend state-operated SUNY institutions.
Under the expired agreement, approximately $800,000 was distributed annually for these scholarships. The current agreement added substantially to that amount. The UUP Benefit Trust Fund (BTF) combines the two amounts, so that approximately $1.5 million is now available annually.
This additional money enables UUP to award $750 scholarships for the 2008 fall semester to eligible dependent children of members, up from $500 per semester. The increase took effect for the fall 2008 semester. The scholarships can be used toward tuition, fees, books or supplies at state-operated SUNY campuses. The definition used in this program for dependent children mirrors the definition for eligible dependent children applied by the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP). BTF trustees review all fund programs to monitor the use of benefits and, where possible, adjust these benefits to maximize access and payments within the available resources.
The details about the scholarship program can be found on page 16 at the following address: http://www.uupinfo.org/benefits/ benefits.pdf.
— Donald Feldstein