Stationary Engineers, Local 39 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2027)

ARTICLE I – REPRESENTATION

1. This Memorandum of Understanding (hereinafter "MOU") is entered into by the City and County of San Francisco (hereinafter "City") through its designated representative and the Stationary Engineers, Local 39, International Union of Operating Engineers (hereinafter "Union").

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I.A. RECOGNITION

2. The terms and conditions of this agreement shall apply to employees employed by the City and County of San Francisco in the classifications set forth herein.  The parties recognize that neither the San Francisco Unified School District nor the San Francisco Community College District has authorized the City to bargain on their behalf.

3. The provisions of this agreement shall apply only to active covered employees.

4. The Union shall be considered the recognized bargaining agent for any classes certified to it by the Civil Service Commission during the term of this MOU.  However, application of the provisions of this MOU shall be extended only to classifications accreted to bargaining units already covered by the terms of this MOU pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Employee Relations Ordinance.  Upon request of the Union, the City will meet and confer concerning proposed changes to bargaining units.  

5. The City shall provide, upon request, a written list of all new hires and separations for all classes represented by the Union.  This list shall be provided on a quarterly basis in written form, or in an agreed upon excel electronic format.

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I.B. INTENT

6. It is the intent of the parties signatory hereto that the provisions of this MOU shall not become binding until formally adopted by the Board of Supervisors acting in accordance with procedures, terms and provisions of the Charter applicable thereto.

7. Moreover, it is the intent of the Mayor acting on behalf of the City to agree to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment as are within the Mayor's jurisdiction, powers, and authority to act as defined by the Charter, state law, California Constitution and other applicable bodies of the law. The Mayor does not intend or attempt to bind any board, commission or officer to any provisions of this agreement over which the Mayor has no jurisdiction.

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I.C. NO STRIKE PROVISION

8. During the term of this agreement the City will not lock out the employees who are covered by this MOU.  This Union and the employees shall not strike, cause, encourage, or condone a work stoppage, slowdown, or sympathy strike as defined by Charter Section A8.346.

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I.D. OBJECTIVE OF THE CITY

9. It is agreed that the delivery of municipal services in the most efficient, effective, and courteous manner is of paramount importance to the City and County and its employees. Such achievement is recognized to be a mutual obligation of the parties to this MOU within their respective roles and responsibilities.

10. The Union recognizes the City and County's right to establish and/or revise performance standards or norms, notwithstanding the existence of prior performance levels, norms or standards. Such standards, developed by usual work measurement procedures, may be used to determine acceptable performance levels, prepare work schedules, and to measure the performance of each employee or group of employees.

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I.E. MANAGEMENT RIGHTS

11. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, in accordance with applicable state law, nothing herein shall be construed to restrict any legal City rights concerning direction of its work force, or consideration of the merits, necessity, or organization of any service or activity provided by the City.

12. The City shall also have the right to determine the mission of its constituent departments, officers, boards and commissions; set standards of services to be offered to the public, and exercise control and discretion over the City's organization and operations.  The City may also relieve city employees from duty due to lack of work or funds, and may determine the methods, means and personnel by which the City's operation are to be conducted.

13. It is understood and agreed that except as specifically set forth in this Agreement the City retains all of its powers and authority to manage municipal services and the work for performing those services.  In no event shall the exercise of any of these rights conflict with any applicable Statute, Charter Provision, Civil Service Rule or any other pertinent provision of law.

14. The exercise of these rights shall not be subject to the grievance procedure.   However, the exercise of such rights does not preclude employees from utilizing the grievance procedure to process grievances regarding the practical consequence of any such actions on wages, hours, benefits or other terms and conditions of employment specified in this Agreement.

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I.F. OFFCIAL REPRESENTATIVES AND STEWARDS

Official Representatives

15. The Union may select up to the number of employees as specified in the Employee Relations Ordinance for purposes of meeting and conferring with the City on matters within the scope of representation.  If a situation should arise where the Union believes that more than a total of five (5) employee members should be present at such meetings, and the City disagrees, the Union shall discuss the matter with the Employee Relations Director.  The parties shall attempt to reach agreement as to how many employees shall be authorized to participate in said meetings.

16. 1. The organization's duly authorized representative shall inform, in writing, the department head or officer under whom each selected employee member is employed that such employee has been selected.

17. 2. No selected employee member shall leave the duty or work station, or assignment without specific approval of appropriate Employer representative.

18. 3. In scheduling meetings, due consideration shall be given to the operating needs and work schedules of the department, division, or section in which the employee members are employed.

Stewards

19. On July 1 of each year, the Union shall furnish to the Department of Human Resources Employee Relations Division an accurate, written list of stewards and alternate stewards.  During the course of the year, the Union shall amend the list as needed to ensure that the list is accurate and up to date. The Union may submit amendments to this list at any time because of the permanent absence of a designated steward.  If a steward is not officially designated in writing by the Union, none will be recognized for that area or shift.

20. The Union recognizes that it is the responsibility of the steward to assist the Business Representative in the resolution of grievances at the lowest level possible.

21. Upon notification of a designated management person, stewards or designated officers of the Union, subject to management approval which shall not be unreasonably withheld, shall be granted reasonable release time to assist the Business Representative in investigating and processing grievances and appeals.  Stewards shall advise their supervisors of the area or work location where they will be so engaged.  The Union will attempt to ensure that steward release time will be equitably distributed.

22. Stewards shall be responsible for the performance of their work load, consistent with release time approved pursuant to rules established herein.

23. In emergency situations, where immediate disciplinary action is taken because of alleged violation of law or a City departmental rule (intoxication, theft, etc.), the steward shall not unreasonably be denied the right to leave the steward’s post or duty if requested by the Business Representative for purposes of representation.

24. Business Representatives and Stewards shall not interfere with the work of any employee.  It shall not constitute interference with the work of an employee for Business Representatives and Stewards, in the course of investigating or processing a grievance, or disciplinary action, to interview an employee during an employee's duty time.

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I.G. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

25. The following procedures are adopted by the Parties to provide for the orderly and efficient disposition of grievances and are the sole and exclusive procedures for resolving grievances as defined herein.

26. A grievance is defined as an allegation by an employee, a group of employees or the Union that the City has violated, misapplied or misinterpreted a term or condition of employment provided in this Agreement.

27. A grievance does not include the following:

28. 1. Performance evaluations provided however, that employees shall be entitled to submit written rebuttals to unfavorable performance evaluations.  Said rebuttal shall be attached to the performance evaluation and placed in the employee's official personnel file. Employees are required to submit a rebuttal to an unfavorable performance evaluation within thirty (30) days from the date the employee received the performance evaluation.

29. 2. Written reprimands, provided however, that employees shall be entitled to append a written rebuttal to any written reprimand.  The appended rebuttal shall be included in the employee's official personnel file.  Employees are required to submit written rebuttals within thirty (30) days from the date of the reprimand.

Time Limits
    
30. The time limits set forth herein may be extended by agreement of the parties. Any such extension must be confirmed in writing.  For purposes of calculation of time a "day" is defined as a "calendar day,” including weekends and holidays.

31. In the event a grievance is not filed or appealed in a timely manner it shall be dismissed.  Failure of the City to timely reply to a grievance shall authorize appeal to the next grievance step.

32. Only the Union shall have the right to file a grievance on behalf of an employee(s).

NON-DISCIPLINARY GRIEVANCES

Steps of the Procedure  

33. Except for grievances involving multiple employees or discipline, all grievances must be initiated at Step 1 of the grievance procedure.

34. A grievance affecting more than one employee shall be filed with the Appointing Officer or designee.  Grievances affecting more than one department shall be filed with the Employee Relations Division.  In the event the City disagrees with the level at which the grievance is filed it may submit the matter to the Step it believes is appropriate for consideration of the dispute.

35. The grievant may have a Union representative present at all steps of the grievance procedure.

Step 1: Immediate Supervisor

36. An employee shall discuss the grievance informally with the employee’s immediate supervisor as soon as possible but in no case later than twenty (20) days from the date of the occurrence of the act or the date the grievant might reasonably have been expected to have learned of the alleged violation being grieved.

37. If the grievance is not resolved within seven (7) days after the informal discussion with the immediate supervisor, the grievant will submit the grievance in writing to the immediate supervisor on a mutually agreeable grievance form.  The grievance will set forth the following:

38. 1. the facts of the grievance, the specific reason or reasons for the grievance, including the date of the incident giving rise to the grievance, an explanation of the harm that occurred, and the name, classification, and department of the affected employee or employees;  

39. 2. the terms and conditions of employment claimed to have been violated, misapplied or misinterpreted; and

40. 3. the remedy or solution being sought by the grievant.

41. The City will return any grievance that does not include the information specified above and the Union may resubmit the grievance adding the missing information.  If the Union submits the amended grievance adding the missing information within fourteen (14) days from the date of the City’s notice about the missing information, the date for determining claims for monetary relief will be set based on the initial submission date, however, all other dates will be set based on the date the union submits the amended grievance to the City.  If the Union submits the amended grievance adding the missing information after the fourteen (14) day period, all dates will be set based on the date the amended grievance is resubmitted to the City.

42. The immediate supervisor shall respond in writing within ten (10) days following receipt of the written grievance.

Step 2: Appointing Officer

43. A grievant dissatisfied with the immediate supervisor's response at Step 1 may appeal to the Appointing Officer or designee, in writing, within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the Step 1 response. The Step 2 grievance shall contain a specific description of the basis for the grievance, the resolution desired, and specific reason or reasons for rejecting the lower step response and advancing the grievance to the next step.  The Appointing Officer or designee shall respond in writing within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the grievance and shall address the reason or reasons the grievance has been denied or upheld.

Step 3: Employee Relations Director, ERD

44. A grievant dissatisfied with the Appointing Officer's response at Step 2 may appeal to the Employee Relations Director, in writing, within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the Step 2 response. The Step 3 grievance shall contain a specific description of the basis for the grievance, the resolution desired, and specific reason or reasons for rejecting the lower step response and advancing the grievance to the next step. The Union shall make best efforts to include copies of all earlier correspondence (i.e. earlier grievance submissions and responses), materials, and evidence submitted at the earlier Steps of the Grievance Procedure, and any evidence to support the submission at Step 3. The Director shall respond to the appeal in writing within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the appeal and shall address the reason or reasons the grievance has been denied or upheld.

Arbitration

45. If the Union is dissatisfied with the Step 3 response, it may invoke arbitration by notifying the Employee Relations Director, in writing, within thirty (30) days of the Step 3 decision by submitting a request for arbitration to the ERD Director.  The ERD Director shall issue a letter referring the Union to the City Attorney’s Office. The Union, or the Union’s legal counsel, shall contact the City Attorney’s Office by letter, copied to the Employee Relations Director, via US mail, within thirty (30) days of the date of the ERD Director’s letter referring the Union to the City Attorney’s Office. If the Union, or the Union’s legal counsel, fails to contact the City Attorney’s Office within thirty (30) days of that letter, the grievance is deemed withdrawn.

Selection of the Arbitrator

46. When a matter is appealed to arbitration, the parties shall first attempt to mutually agree upon an Arbitrator to hear the matter.  In the event no agreement is reached within fourteen (14) days, or any extension of time mutually agreed upon the parties shall request that the State Mediation and Conciliation Service (“SMCS”) or the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) provide the parties with a list of seven (7) potential arbitrators.  The parties, by lot, shall alternately strike names from the list, and the name that remains shall be the arbitrator designated to hear the particular matter.

47. The parties may, by mutual agreement, agree to an alternate method of arbitrator selection and appointment, including, the expedited appointment of an arbitrator from a list provided by the SMCS or AAA.

DISCIPLINE/DISCHARGE GRIEVANCES

48. Permanent employees or employees who have satisfactorily completed the probationary period may grieve (appeal) suspensions, disciplinary demotions or discharges.  Grievances related to suspensions, disciplinary demotions, discharges, or other discipline must be submitted at Step II of this procedure within fifteen (15) days of the final notice of discipline.

49. The Step II grievance shall contain the facts of the grievance, the specific reason or reasons for the grievance, including the date of the incident giving rise to the grievance, an explanation of the harm that occurred, the name, classification, department of the affected employee or employees, and the resolution desired.  The Appointing Officer or designee shall respond in writing within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the grievance and shall address the reason or reasons the grievance has been denied or upheld.

50. If the Union is dissatisfied with the Appointing Officer's response at Step II, it may appeal to the Employee Relations Director, in writing, within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the Step II response.  The grievance shall set forth the basis of the appeal.  The Director or the Director’s designee may convene a grievance meeting within twenty (20) days with the grievant and the grievant's Union.  The Director or the Director’s designee shall respond to the grievance in writing within fifteen (15) days of the meeting, or if none is held within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the appeal.

51. If the decision of the Employee Relations Director is unsatisfactory, only the Union may file a written appeal to arbitration.  Any written appeal must be filed with the Employee Relations Director at ERD no later than thirty (30) days following issuance of the Director’s response.

Discharge Grievances

52. The parties shall use their best efforts to arbitrate grievances challenging the termination of employment within ninety (90) days of the Union’s appeal from the decision of the Employee Relations Director.

Selection of the Arbitrator

53. Selection of an arbitrator shall be as outlined in the paragraph above.

Authority of the Arbitrator
        
54. The arbitrator shall have no authority to add to, subtract from, modify or amend the terms of this Agreement.  The decision of the Arbitrator shall be final and binding on all Parties.

Fees and Expenses of Arbitrator

55. Each party shall bear its own expenses in connection with the arbitration, including, but not limited to, witness and attorney's fees, and any fees for preparation of the case.  Transcripts shall not be required.  Either party may, however, request a transcript provided that the party making such a request shall be solely responsible for the cost.  All fees and expenses of the arbitrator and the court reporter, if any, shall be split equally between the parties. Each party expressly waives any right to an award of attorney’s fees or costs in any grievance proceeding.

Hearing Dates and Date of Award

56. The parties shall make their best efforts to schedule hearings within forty (40) days of selection of an arbitrator.  Awards shall be due within forty (40) days following the receipt of closing arguments.  As a condition of appointment, arbitrators shall be advised of this requirement and shall certify their willingness to abide by these time limits.

57. Any claim for monetary relief shall not extend more than thirty (30) days prior to the filing of a grievance, unless considerations of equity or bad faith justify a greater entitlement.  The arbitrator shall be required to deduct from any monetary awards all income derived from any subsequent employment or unemployment compensation received by the employee.

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I.H. UNION SECURITY AND UNION ACCESS

1. Authorization for Payroll Deductions

58. a. The Union shall submit any request to initiate, change, or cancel deductions of Contributions from represented employees’ pay according to the Controller’s “Union Deductions Procedure” (“Procedure”), which the Controller may amend from time to time with reasonable notice to the Union.  “Contributions” as used in this Section I.H. means Union membership dues, initiation fees, political action funds, other contributions, and any special membership assessments, as established and as may be changed from time to time by the Union.

59. b. The City shall deduct Contributions from a represented employee’s pay upon submission by the Union of a request, in accordance with the Procedure.  The Procedure shall include, and the Union must provide with each request, a certification by an authorized representative of the Union, confirming that for each employee for whom the Union has requested deduction of Contributions, the Union has and will maintain a voluntary written authorization signed by that employee authorizing the deduction.  If the certification is not properly completed or submitted with the request, the City shall notify the Union, and make the requested deduction changes only upon receipt of a proper certification. If the Union has provided the required certification for an employee, it shall not be required to provide the City with a copy of the employee’s authorization unless a dispute arises regarding the existence or terms of the authorization.

60. c. The Procedure is the exclusive method for the Union to request the City to initiate, change, or cancel deductions for Contributions.  

61. d. The City shall implement new, changed, or cancelled deductions the pay period following the receipt of a request from the Union, but only if the Union submits the request by noon on the last Friday of a pay period.  If the Controller’s Office receives the request after that time, the City will implement the changes in two following pay periods.

62. e. If an employee asks the City to deduct Contributions, the City shall direct the employee to the Union to obtain the Union authorization form.  The City will not maintain a City authorization form for such deductions.  If a represented employee hand delivers the official Union form authorizing such deductions to the Controller’s Payroll Division, the City shall process the authorization and begin the deduction within thirty (30) days.  The City will send the Union a copy of any authorization form that it receives directly from a represented employee.  

63. f. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection 1, each pay period, the City shall remit Contributions to the Union, after deducting the fee under San Francisco Administrative Code Section 16.92.  In addition, the City will make available to the Union a database that includes the following information for each represented employee: name; DSW number; classification; department; work location; work, home, and personal cellular telephone number; personal email address if on file with the City; home address; and any Contributions amount deducted.

64. g. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection 1, the City shall continue to deduct and remit Contributions until it receives notice to change or cancel deductions from the Union in accordance with the Procedure, or it receives an order from a court or administrative body directing the City to change or cancel the deductions for one or more employees.  

65. h. With the exception of subsection (e) above, the Union is responsible for all decisions to initiate, change, and cancel deductions, and for all matters regarding an employee’s revocation of an authorization, and the City shall rely solely on information provided by the Union on such matters.  The City shall direct all employee requests to change or cancel deductions, or to revoke an authorization for deductions, to the Union.  The City shall not resolve disputes between the Union and represented employees about Union membership, the amount of Contributions, deductions, or revoking authorizations for deductions.  The City shall not provide advice to employees about those matters, and shall direct employees with questions or concerns about those matters to the Union.  The Union shall respond to such employee inquiries within no less than 10 business days.  

2. Indemnification

66. The Union shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the City against any claim, including but not limited to any civil or administrative action, and any expense and liability of any kind, including but not limited to reasonable attorney’s fees, legal costs, settlements, or judgments, arising from or related to the City’s compliance with this Section I.H.  The Union shall be responsible for the defense of any claim within this indemnification provision, subject to the following: (i) the City shall promptly give written notice of any claim to the Union; (ii) the City shall provide any assistance that the Union may reasonably request for the defense of the claim; and (iii) the Union has the right to control the defense or settlement of the claim; provided, however, that the City shall have the right to participate in, but not control, any litigation for which indemnification is sought with counsel of its own choosing, at its own expense; and provided further that the Union may not settle or otherwise resolve any claim or action in a way that obligates the City in any manner, including but not limited to paying any amounts in settlement, taking or omitting to take any actions, agreeing to any policy change on the part of the City, or agreeing to any injunctive relief or consent decree being entered against the City, without the consent of the City.  This duty to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend shall not apply to actions related to compliance with this Section I.H. brought by the Union against the City. This subsection 2 shall not apply to any claim against the City where the City failed to process a timely, properly completed request to change or cancel a Contributions deduction, as provided in subsection 1.

Union Access

67. The Union shall have reasonable access to all work locations to verify that the terms and conditions of this Agreement are being carried out and for the purpose of conferring with employees provided that access shall be subject to such rules and regulations immediately below, as well as to such rules and regulations as may be agreed to by the department and the union.  Union access to work locations will not disrupt or interfere with a department’s mission and services or involve any political activities.  

68. Union representatives shall also have a reasonable right of access to non-work areas (bulletin boards, employee lounges and break rooms) and to hallways in order to reach non-work areas to verify that the terms and conditions of this Agreement are being carried out and for the purpose of conferring with employees.  

69. Union representatives must identify themselves upon arrival at a City department. Union representatives may use meeting space with a reasonable amount of notice, subject to availability.

70. In work units where the work is of a confidential nature and in which the department requires it of other non-employees, a department may require that union representatives be escorted by a department representative when in areas where said confidential work is taking place.

71. Nothing herein is intended to disturb existing written departmental union access policies.  Further, departments may implement additional rules and regulations after meeting and conferring with the Union.

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ARTICLE II - EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS

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II.A. NON DISCRIMINATION

72. The City and the Union agree that discriminating against or harassing employees, applicants, or persons providing services to the City by contract because of their actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, sex/gender, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, age, political affiliation or opinion, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or other protected category under the law, is prohibited. This paragraph shall not be construed to restrict or proscribe any rule, policy, procedure, order, action, determination or practice taken to ensure compliance with applicable laws.

73. This section is not intended to affect the right of any employee to elect any applicable administrative remedy for discrimination proscribed herein. In the event that more than one administrative remedy is offered by the City, the Union and the employee may elect more than one remedy. It is understood that this paragraph shall not foreclose the election by an affected employee of any administrative or statutory remedy provided by law.  

74. The parties are committed to the principles articulated in this provision and agree that the Non Discrimination provision shall not be grievable or arbitrable.

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II.B. CERTIFICATION FEES

75. When the City and County of San Francisco or the State requires that employees working in classifications represented by the Stationary Engineers, Local 39 to possess a certificate as a condition of employment, or with the approval of the Appointing Officer, the employee receives certification for a related field, or receives certification higher than the minimum required, the City shall reimburse said employee for any fee involved in the issuance or renewal of said certificate. Employees shall suffer no loss in pay for time spent taking qualifying examinations for said certificate. Drivers' licenses are not covered by the provisions of this section.

76. When employees are required by the licensing agency, including CWEA, to obtain continuing education as a condition of maintaining their professional license, the attendance at the education training classes, during normal working hours, shall be recognized as work time and compensated as such.  The department will make every effort to provide onsite training through approved vendors when the required classes are not offered by the department.  When such classes are scheduled outside the employee’s normal work hours, and the employee has received approval from the department to attend an off-site class, employees shall attend these classes on their own time.  The department will cover the costs for approved training classes mandated by regulatory agencies.

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II.C. PROBATIONARY PERIOD

77. The probationary period, as defined and administered by the Civil Service Commission (“Probationary Period”), shall be as set forth herein:  

• 2,080 hours for all new hires;
• 1,040 hours for a promotive appointment; and
• 520 hours for all other job changes, including but not limited to transfers and bumping.  If the employee is returned to duty in the same department from which the employee was laid off, the employee shall serve the remainder of any probationary period.

78. The parties may extend, in writing, the duration of the Probationary Period by mutual consent.

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II.D. USE OF PRIVATE AUTOMOBILE ON CITY BUSINESS

79. Employees whose class specification and/or job announcement does not require the possession and use of an automobile as a condition of employment shall not be required to use their private automobiles to accomplish City business.

80. Employees using their own vehicle for City business at the request of the employer or the employer's representative shall be reimbursed for mileage at the rate allowed by the United States Internal Revenue Service and for all necessary parking and toll expenses.

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II.E. PERSONNEL FILES

81. Upon request of an employee to the Appointing Officer or designee, material relating to disciplinary actions in the employee’s personnel file which have been in the file for more than two (2) years of actual work shall not be used for disciplinary purposes provided the employee has no subsequent disciplinary action since the date of such prior action.  Performance evaluations are excluded from this provision.

82. The above provision shall not apply in the case of employees disciplined due to misappropriation of public funds or property; misuse or destruction of public property; drug addiction or habitual intemperance; mistreatment of persons; immorality; acts which would constitute a felony or misdemeanor involving  moral turpitude;  acts which present an immediate danger to the public health and safety.  In such cases, an employee’s request for non-consideration may be considered on a case by case basis, depending upon the circumstances, by the Appointing Officer or designee. This section may be reopened at the request of either party.

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II.F. CLASSIFICATION/REORGANIZATION

83. Effects of Reclassification - Upon approval of the reclassification of an existing position by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission (“CSC”), the incumbent shall be separated from the position and shall be eligible to exercise seniority to fill another position in the class occupied prior to the reclassification or to otherwise move in accordance with the rules of the CSC or provisions of the MOU, whichever governs.

84. Transfer of Work between Bargaining Units/Incidental Employee Work Assignments The City shall have the right to assign work to any classification determined to be appropriate for the performance of said duties.

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II.G. MEALS - SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT ONLY

85. Sheriff’s Department Only – The current practice of providing a meal per shift to covered employees assigned to the jails shall continue as long as this benefit is provided to the Deputy Sheriffs assigned to the jails.

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II.H. SUBCONTRACTING

1. Prop. J Contracts

86. a. The City agrees to notify the Union no later than the date a department sends out Requests for Proposals when contracting out of a City service and authorization of the Board of Supervisors is necessary in order to enter into said contract.

87. b. Upon request by the Union, the City shall make available for inspection any and all pertinent background and/or documentation relating to the service contemplated to be contracted out.

88. c. Prior to any final action being taken by the city to accomplish the contracting out, the City agrees to hold informational meetings with the Union to discuss and attempt to resolve issues relating to such matters including, but not limited to,

89. i. possible alternatives to contracting or subcontracting;

90. ii. questions regarding current and intended levels of service;

91. iii. questions regarding the Controller's certification pursuant     to Charter Section 10.104;

92. iv. questions relating to possible excessive overhead in the City's administrative supervisory/worker ratio; and
93. v.  questions relating to the effect on individual worker     productivity by providing labor saving devices;

94. d. The City agrees that it will take all appropriate steps to insure the presence at said meetings of those officers and employees (excluding the Board of Supervisors) of the City who are responsible in some manner for the decision to contract so that the particular issues may be fully explored by the Union and the City.

2. Personal Services Contracts

95. a. Departments shall notify the Union of proposed personal services contracts where such services could potentially be performed by represented classifications.  Such notification shall occur no later than the date a department sends out requests for proposals.

96. b. If the Union wishes to meet with a department over a proposed personal services contract, the request must be made by the Union to the Human Resources Director with a copy forwarded to the appropriate department within two weeks after the receipt of notice by the Department.  

97. c. Discussions shall include, but not be limited to, possible alternatives to contracting or subcontracting and whether the department staff has the expertise and/or facilities to perform the work.  Upon request by the Union, the City shall make available for inspection any and all pertinent background and/or documentation relating to the service contemplated to be contracted out.

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ARTICLE III - PAY, HOURS AND BENEFITS

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III.A. WAGES

98. Represented employees will receive the following wage increases:

99. Effective July 1, 2024, represented employees shall receive a 1.5% wage increase.

100. Effective January 4, 2025, represented employees shall receive a 1.5% wage increase.

101. Effective June 30, 2025, at close of business, represented employees shall receive a 1% wage increase.

102. Effective July 1, 2025, represented employees shall receive a 1% wage increase.

103. Effective January 3, 2026, represented employees shall receive a 1.5% wage increase.

104. Effective June 30, 2026, at close of business, represented employees shall receive a 2% wage increase.

105. Effective January 2, 2027, represented employees shall receive a 2% wage increase.

106. Effective June 30, 2027, at close of business, represented employees shall receive a 2.5% wage increase.

107. Because of the wage structure of this proposal, no wage deferrals/offramps will be utilized.

108. All base wage calculations shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar, bi-weekly salary.

109. Effective July 1, 2024, represented employees shall receive a one-time, additional base wage adjustment of 0.25%.

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III.B. WORK SCHEDULES

110. For all employees covered by the provisions of this MOU (except for classifications subject to the alternative work schedule within the Wastewater Enterprise) the normal work day shall be eight (8) consecutive hours for Watch Engineers and eight (8) hours within eight and one-half (8-1/2) hours for maintenance engineers.  Watch Engineers shall be permitted sixteen (16) hours off between the end of the watch engineer’s regular shift and the beginning of the watch engineer’s next shift. Maintenance engineers shall be permitted fifteen and one-half (15-1/2) hours off between the end of the maintenance engineer’s shift and the beginning of the maintenance engineer’s next shift. The normal work week for such classes shall be forty (40) hours of five (5) consecutive days, except that engineers assigned to rotating shifts may work six (6) or seven (7) consecutive days before receiving their consecutive days off.  Any work performed outside of this designated schedule shall be paid at the overtime rate of time-and-one-half (1-1/2).  

111. For all employees covered by the provisions of this MOU working a ten (10) hour schedule, the normal work day shall be ten (10) consecutive hours for watch engineers and ten (10) hours within ten and one-half (10-1/2) hours for maintenance engineers.  Watch engineers shall be permitted fourteen (14) hours off between the end of the watch engineer’s regular shift and the beginning of the watch engineer’s next shift. Maintenance engineers shall be permitted thirteen and one-half (13-1/2) hours off between the end of the maintenance engineer’s shift and the beginning of the maintenance engineer’s next shift. The normal workweek for such classes shall be forty (40) hours of four (4) consecutive days.  Any work performed outside of this designated schedule shall be paid at the overtime rate of time and one-half (1-1/2).  

112. Assignment from either a watch schedule to a maintenance schedule or from a maintenance schedule to a watch schedule will result in beginning a new count of consecutive workdays.  

113. Further, upon notification to an authorized representative of the Employee Relations Division, the Union and City may meet for the purpose of establishing alternate work schedules.  Upon request of the Union, the City agrees to explore alternatives to existing shifts that meet the needs of employees while maintaining employee safety, attendance, plant productivity and cost neutrality with respect to the old schedule. Notwithstanding the foregoing, except in emergency situations, the City and the Union agree that prior to any changes in unit work schedules, the Union will be given notice and an opportunity to meet and confer with the appropriate department(s) regarding the proposed change to the extent required under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.

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III.C. NOTICE OF SHIFT

114. When management initiates a change in an employee's shift schedule, forty-eight hours’ notice will be given whenever possible. Failure to provide such notice will result in a penalty payment equal to two (2) hours of straight time compensation except when unanticipated operational needs precludes the giving of forty-eight hours’ notice. The payment of the penalty shall not be construed as counting towards time worked for any purpose.  There shall be no change in shift to avoid payment of overtime.

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III.D. ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION

115. Each additional compensation provision under this section shall be separately calculated against an employee’s base rate of pay and shall not be pyramided.

NIGHT SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL

116. Employees shall be paid eight-and-one-half percent (8.5%) more than the base rate for each hour regularly assigned between 5:00 p.m. and midnight (12:00 a.m.) if the employee works at least one (1) hour of the employee’s shift between 5:00 p.m. and midnight (12:00 a.m.), except for those employees participating in an authorized flex-time program and who voluntarily work between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and midnight (12:00 a.m.). Shift pay of 8.5% be shall paid for the entire shift, provided at least five (5) hours of the employee's shift falls between 5:00 p.m. and midnight (12:00 a.m.).

117. Employees shall be paid ten percent (10%) more than the base rate for each hour regularly assigned between the hours of midnight (12:00 a.m.) and 7:00 a.m. if the employee works at least one (1) hour of the employee’s shift between midnight (12:00 a.m.) and 7:00 a.m., except for those employees participating in an authorized flex-time program and who voluntarily work between the hours of midnight (12:00 a.m.) and 7:00 a.m.  Shift pay of 10% be shall paid for the entire shift, provided at least five (5) hours of the employee's shift falls between midnight (12:00 a.m.) and 7:00 a.m.

CALL BACK PAY

118. Employees covered by the terms of this MOU who are called back to their work locations following the completion of their work day and departure from their place of employment or are called into work on their scheduled day off shall be granted a minimum of four (4) hours pay at the applicable rate of pay.  When the number of hours actually worked reaches four (4) hours, the employee shall be compensated up to one (1) hour for the time spent traveling to or from the job location, except for employees residing in City-provided housing at that location.  Employees who are called during their off hours to provide information or assistance over the telephone shall be compensated at the applicable rate for time so spent.  Response to a page by telephone or response to an inquiry by telephone during off hours shall be paid at a minimum of one-half (1/2) hour worked or actual time spent, whichever is greater.

STANDBY PAY

119. Employees who, as part of the duties of their positions are required by the Appointing Officer to standby when normally off duty to be instantly available on call for immediate emergency service for the performance of their regular duties, shall be paid the Federal Minimum Wage per hour for the period of such standby service. During the standby period, employees are relieved from duty and such hours are not to be considered hours worked under the FLSA.  The issuance of an electronic paging device does not in itself constitute eligibility for standby pay.

120. When such employees are called on to perform their regular duties in emergencies during the period of such standby service, they shall be paid while engaged in such emergency service the usual rate of pay for such service as provided herein.  Notwithstanding the general provisions of this section, standby pay shall not be allowed in classes whose duties are primarily administrative in nature.

ACTING ASSIGNMENT PAY

121. Any employee governed by the provisions of this MOU who is required to perform supervisory duties outside the employee’s classification in excess of fifteen (15) cumulative days during a rolling 12-month period shall be paid at the pay rate of the classification to which assigned.

122. Except for classes 7252, 7372, 7373, 7375, 7245, 7343, 7341, and 7339, Stationary Engineers and related classifications who perform the duties of classes 7252, 7372, 7373, 7375, 7245, 7343, 7341, or 7339 at a headworks facility or potable water treatment facility, or when operating or maintaining sewage pumps, shall receive, for the time spent in performing such duties, the equivalent rate of pay of the classification regularly assigned to such work.

CORRECTIONAL FACILITY PREMIUM

123. A premium of $2.50 per hour shall be paid to all employees working in classifications represented by the Stationary Engineers, Local 39 Class 7334 and related classes working in a secured and restricted area of the correctional facilities listed below.

124. This premium shall not be added to the employee's base rate of pay for the purpose of calculating overtime.

125. Those facilities where this premium shall apply are listed below:

1. County Jail Facilities in San Bruno
2. Juvenile Justice Center
3. Log Cabin Ranch dormitory, recreation hall, school, auto shop and dining hall
4. County Jail Facilities located at 425 7th Street  
5. San Francisco General Hospital – Acute Psychiatry (Wards 7A, 7B, 7C), Medical-Surgical Forensic (Ward 7D), and Forensic Psychiatry (Ward 7L) and Psychiatric Emergency Services (Ward 1B).
6. Behavioral Health Center – Mental Health Rehabilitation Center (MHRC).
7. Hall of Justice in San Francisco, when required to work in jail areas and prisoner holding cells.

MULTIPLE LICENSE REQUIREMENT PREMIUM

126. The Multiple License Premium will be rolled into the base wage for all unit members at a rate of 6% effective October 11, 2014 and will no longer be available as a separate premium. Unit members shall continue to be provided all training and hold all licenses and certifications that were provided by the City under the terms of the Multiple License Premium and as required by a regulating body having jurisdiction over the operations of facilities operated and/or staffed by unit members. Departments may also request that unit members obtain certifications that will increase skill levels and/or improve operational efficiency. All unit members will be provided, at the cost of the City, the opportunities for future enhancement of licenses and certifications as current or future regulatory bodies and regulations dictate, including any associated training, certification or licensing costs.

127. Effective July 1, 2022, wastewater treatment plant operators and water treatment plant and distribution plant operators in the classifications set forth below shall receive a premium of one and one half of one percent (1.5%) on base pay if they possess and maintain a state certification one grade or higher than required under the certification requirement in the applicable job class specification, as follows:

128. Wastewater Enterprise:

7372 Stationary Engineer—Sewage Plant: 

• Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certificate: Grade III or higher (for Operations and Maintenance positions); or
• California Water Environment Association Mechanical Technologist Certificate III or higher (for Maintenance positions only).

7373 Senior Stationary Engineer—Sewage Plant:

• Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certificate: Grade IV or higher (for Operations and Maintenance positions); or
• California Water Environment Association Mechanical Technologist Certificate IV (for Maintenance positions only).

7252 Chief Stationary Engineer—Sewage Plant: 

• Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certificate: Grade V (for Operations and Maintenance positions).

129. Water Supply and Treatment Division:

7341 Stationary Engineer—Water Treatment Plant: 

• Water Treatment Operator Certificate: Grade T4 or higher.

7343 Senior Stationary Engineer— Water Treatment Plant: 

• Water Treatment Operator Certificate: Grade T5.

7245 Chief Stationary Engineer— Water Treatment Plant:

• Water Distribution Operator Certificate: Grade D4 or higher.

5149 Superintendent Of Water Treatment Facilities: 

• Water Distribution Operator Certificate: Grade D4 or higher.

130. City Distribution Division (CDD):

7341 Stationary Engineer—Water Treatment Plant: 

• Water Treatment Operator Certificate: Grade T3 or higher; or
• Water Distribution Operator Certificate: Grade D4 or higher.

7343 Senior Stationary Engineer— Water Treatment Plant: 

• Water Treatment Operator Certificate: Grade T3 or higher; or
• Water Distribution Operator Certificate: Grade D4.

7245 Chief Stationary Engineer— Water Treatment Plant:

• Water Treatment Operator Certificate: Grade T4 or higher; or
• Water Distribution Operator Certificate: Grade D5.

7120 Building & Grounds Superintendent (supervising Water Distribution operations only):

• Water Treatment Operator Certificate: Grade T3 or higher; or
• Water Distribution Operator Certificate: Grade D4 or higher.

131. Hetch Hetchy:

7372 Stationary Engineer—Sewage Plant: 

• Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certificate: Grade III or higher (for Operations and Maintenance positions); or 
• California Water Environment Association Mechanical Technologist Certificate III or higher (for Maintenance positions only). 

7373 Senior Stationary Engineer—Sewage Plant: 

• Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certificate: Grade IV or higher (for Operations and Maintenance positions); or 
• California Water Environment Association Mechanical Technologist Certificate IV (for Maintenance positions only). 

7252 Chief Stationary Engineer—Sewage Plant: 

• Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certificate: Grade V (for Operations and Maintenance positions).

7120 BUILDING & GROUNDS SUPERINTENDENT OVER WATER DISTRIBUTION AT CDD PREMIUM

132. Effective July 1, 2022, employee in class 7120 Building & Grounds Superintendent at the Public Utilities Commission who oversees Water Distribution operations within the City Distribution Division (CDD) shall receive a five percent (5%) premium for the duration of the employee’s assignment at CDD.

SUPERVISORY DIFFERENTIAL ADJUSTMENT

133. The Appointing Officer may adjust the compensation of a supervisory employee whose schedule of compensation is set herein subject to the following conditions:

134. 1. The supervisor, as part of the regular responsibilities of the supervisor’s class, supervises, directs, is accountable for and is in responsible charge of the work of a subordinate or subordinates.

135. 2. The supervisor must actually supervise the technical content of subordinate work and possess education and/or experience appropriate to the technical assignment.

136. 3. The organization is a permanent one approved by the appointing officer, chief administrative officer, Board or Commission, where applicable, and is a matter of record based upon review and investigation by the Department of Human Resources.

137. 4. The classifications of both the supervisor and the subordinate are appropriate to the organization and have a normal, logical relationship to each other in terms of their respective duties and levels of responsibility and accountability in the organization.

138. 5. The compensation schedule of the supervisor is less than one full step (approximately 5%) over the compensation schedule, exclusive of extra pay, of the employee supervised.  In determining the compensation schedule of a classification being paid a flat rate, the flat rate will be converted to a bi-weekly rate and the compensation schedule the top step of which is closest to the flat rate so converted shall be deemed to the be the compensation schedule of the flat rate classification.

139. 6. The adjustment of the compensation schedule of the supervisor shall not exceed 5% over the compensation, exclusive of extra pay, of the employee supervised.

LEAD PAY

140. Covered employees designated by their supervisor as a lead worker shall be entitled to a $15.00 per day premium when required to take the lead on any job when at least two employees in the same classification are working together and one acts as lead.

141. Employees are not eligible to receive both Lead Pay and Acting Assignment Pay.

CABLE MAINTENANCE MECHANIC

142. When an employee in job code 7472 Wire Rope Cable Maintenance Mechanic at the MTA Cable Barn is assigned to direct the activities of co-workers, the employee shall receive a $2.00 premium for hours actually worked.  This assignment shall be limited to one (1) employee per shift.

143. Employees are not eligible to receive both Lead Pay and Cable Maintenance Mechanic pay.

DIVE PAY

144. Employees shall be paid $14.00 per hour more than the base rate, exclusive of any additional compensation for other assignments, when assigned and actually engaged in duties and operations requiring underwater diving. Such assignments will be for an eight (8) hour minimum.

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III.E. RETIREMENT

145. Represented employees agree to pay their own employee retirement contribution to SFERS.  For employees who became members of SFERS prior to November 2, 1976 (Charter Section A8.509 Miscellaneous Plan), the City shall pick up one-half (0.5%) of the employee retirement contribution to SFERS.

146. Any such contribution by the City shall not be considered as part of an employee's compensation for the purpose of computing straight time earnings, compensation for overtime worked, premium pay, or retirement benefits; nor shall such contributions be taken into account in determining the level of any other benefit which is a function of or percentage of salary.

147. The parties acknowledge that the San Francisco Charter establishes the levels, terms and conditions of retirement benefits for members of the San Francisco Employees Retirement System (SFERS).  The fact that an MOU does not specify that a certain item of compensation is excluded from retirement benefits should not be construed to mean that the item is included by the Retirement Board when calculating retirement benefits.

Retirement Seminar Release Time

148. Subject to development, availability and scheduling by SFERS and PERS, employees shall be allowed not more than one day during the life of this MOU to attend a pre-retirement planning seminar sponsored by SFERS or PERS.

149. Employees must provide at least two-week advance notice of their desire to attend a retirement planning seminar to the appropriate supervisor.  An employee shall be released from work to attend the seminar unless staffing requirements or other Department exigencies require the employee's attendance at work on the day or days such seminar is scheduled.  Release time shall not be unreasonably withheld.

150. All such seminars must be located within the Bay Area.

151. This section shall not be subject to the grievance procedure.

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III.F. HEALTH BENEFIT CONTRIBUTIONS

EMPLOYEE HEALTH CARE CITY CONTRIBUTION

152. The level of the City's contribution to employee health benefits will be set in accordance with the requirements of Charter Sections A8.423 and A8.428.

a. Health Coverage Effective January 1, 2014 Through December 31, 2014

1) MEDICALLY SINGLE EMPLOYEES

153. Effective January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, for “medically single employees” (Employee Only) enrolled in any plan other than the highest cost plan, the City shall contribute ninety percent (90%) of the “medically single employee” (Employee Only) premium for the plan in which the employee is enrolled; provided, however, that the City’s premium contribution will not fall below the lesser of: (a) the "average contribution" as determined by the Health Service Board pursuant to Charter Sections A8.423 and A8.428(b)(2); or (b), if the premium is less than the "average contribution", one hundred percent (100%) of the premium.

154. Effective January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, for “medically single employees” (Employee Only) who elect to enroll in the highest cost plan, the City shall contribute ninety percent (90%) of the premium for the second highest cost plan for such employees.

2) DEPENDENT HEALTH CARE

155. From January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, for Dependent Coverage (Employee Plus One; Employee Plus Two More), the City shall contribute the greater amount of up to $225 per month or 75% of the dependent rate charged by the City to employees for Kaiser coverage at the dependent plus two level.

b. Health Coverage Effective January 1, 2015

156. Effective January 1, 2015, the contribution model for employee health insurance premiums will be based on the City’s contribution of a percentage of those premiums and the employee’s payment of the balance (Percentage-Based Contribution Model), as described below:

1) Employee Only

157. For medically single employees (Employee Only) who enroll in any health plan offered through the Health Services System, the City shall contribute ninety-three percent (93%) of the total health insurance premium, provided however, that the City’s contribution shall be capped at ninety-three percent (93%) of the Employee Only premium of the second-highest-cost plan.

2) Employee Plus One:

158. For employees with one dependent who elect to enroll in any health plan offered through the Health Services System, the City shall contribute ninety-three percent (93%) of the total health insurance premium, provided however, that the City’s contribution shall be capped at ninety-three percent (93%) of the Employee Plus One premium of the second-highest-cost plan.

3) Employee Plus Two or More:

159. For employees with two or more dependents who elect to enroll in any health plan offered through the Health Services System, the City shall contribute eighty-three percent (83%) of the total health insurance premium, provided however, that the City’s contribution shall be capped at eighty-three percent (83%) of the Employee Plus Two or More premium of the second-highest-cost plan.

4) Contribution Cap

160. In the event HSS eliminates access to the current highest cost plan for active employees, the City contribution under this agreement for the remaining two plans shall not be affected.

5) Average Contribution Amount

161. For purposes of this agreement, and to ensure that all employees enrolled in health insurance through the City’s Health Services System (HSS) are making premium contributions under the Percentage-Based Contribution Model, and therefore have a stake in controlling the long term growth in health insurance costs, it is agreed that, to the extent the City's health insurance premium contribution under the Percentage-Based Contribution Model is less than the “average contribution,” as established under Charter section A8.428(b), then, in addition to the City’s contribution, payments toward the balance of the health insurance premium  under the Percentage-Based Contribution Model shall be deemed to apply to the annual “average contribution.”  The parties intend that the City’s contribution toward employee health insurance premiums will not exceed the amount established under the Percentage-Based Contribution Model.

c. Medically Single Employees Outside of Health Coverage Areas

162. If an employee’s work location reasonably requires the employee to reside in a county in which there is no City HMO available, then the City shall pay for medically-single/Employee-Only coverage under the City Plan.

d. Agreement Not to Renegotiate Contributions in 2014

163. The terms described in Article III.F., section b. above will be effective in calendar year 2015, and the parties agree not to seek to modify this agreement through the term of any MOU entered into prior to, or in the spring of, 2014.

e. Other Terms Negotiable

164. While the parties have agreed in Article III.F., section d. not to negotiate any changes to the Percentage-Based Contribution Model, the parties are free to make economic proposals to address any alleged impact of the health contribution levels described above or other health related issues not involving the percentage-based contribution model (e.g. wellness and transparency).

f. Other Agreements

165. Should the City and any recognized bargaining unit reach a voluntarily bargained agreement that results in City contributions to health insurance premiums exceeding those provided by the Percentage-Based Contribution Model, the City agrees to offer the entire alternate model to the Union as a substitute.

166. None of the provisions herein in any way alter the City’s Health Service System’s rules or policies regarding enrollment in or separation from any City Health Service System plan.

PUC - HETCH HETCHY AND CAMP MATHER HEALTH STIPEND

167. The City will continue to pay a stipend to eligible employees pursuant to the Annual Salary Ordinance Section 2.1.

DENTAL COVERAGE

168. Each employee covered by this agreement shall be eligible to participate in the City's dental program.

169. Employees who enroll in the Delta Dental PPO Plan shall pay the following premiums for the respective coverage levels:  $5/month for employee-only, $10/month for employee + 1 dependent, or $15/month for employee + 2 or more dependents.

CONTRIBUTIONS WHILE ON UNPAID LEAVE

170. As set forth in Administrative Code section 16.701(b), covered employees who are not in active service for more than twelve (12) weeks shall be required to pay the Health Service System for the full premium cost of membership in the Health Service System, unless the employee shall be on sick leave, workers’ compensation, mandatory administrative leave, approved personal leave following family care leave, disciplinary suspensions, or on a layoff holdover list where the employee verifies they have no alternative coverage.

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III.G. FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT

171. To the extent that the Agreement fails to afford employees the overtime or compensatory time off benefits to which they are entitled under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Agreement is amended to authorize and direct all City Departments to ensure that their employees receive, at a minimum, such Fair Labor Standards Act Benefits.  No employee covered by this Agreement shall suffer any reduction in benefits as the result of the application of this language.

172. The City agrees that it will, at a minimum, compensate in a manner consistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act.  No employee covered by this Agreement shall suffer any reduction in benefits as the result of the application of this language.

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III.H. HOLIDAYS AND HOLIDAY PAY

173. A holiday is calculated based on an eight-hour day. The following days are designated as holidays:

• January 1 (New Year's Day)
• The third Monday in January (Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday)
• The third Monday in February (President's Day)
• The last Monday in May (Memorial Day)
• June 19 (Juneteenth)
• July 4 (Independence Day)
• The first Monday in September (Labor Day)
• The second Monday in October (Indigenous Peoples Day, Italian American Heritage Day)
• November 11 (Veteran's Day)
• Thanksgiving Day
• The day after Thanksgiving
• December 25 (Christmas Day)

174. Provided further, if January 1, June 19, July 4, November 11 or December 25 falls on a Sunday, the Monday following is a holiday.

175. In addition, any day declared to be a holiday by proclamation of the Mayor after such day has heretofore been declared a holiday by the Governor of the State of California or the President of the United States is a holiday.

HOLIDAYS THAT FALL ON A SATURDAY

176. For those employees assigned to a work week of Monday through Friday, in the event a legal holiday falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be observed as a holiday provided, however, that except where the Governor declares that such preceding Friday shall be a legal holiday, each department head shall make provision for the staffing of public offices under the department head’s jurisdiction on such preceding Friday so that said public offices may serve the public during regular business hours.  Those employees who work on a Friday which is observed as a holiday in lieu of a holiday falling on Saturday shall be allowed a day off in lieu thereof as scheduled by the appointing officer in the current or next fiscal year.

HOLIDAY COMPENSATION FOR TIME WORKED

177. Employees required by their respective appointing officers to work on any of the above specified or substitute holidays, excepting Fridays observed as holidays in lieu of holidays falling on Saturday, shall be paid extra compensation of one additional day's pay at time and one half the usual rate for all regularly scheduled hours worked on such day (e.g.: 12 hours pay for 8 hours worked or a proportionate amount for more or less than 8 hours worked).   At the employee's request and with the approval of the Appointing Officer, an employee may be granted compensatory time off in lieu of paid overtime pursuant to the provisions herein.  The City shall make every effort to offer such work to permanent or provisional employees before as-needed employees.

178. Executive, administrative and professional employees designated in the Annual Salary Ordinance with the "Z" symbol shall not receive extra compensation for holiday work but may be granted time off equivalent to the time worked at the rate of one and one half times for work on the holiday.

HOLIDAYS FOR EMPLOYEES ON WORK SCHEDULES OTHER THAN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

179. Employees assigned to seven day operation departments or employees working a five day work week other than Monday through Friday shall be allowed another day off if a holiday falls on one of their regularly scheduled days off.  Employees whose holidays are changed because of shift rotations shall be allowed another day off if a legal holiday falls on one of their days off.  Employees regularly scheduled to work on a holiday which falls on a Saturday or Sunday shall observe the holiday on the day it occurs, or if required to work shall receive holiday compensation for work on that day.  Holiday compensation shall not be paid for work on the Friday preceding a Saturday holiday or on the Monday following a Sunday holiday.

180. If the provisions of this section deprive an employee of the same number of holidays that an employee receives who works Monday through Friday, the employee shall be granted additional days off to equal such number of holidays.  The designation of such days off shall be by mutual agreement of the employee and the appropriate supervisor with the approval of the appointing officer.  Such days off must be taken within the current or next fiscal year.  In no event shall the provisions of this section result in such employee receiving more or less holiday entitlement than an employee on a Monday through Friday work schedule.

HOLIDAY PAY SUPPLEMENT

181. When an employee is assigned to an alternate work schedule, and an observed holiday falls on the employee’s regularly scheduled work day, the employee may elect to use compensatory time, in-lieu time or vacation time to make up all hours beyond eight.

HOLIDAY PAY FOR EMPLOYEES LAID OFF

182. An employee who is laid off at the close of business the day before a holiday who has worked not less than five previous consecutive work days shall be paid for the holiday.

EMPLOYEES NOT ELIGIBLE FOR HOLIDAY COMPENSATION

183. Persons employed for holiday work only, or persons employed on a parttime work schedule which is less than twenty (20) hours in a biweekly pay period, or persons employed on an intermittent parttime work schedule (not regularly scheduled), or persons working on an "as-needed" basis who have not become eligible for benefits under Article III herein and who work on a designated legal holiday shall be compensated at the normal overtime rate of time and onehalf the basic hourly rate, if the employee worked forty (40) hours in the pay period in which the holiday falls. Said employees shall not receive holiday compensation.

PART TIME EMPLOYEES ELIGIBLE FOR HOLIDAYS

184. Part time employees, including employees on a reduced work week schedule, who regularly work a minimum of twenty (20) hours in a bi weekly pay period shall be entitled to holidays as provided herein on a proportionate basis.

185. Regular fulltime employees are entitled to 8/80 or 1/10 time off when a holiday falls in a biweekly pay period, therefore, parttime employees, as defined in the immediately preceding paragraph, shall receive a holiday based upon the ratio of 1/10 of the total hours regularly worked in a biweekly pay period.  Holiday time off shall be determined by calculating 1/10 of the hours worked by the parttime employee in the biweekly pay period immediately preceding the pay period in which the holiday falls.  The computation of holiday time off shall be rounded to the nearest hour.

186. The proportionate amount of holiday time off shall be taken in the same or next fiscal year in which the holiday falls.  Holiday time off shall be taken at a time mutually agreeable to the employee and the appointing officer.

FLOATING HOLIDAYS

187. Eligible employees are granted five (5) floating holidays in each fiscal year to be taken on days selected by the employee subject to the prior scheduling approval of the Appointing Officer or designee. Requests to use floating holidays shall not be unreasonably denied. Floating holidays received in one fiscal year but not used shall be carried forward to the next succeeding fiscal year.  The number of floating holidays carried forward to a succeeding fiscal year shall not exceed the total number of floating holidays received in the previous fiscal year. Floating Holidays may be taken in hourly increments up to and including the number of hours contained in the employee’s regular shift.

188. Employees who separate from City employment may, at the sole discretion of the appointing authority, be granted those floating holidays to which the separating employee was eligible and had not yet taken.

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III.I. OVERTIME COMPENSATION

189. Appointing officers may require employees to work longer than the normal work day or longer than the normal work week.  Any time worked under proper authorization of the appointing officer or the appointing officer’s designated representative or any hours suffered to be worked by an employee, exclusive of parttime employees, in excess of the regular or normal work day or week shall be designated as overtime and shall be compensated at one-and-one-half times the base hourly rate which may include a night differential if applicable; provided that employees working in classifications that are designated in this agreement as having a normal work day of less than eight (8) hours or a normal work week of less than forty (40) hours shall not be entitled to overtime compensation for work performed in excess of said specified normal hours until they exceed eight (8) hours per day or forty (40) hours per week, provided further, that employees working in a flextime program or working on an alternative work schedule shall be entitled to overtime compensation as provided herein when required to work more than ten hours per day, forty hours per week, when working a four-day work week, eight or nine hours depending on the schedule for the day, or forty hours per FLSA designated workweek when working the 9/80 schedule.  Overtime compensation so earned shall be computed subject to all the provisions and conditions set forth herein.

190. The Department of Human Resources shall determine whether work in excess of eight (8) hours a day performed within a sixteen (16) hour period following the end of the last preceding work period shall constitute overtime or shall be deemed to be work scheduled on the next work day.

191. No appointing officer shall require an employee not designated by a "Z" symbol in the Annual Salary Ordinance to work overtime when it is known by said appointing officer that funds are legally unavailable to pay said employee, provided that an employee may voluntarily work overtime under such conditions in order to earn compensatory time off at the rate of time and one half, pursuant to the provisions herein.

192. Employees occupying positions determined by the Department of Human Resources as being exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act and designated by a "Z" shall not be paid for over time worked, but may be granted compensatory time off at the rate of one hour for hour for time worked in excess of normal work schedules.  Employees classified Z-symbol shall not accumulate a balance of compensatory time earned in excess of two hundred forty hours (240) hours.

193. Those employees subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act who are required or suffered to work overtime shall be paid in salary unless the employee and the Appointing Officer mutually agree that in lieu of paid overtime, the employee shall be compensated with compensatory time off.  Compensatory time shall be earned at the rate of time and one half.  Employees occupying non "Z" designated positions shall not accumulate a balance of compensatory time earned in excess of 240 hours calculated at the rate of time and one half.  When non- “Z” designated employees promote or transfer from one department to another, the department from which the employee is transferring or promoting shall cash out the employee’s compensatory time balance.

RECORDATION OF OVERTIME

194. All overtime worked which is authorized by the appointing officer shall be recorded on separate timerolls.  Compensation for overtime worked as provided in this Section shall be paid on an hourly basis.

195. When improved methods of payroll processing are implemented and with the approval of the Human Resources Director and the Controller, such overtime may be recorded on the regular timerolls.

PRE-SCHEDULED OVERTIME

196. All employees covered by the provisions of this MOU that are pre-scheduled in advance to work overtime on a day off or at a time that does not overlap with their regular shift shall be paid for a minimum of four (4) hours at the overtime rate of time-and-one-half (1-1/2).

OVERTIME DISTRIBUTION

197. Voluntary overtime shall be offered equitably among employees covered under the provisions of this MOU within each work unit and/or work location, subject to departmental operational needs.

198. Mandatory overtime shall be distributed equitably among employees covered under the provisions of this MOU within each work unit and/or work location, subject to departmental operational needs.

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III.J. LEAVES

199. In accordance with Charter Section A8.409, the Leave of Absence provisions of Civil Service Commission Rule 120, as they exist on the effective date of this Agreement, will be calculated and administered as set forth in said Rule, except as modified herein.

200. The mandatory furlough provisions of CSC Rule 120 shall not apply to covered employees.

VOLUNTARY TIME OFF PROGRAM

1. General Provisions

201. Upon receipt of a projected deficit notice from the Controller, an appointing officer shall attempt to determine, to the extent feasible and with due consideration for the time constraints which may exist for eliminating the projected deficit, the interest of employees within the appointing officer's jurisdiction in taking unpaid personal time off on a voluntary basis.

202. The Appointing Officer shall have full discretion to approve or deny requests for voluntary time off based on the operational needs of the department and any court decrees or orders pertinent thereto.  The decision of the appointing officer shall be final except in cases where requests for voluntary time off in excess of ten (10) working days are denied.

2. Restrictions of Use of Paid Time Off While On Voluntary Time Off

203. All voluntary unpaid time off granted pursuant to this section shall be without pay.

204. Employees granted voluntary unpaid time off are precluded from using sick leave with pay credits, vacation credits, compensatory time off credits, floating holidays, training days or any other form of pay for the time period involved.

3. Duration and Revocation of Voluntary Unpaid Time Off

205. Approved voluntary time off taken pursuant to this section may not be changed by the Appointing Officer without the employee's consent.

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III.K. VACATION [For informational purposes only]

206. All employees employed under the provisions of this MOU and who have been in the service of the Employer continuously shall be entitled to vacation as follows:

 207. Employees may take vacation in hourly increments with the approval of the Appointing Officer.  Such requests shall not be unreasonably denied.

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III.L. VOLUNTEER/PARENTAL RELEASE TIME

208. Represented employees shall be granted paid release time to attend parent teacher conferences of up to four (4) hours per fiscal year (for children in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12).

209. In addition, an employee who is a parent or who has child rearing responsibilities (including domestic partners but excluding paid child care workers) of one or more children in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12 shall be granted unpaid release time of up to forty (40) hours each fiscal year, not exceeding eight (8) hours in any calendar month of the fiscal year, to participate in the activities of the school of any child of the employee, providing the employee, prior to taking the time off, gives reasonable notice of the planned absence.  The employee may use vacation, floating holiday hours, or compensatory time off during the planned absence.

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III.M. SENIORITY

210. Providing the employee has the qualifications and abilities as determined by management to perform the work, departmental seniority or, for the Public Utilities Commission (“PUC”), divisional seniority, will prevail in the following areas:

211. 1. In the filling of permanent vacancies (bidding of shifts):

212. a. Due to the broad geographical area involved, for PUC Water Supply and Treatment Division, the bidding of shifts includes work location.

213. b. All permanent shift openings shall be posted for seven (7) days. Locations working the twelve-hour rotating watch shall post for twelve (12) days.  New appointees will be assigned to the “no interest” positions.  Provisional and as-needed employees do not have bidding rights.

214. 2. Temporary assignments of less than ninety (90) calendar days shall be     excluded from bidding.  The Union encourages the use of volunteers for     temporary assignments, and, if no volunteers, the equitable distribution of     involuntary assignments based on reverse seniority.

215. 3. In the selection of vacation time (at each location within the department).

216. Upon mutual agreement between the Union and the Department, the Department can make an assignment outside of the bidding procedure.

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III.N. ANTI-NEPOTISM POLICY (MTA Service-Critical Classifications Only)

217. No employee of the Municipal Transportation Agency (“MTA”) shall knowingly sign up or bid for an assignment that reports directly to or directly supervises the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, parent or child.  MTA management shall not knowingly assign an employee to such a position.  If an employee is in such a position on July 1, 2001, or, if changes occur that cause an employee to be in such a position during the term of this agreement (including but not limited to organizational restructuring, changes in familial relationships or changes in reporting relationships caused by operation of the Civil Service Commission Rules) the following shall occur: the first represented employee of the two affected employees who has an opportunity to sign up, bid for, or be assigned to a different assignment shall be required to do so.  This provision is not intended to affect the rights of any employee under the Civil Service Commission Rules.

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III.O. METHODS OF CALCULATION

218. Bi -Weekly: An employee whose compensation is fixed on a bi-weekly basis shall be paid the bi-weekly salary for the employee’s position for work performed during the bi-weekly payroll period.  There shall be no compensation for time not worked unless such time off is authorized time off with pay.

219. Per Diem or Hourly: An employee whose compensation is fixed on a per diem or hourly basis shall be paid the daily or hourly rate for work performed during the bi-weekly payroll period on a bi-weekly pay schedule.  There shall be no compensation for time not worked unless such time off is authorized time off with pay.

Daily Rates for Monthly and Bi-Weekly Employees

220. A day's pay shall be determined by dividing the number of work days in a normal work schedule in a monthly payroll period (including specified holidays) into the monthly salary established for the position, or the amount of a day's pay shall be 1/10th of the compensation of a normal work schedule in a bi-weekly period (including specified holidays).

Conversion to Bi-Weekly Rates

221. Rates of compensation established on other than bi-weekly basis may be converted to bi-weekly rates by the Controller for payroll purposes.

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III.P. STATE DISABILITY INSURANCE ("SDI")

222. Employees in the bargaining unit(s) covered by this agreement shall be enrolled in the State Disability Insurance Program.  The cost of SDI will be paid by the employee through payroll deduction at a rate established by the State of California Employment Development Department.

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III.Q. USE OF SICK LEAVE WITH PAY CREDITS TO SUPPLEMENT STATE DISABILITY INSURANCE

223. Sick leave with pay credits shall be used to supplement State Disability Insurance (SDI) at the minimum rate in units of one (1) hour.

224. SDI payments to an employee who qualifies and who has accumulated and is eligible to use sick leave with pay credits shall be supplemented with sick leave with pay credits so that the total of SDI and sick leave with pay calculated in units of one (1) hour provides up to, but does not exceed, the regular net salary the employee would have received for the normal work schedule excluding overtime.

225. An employee who wishes not to supplement, or who wishes to supplement with compensatory time or vacation, must submit a written request on the prescribed form to the appointing officer or designee within seven (7) calendar days following the first date of absence.

226. An employee who supplements SDI shall earn sick leave with pay credits at the normal rate only for those hours of sick leave pay credits used.

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III.R. WORKERS' COMPENSATION SUPPLEMENTATION

227. An employee who is absent because of disability leave and who is receiving disability indemnity payments may request that the amount of disability indemnity payment be supplemented with salary to be charged against the employee's sick leave with pay credits so as to equal the net amount the employee would have earned for a regular work schedule minus premium pay adjustments. If the employee wishes to exercise this option,  the employee must submit a signed statement to the employee's department no later than thirty (30) days following the employee's release from disability leave.

228. The failure of the employee to exercise the option to supplement disability indemnity payments within thirty (30) calendar days following release from disability leave shall  preclude later requests.

229. Salary may be paid on regular time rolls and charged against the unused sick leave with pay credit balance during any period prior to the determination of eligibility for disability indemnity payment without requiring a signed option by the employee.

230. The City shall adjust the employee's sick leave with pay credit balance and reimburse the appropriate City fund for the amount of sick leave with pay credits charged and paid, when an employee has used sick leave with pay credits and the Department of Human Resources subsequently determines that the employee was entitled to disability indemnity payment for the period of absence.

231. Pursuant to Civil Service Rule 120.23, an employee returning from disability leave as defined by CSC Rule 120.23 will accrue sick leave and/or supplemental disability credits at an accelerated rate.

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III.S. LONG TERM DISABILITY (LTD)

232. The City shall provide to employees with six months continuous service a Long Term Disability (LTD) plan that provides, after a one hundred eighty (180) day elimination period, sixty percent (60%) salary (subject to integration) up to age sixty-five.  Employees who receive payments under the LTD plan shall not be eligible to continue receiving payments under the City’s Catastrophic Illness Program.

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III.T. LIFE INSURANCE

233. Upon becoming eligible to participate in the Health Service System under San Francisco Administrative Code Section 16.700, the City shall provide term life insurance in the amount of $50,000 for all employees covered by this agreement.

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III.U. APPRENTICE SALARY STEP PLAN AND SALARY ADJUSTMENTS

234. An employee who is a permanent appointee following completion of the probationary period or six months of permanent service, and who accepts a non-promotive appointment in a classification having the same salary schedule, or a lower salary schedule, the appointee shall enter the new position at that salary step which is the same as that received in the prior appointment, or if the salary steps do not match, then the salary step which is immediately in excess of that received in the prior appointment, provided that such salary shall not exceed the maximum of the salary schedule.

235. If the appointment  is to an apprentice class, the employee shall be placed at the salary step in the apprentice class pursuant to this section.  However, advancement to the next salary step in the apprentice class shall not occur until the employee has served satisfactory time sufficient in the apprenticeship program to warrant such advancement.

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III.V. PAPERLESS PAY POLICY

236. The Citywide Paperless Pay Policy applies to all City employees covered under this agreement.

237. Under the policy, all employees shall be able to access their pay advices electronically, and print them in a confidential manner.  Employees without computer access or who otherwise wish to receive a paper statement shall be able to receive hard copies of their pay advices through their payroll offices upon request, on a one-time or ongoing basis.  

238. Under the policy, all employees (regardless of start date) will have two options for receiving pay: direct deposit or bank pay card.  Employees not signing up for either option will be defaulted into bank pay cards.

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III.W. PAYROLL PROCEDURES

239. In correcting all employee underpayment or nonpayment problems, the following guidelines will be used to correct the most significant problems first:

1. No payment on Pay Day for the Pay Period.

240. Highest priority.  Full payment to be issued as quickly as possible, within four hours if PPSD or departmental payroll division is notified before noon on payday or before noon on any subsequent weekday.  If PPSD or departmental payroll is notified after noon but before 4 p.m., the payment will be issued no later than noon on the following weekday.

2. Payment on Pay Day is 10% or More Short of the Total Due for the Pay Period.

241. Second priority.  Correcting payment to be issued as quickly as possible with the goal of three working days from the day PPSD or departmental payroll division is notified of the shortfall.

3.  Payment on Pay Day is less than 10% Short of Total Due for Pay Period

242. Third priority.  Correcting payment is to be issued as quickly as possible, with a goal of ten working days from the PPSD or departmental payroll division is notified of the shortfall.

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III.X. PAID SICK LEAVE ORDINANCE

243. San Francisco Administrative Code, Chapter 12W, Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, is expressly waived in its entirety with respect to employees covered by this Agreement.

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III.Y. AIRPORT EMPLOYEE TRANSIT PILOT PROGRAM

244. The San Francisco International Airport will implement a pilot program to encourage employees to use mass transportation to commute to and from SFIA work locations.  Under the Airport Employee Transit Pilot Program, the SFIA is authorized to provide incentives consistent with Internal Revenue Code 132(a)(5) for the purpose stated above.  This pilot program will be evaluated 12 months after implementation to determine whether it shall be continued.  The Union waives all meet-and-confer on this pilot program.  This program is not subject to the grievance procedure.

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III.Z. HOSPITAL AND SKILLED NURSING FACILITY COVID-19 WORKER RETENTION PAY

245. In accordance with Senate Bill 184 signed into law by the Governor on June 30, 2022, adding Part 4.6 of Division 2 of the California Labor Code, the City of San Francisco will provide a one-time worker retention payment as described in paragraphs 561, 562 and 563 below, funded by the State of California and consistent with the terms and conditions set forth in the California Labor Code sections 1490, et seq.

246. Eligible part-time employees, as defined by California Labor Code section 1491 (f), assigned to work onsite at locations within the SF Health Network (which includes Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital and all Ambulatory Care Clinics, Behavioral Health Clinics, Population Health Clinics, County Jail Sites, and Population Health community outreach programs) who worked at least one hundred (100) hours and no more than three hundred ninety-nine (399) hours between July 30, 2022, through October 28, 2022, shall receive a one-time worker retention payment of up to seven hundred fifty ($750) dollars contingent on and at such time as the California Department of Department of Health Care Services issues payments pursuant to Senate Bill 184.

247. Eligible full-time employees, as defined by California Labor Code section 1491(e), assigned to work onsite at locations within the SF Health Network (which includes Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital and all Ambulatory Care Clinics, Behavioral Health Clinics, Population Health Clinics, County Jail Sites, and Population Health community outreach programs) who worked at least four hundred (400) hours between July 30, 2022 through October 28, 2022, shall receive a one-time worker retention payment of up to one thousand ($1000) dollars contingent on and at such time as the California Department of Department of Health Care Services issues payments pursuant to Senate Bill 184.

248. Hospital and skilled nursing facility retention pay shall not be considered compensation for the purpose of computing retirement benefits.

249. This section is not subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure of this Agreement. However, in the event of a dispute, the employee or labor organization can file an appeal as described in Section 1493 of SB 184.

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ARTICLE IV - TRAINING, CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND INCENTIVES

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IV.A. EDUCATIONAL CLASSES - TUITION AND TRAINING REIMBURSEMENT

250. 1. Where the appointing officer of a particular classification covered under the terms of this MOU requires an employee to attend retraining or educational classes during normal working hours, said employee will attend these classes without loss of wages or benefits. If the appointing officer requires an employees to attend retraining or educational classes during the employee's assigned off hours, the employee's work schedule shall be adjusted to cover the time required to attend the class.  The appointing officer, to the extent possible and consistent with operational needs, shall equitably distribute employee participation in such retraining or educational classes.  The Appointing Officer is to verify that the employee has satisfactorily completed the course with a passing grade.

251. 2. Pursuant to the provisions of the Employee Training Reimbursement   Program herein, the City will reimburse full tuition for full-time employees for one course per semester for job-related college courses, correspondence courses, adult education courses, or other courses that may be advantageous to the City provided that attendance has been approved in advance and funds have been appropriated and are available.  Reimbursement will be made after satisfactory completion of the course.

252. The City will contribute $8,000 annually to the Employee Tuition Reimbursement Program for the exclusive use of employees covered under this MOU.  The maximum annual allocation for each covered employee shall be one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per fiscal year for courses approved in accordance with guidelines established by the Department of Human Resources.  Any non-allocated tuition or tuition allocated, but not used within the fiscal year, shall be applied to the Local 39 Apprentice Training Fund referenced in Article IV.B.

TRAINING FOR PROMOTION OR ADVANCEMENT

253. An eligible employee or officer may apply for reimbursement for a training course pertaining to the duties of a higher classification when such course is given outside of regular working hours by an accredited educational institution. Accredited educational institutions shall be defined as institutions whose courses offered for credit are acceptable for regular examination given by the Department of Human Resources. Subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, the employee or officer shall be reimbursed one-half of the cost of tuition for said course if attendance has been approved in advance and funds have been appropriated and are available. The Civil Service Commission will verify that the employee has satisfactorily completed the course with a passing grade. If the course is not graded, or is not a credited course, an official transcript or other official document from the accredited school certifying completion of the course shall be deemed evidence of satisfactory completion.

254. No reimbursement shall be made if the employee or officer is eligible to receive reimbursement for said tuition under a Federal or State Veterans' benefit program or from other public funds.

255. If the employee or officer's application for training reimbursement, under the provisions of this section, does not receive the appointing officer's recommendation, the employee may appeal to the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service Commission shall then inquire into the reasons of the appointing officer's disapproval of such application, and the Commission shall thereupon make such order as it deems just, and said order shall be final.

TRAINING FOR WORK IN PRESENT CLASSIFICATION

256. An eligible employee or officer may apply to the Department of Human Resources through the appointing officer for reimbursement in a training course given by an accredited educational institution during or outside working hours for the purpose of improving performance in the present classification.

257. Accredited educational institutions shall be defined as institutions whose courses offered for credit are acceptable for regular examination given by the Department of Human Resources. The Department of Human Resources shall be the judge of whether such training meets the criteria of improving performance in the employee's present job, and whether the training can be provided through available in-service activities. Subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, the employee or officer shall be reimbursed for tuition, supplies, books, and other fees for such course if attendance has been approved in advance, and funds have been appropriated and are available. If attendance is during regular hours, it shall be considered a duty assignment for the purpose of payment of salary. The Department of Human Resources will verify that the employee has satisfactorily completed the course with a passing grade. If the course is not graded, or is not a credited course, an official transcript or other official document from the accredited school certifying completion of the course shall be deemed evidence of satisfactory completion.

258. If the employee or officer's application for training reimbursement, under the provisions of this section, does not receive the appointing officer's recommendation, the employee may appeal to the Commission. The Commission shall then inquire into the reasons for the appointing officer's disapproval of such application, and the Commission shall thereupon advise the appointing officer as it deems just.

ACCREDITED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION DETERMINATION

259. The Department of Human Resources or Human Resources Director shall be the judge of whether an educational institution is properly accredited for the purpose of this rule. The Appointing Officer shall consider the employee's record of performance in making recommendations.

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IV.B. APPRENTICE TRAINING FUND

260. Consistent with the established joint apprenticeship training program between the City and County of San Francisco and Stationary Engineers Local 39, the City shall make an annual contribution to the Local 39 Apprenticeship Training Fund to provide a training program for journey-level members who wish to improve their skills as well as apprentices entering the apprenticeship program.

261. The annual payments shall be made in January of each year of this agreement by the Department of Human Resources in the amount of $500.00 for each person represented by the Union employed on a full time, paid status by the City on December 31, of the preceding year.  

262. The parties agree that the funding described in this section is subject to the execution of an agreement between the parties consistent with the Civil Service Commission Rules, Apprenticeship Program, to maintain the apprenticeship program.  The parties will execute such an agreement within 30 days of the effective date of this MOU.

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IV.C. BREAKS, MEAL PERIODS, AND CLEAN-UP

263. All employees covered by the provisions of this MOU shall be provided with the following:

264. 1. Two (15) fifteen minute breaks, one during the first half of the shift and nother  during the second half of the shift.

265. 2. A meal period during the middle of the shift.

266. 3. A clean-up period at the end of the shift as required.

267. Employees on watch shall respond to the needs of the operation that occur during their break and meal periods.  All breaks and meal periods of employees on watch shall be taken on site so that they can attend to their duties.

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IV.D. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION FEES

268. All employees in classification of Senior Stationary Engineer and above covered by the provisions of this MOU shall be entitled to reimbursement of the fees (not to exceed $100.00) for membership in one professional organization related to their job.  The Appointing Officer shall determine if the professional organization is job related.

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ARTICLE V - WORKING CONDITIONS

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V.A. MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS

269. In instances when employees covered by the provisions of this MOU are exposed to conditions hazardous to health, said employees may voluntarily request and be entitled to a medical examination.  In no event will more than one (1) medical examination be provided in any twelve (12) month period for any one employee. Medical examinations will be considered time worked.

270. Such medical examinations will be given by a City-designated physician. The employee agrees that the Appointing Officer is entitled to review the resulting information and will sign an authorization for release of information if so requested.

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V.B. HEALTH AND SAFETY

271. 1. The promotion of health and safety is of mutual importance to the City and the Union.  The City acknowledges its responsibility to provide a safe and healthful work environment for City employees.

272. 2. When an employee, in good faith, believes that a hazardous or unsafe condition exists, and that continuing to work under such conditions poses risks beyond those normally associated with the nature of the job, the employee shall so notify the Department's Safety Committee and/or Safety Officer. If the Department agrees the assignment is hazardous or unsafe, the employee shall be reassigned until the hazard is eliminated.  While the employee is awaiting the arrival of the in-house officer and until the officer has made a determination, the employee shall not be required to perform the disputed assignment, and may be reassigned if other work is available.   The matter may instead be submitted to the Grievance Procedure at Step 2 (Appointing Officer Level) for final resolution. The employee's assignment shall be continued until the dispute is resolved.

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V.C. WORK CLOTHING

273. All employees covered by the provisions of this MOU shall be provided with changes of work clothing as deemed appropriate by and authorized by the appointing officer.  At a minimum, employees will be provided with six (6) sets of work clothing as well as a work jacket and one pair of coveralls.  Such work clothing will be replaced at least annually or more often, at the discretion of the appointing officer. Where the employee is regularly in contact with sewage or hazardous or contagious materials the employer will provide a clean change of clothing each working day.  Supervisory classes 5148, 5149, 7120, 7205, 7203, 7223, 7262, and 9232 shall be excluded from this provision, unless, at the discretion of the Appointing Officer, it is deemed that a work situation requires the supervisor to work in the field and warrants providing work clothing.  When the parties agree to provide reimbursement in lieu of providing work clothing, individual departments may, after consulting with the Union over the amount and method of payment, pay a cash uniform allowance or voucher which shall be no less than $600 per year.  This provision is not subject to the grievance process.

274. All employees covered by the provisions of this MOU shall be provided with foul weather gear (rain clothes and boots when required to work in the rain or other unreasonably wet conditions, jackets when required to work in cold conditions), as deemed appropriate by and authorized by the appointing officer.

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V.D. SAFETY SHOES

275. Where appropriate and authorized by the Appointing Officer or designee, employees covered by this MOU shall be provided safety shoes each year at a cost not to exceed $275 per employee, per year.  In all cases where safety footwear has been provided, the employee shall be required to wear such footwear during the performance of their duties.

276. The City agrees to provide all required safety equipment (i.e., protective eyewear, protective footwear) in compliance with Cal-OSHA regulations.

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V.E. SAFETY GOGGLES AND GLASSES

277. All employees covered by provisions of this MOU who are determined by the Appointing Officer or designee, after meeting and conferring with the employee organization representing said classes, to require eye protection shall be provided safety goggles. Said employees who wear prescription glasses and are determined by the appointing officer to require eye protection shall be provided prescription safety glasses.

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V.F. TOOL INSURANCE

278. The City agrees to indemnify employees covered under this MOU for the loss or destruction of the employees' tools, subject to the following conditions:

279. 1. These provisions shall apply when an employee's tools are lost or damaged due to fire or theft by burglary while the tools are properly on City property or being used by the employee in the course of City business.

280. 2. The employee must demonstrate that the employee has complied with all of the tool safekeeping rules required by the City at the employee's particular work location.

281. 3. Upon approval of this MOU and prior to any losses, the employee must submit a list of the employee’s tools to the employee’s appointing officer and then later must acknowledge and verify said inventory both as to existence of said tools and their necessity as relates to the employee's job duties.  Tools not enumerated on said list shall not be governed by these provisions.

282. 4. The employee shall be responsible for using all reasonable means to preserve and protect the employee’s tools. Failure to do so shall relieve the City from any and all obligations under this section. Any employee making false or inaccurate claims under this section shall be subject to disciplinary action by the employee’s appointing officer.

283. 5. In case of theft, the following procedures shall be followed in perfecting a claim:

284. a. The employee shall submit a written statement made under penalty of perjury of the tools stolen to the employee’s appointing officer, local police department and the Union.

285. b. The statement must contain the member's name, location and details of loss, date of loss and date reported to the police.

286. c. The statement must be submitted to the parties set forth in subsection (1) immediately above, within five (5) days of the loss, unless the employee is on authorized leave in which case the employee shall have five (5) days from the date of the employee’s return to report the loss.

287. 6. In case of damage due to fire, the requirements of subsection 5 (a) - (c) above shall be followed with the exception that verified reports need not be filed with the police.

288. 7. The first ten dollars ($10.00) of any loss shall be borne by the employee. A "loss" is defined as the total dollar amount of tools of the employee lost or damaged in one incident. Approved claims shall be settled by the City paying to the employee the replacement cost of the tool(s) minus ten dollars ($10.00).

289. 8. The replacement cost for tools governed hereunder shall be determined by agreement between the employee or the employee’s representative and the employee's appointing officer. Where possible, tools shall be replaced by tools of the same brand name and model. Any dispute resulting from attempts to determine tool replacement costs shall be submitted to the grievance procedure for resolution. In instances where the employee has suffered a loss of a substantial number of tools which would jeopardize the employee's ability to perform the employee’s job duties and if there is a dispute as to tool replacement costs, the employee shall not lose any time from work as a result thereof.

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V.G. RETURN TO WORK POLICY

290. The City will make a good faith effort to return employees who have sustained a temporary occupational injury or illness to temporary modified duty within the employee’s medical restriction.  Duties of the modified assignment may differ from the employee’s regular job duties and/or from job duties regularly assigned to employees in the injured employee’s class.  Where appropriate modified duty is not available within the employee’s classification, on the employee’s regular shift, and in the employee’s department, the employee may be temporarily assigned pursuant to this section to work in another classification, on a different shift, and/or in another department, subject to the approval of the appointing officer or designee.  The decision to provide modified duty and/or the impact of such decisions shall not be subject to grievance or arbitration.  Modified duty assignments may not exceed three (3) months. An employee assigned to a modified duty assignment shall receive their regular base rate of pay and shall not be eligible for any other additional compensation (premiums) and or out of class assignment pay as may be provided under this agreement.

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V.H. SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION POLICY

291. Attached hereto as Appendix C, is the City's current Substance Abuse Prevention Policy.

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V.I. EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP) AND PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM

292. Services provided to covered employees as outlined in Appendix B.

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V.J. PARKING

293. Sufficient parking at DPH locations shall be provided to all employees who purchase a parking permit.

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ARTICLE VI – SCOPE

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VI.A. CIVIL SERVICE RULES

294. The parties agree that unless specifically addressed herein, those terms and conditions of employment which are currently set forth in the Civil Service Rules shall continue to apply to employees covered by this contract.  No matter set forth in the Civil Service Commission Rules shall be subject to the grievance procedure.  Changes to the Civil Service Commission Rules may be proposed during the term of this contract subject to meet and confer as appropriate.  Changes to the Civil Service Commission Rules shall not be subject to arbitration.

295. The parties recognize that recodifications may change the references to specific Civil Service Commission Rules and Charter sections contained herein.  Therefore, the parties agree that in this event, such terms will be read as if they accurately reference the same sections in their newly codified form.

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VI.B. SCOPE OF AGREEMENT

296. This agreement sets forth the full and entire understanding of the parties regarding the matters herein.

297. Except in cases of health and safety emergencies or as otherwise provided in this MOU, the City shall give reasonable written notice to the Union of proposed changes directly relating to matters within the scope of representation as specified in Government Code Section 3504.5 not contained in this MOU.  The Union shall be provided with the opportunity to meet and confer with regard to any such proposed change should it desire to do so.

298. In cases of health and safety emergencies when the City determines that a proposed change as described herein must be adopted immediately without prior notice or meeting with the Union, the City shall provide such notice and opportunity to meet at the earliest practicable time following the adoption of such change.

299. If the Union does not respond within ten (10) working days from the date of mailing of written notification of a proposed change as described in this section, the Union shall be deemed to have waived its opportunity to meet and confer on the proposed change.

300. If the Union timely requests the opportunity to meet and confer as provided herein, the City agrees to meet and confer with the Union over such proposed change or changes within ten (10) days of receipt of such timely request, unless a longer period of time is mutually agreed upon, in order freely to exchange information, opinions and proposals and to endeavor to reach agreement on the proposed change or changes.

301. This provision is not intended to bar any grievances submitted in accordance with the terms of this MOU.

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VI.C. SAVINGS CLAUSE

302. Should any part hereof or any provision herein contained be declared invalid by reason of conflicting with a Charter provision or existing ordinances or resolutions which the Board of Supervisors had not agreed to alter, change or modify, or by any decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidation of such part or portion of this MOU shall not invalidate the remaining portions hereof and they shall remain in full force and effect for the duration of the MOU.

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VI.D. ZIPPER CLAUSE

303. This Agreement sets forth the full and entire understanding of the parties regarding the matters herein.  This Agreement may be modified, but only in writing, upon the mutual consent of the parties, except as otherwise provided herein.

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VI.E. DURATION OF AGREEMENT

304. This Agreement shall be effective July 1, 2024, and shall remain in full force and effect through June 30, 2027.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement this 14th day of May, 2024.

FOR THE CITY

• Carol Isen, Human Resources Director
  Date: 5/14/24
• Ardis Graham, Employee Relations Director
  Date: 5/14/24

FOR THE UNION

• Bart Florence, Business Manager
• Jeff Gladieux, President
• Brandy Johnson, Director of Public Employees
• Chung Park, Business Representative

APPROVED AS TO FORM DAVID CHIU, CITY ATTORNEY

• Jonathan Rolnick, Chief Labor Attorney
  Date: 5/14/24

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APPENDIX “AS-1” SIDE LETTER

The City and Local 39 (collectively the "Parties") agree to the following work schedules and terms and conditions of employment for 7372 Stationary Engineers, 7373 Senior Stationary Engineers and 7252 Chief Stationary Engineers (collectively “Stationary Engineers”) at Wastewater Enterprise (“WWE”).

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I. WORK SCHEDULES

Work Schedule – Wastewater Enterprise Operations and Maintenance - (7372 Stationary Engineers, 7373 Senior Stationary Engineers and 7252 Chief Stationary Engineers)

A 7372 Stationary Engineer, 7373 Senior Stationary Engineer, or 7252 Chief Stationary Engineer employee who successfully bids to work a fixed twelve-hour Alternate Work Schedule (“AWS”) (fixed hours and days) in WWE Operations will work one of the following eight shifts (two shifts per Watch) on either the 12-hour Night Shift or 12-hour Day Shift:  

a. Watch One - Westside/Oceanside Plant or Bayside/Southeast Plant Day Shift:  Four (4) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the first week of a pay period and three (3) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the second week for a total of 80 regular work hours and four (4) hours of regularly scheduled overtime per pay period; or

b. Watch Two - Westside/Oceanside Plant or Bayside/Southeast Plant Day Shift:  Three (3) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the first week of a pay period and four (4) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the second week for a total of 80 regular work hours and four (4) hours of regularly scheduled overtime per pay period; or  

c. Watch Three - Westside/Oceanside Plant or Bayside/Southeast Plant Night Shift:  Four (4) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the first week of a pay period and three (3) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the second week for a total of 80 regular work hours and four (4) hours of regularly scheduled overtime per pay period; or

d. Watch Four - Westside/Oceanside Plant or Bayside/Southeast Plant Night Shift:  Three (3) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the first week of a pay period and four (4) shifts of twelve (12) hours in the second week for a total of 80 regular work hours and four (4) hours of regularly scheduled overtime per pay period. 

In the alternative, a 7372 Stationary Engineer, 7373 Senior Stationary Engineer, or 7252 Chief Stationary Engineer may also bid on the following two shifts:

a. Watch Five - Operations eight (8) hour Day Shift (6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday-Friday)

b. Maintenance eight (8) hour Day Shift (6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday-Friday)

A. 12-hour Night or Day Shift – Hours and Days:

The following is the breakdown of work hours, including regularly scheduled overtime hours, days and start times for each work schedule:

B. 12-hour Night or Day Shift – Start/End Times:

a. 7372 Stationary Engineers and 7373 Senior Stationary Engineers

i. Night Shift:  10:00 p.m. (2200) to 10:00 a.m. (1000)
ii. Day Shift:  10:00 a.m. (1000) to 10:00 p.m. (2200)

b. 7252 Chief Stationary Engineers

i. Night Shift:  11:00 p.m. (2300) to 11:00 a.m. (1100)
ii. Day Shift:  11:00 a.m. (1100) to 11:00 p.m. (2300)

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II. PAY PROVISIONS

A. Overtime – Designated Work Week

For Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) overtime purposes, the designated workweek will be divided so that each work week contains 40 regular work hours.

1. 7372 Stationary Engineers and 7373 Senior Stationary Engineers

For the 7372 Stationary Engineers and 7373 Senior Stationary Engineers on 12-hour Night or Day Shift, the designated work week for employees on a twelve-hour Fixed AWS shall end/begin as follows:

• Night Shift: Wednesday at 2:00 a.m. (0200)
• Day Shift: Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. (1400)

2. 7252 Chief Stationary Engineers  

For the 7252 Chief Stationary Engineers on 12-hour Night or Day Shift, the designated work week for employees on a twelve-hour Fixed AWS shall end/begin as follows:

• Night Shift: Wednesday at 3:00 a.m. (0300)
• Day Shift: Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. (1500)

B. Holiday Pay

Employees on 12-hour shifts shall be paid eight (8) hours Legal Holiday Pay (“LHP”) when a holiday falls on a scheduled work day and the employee is not required to work. In such cases, the employee may elect to make up the difference in the workday by using four (4) hours of accrued and available vacation time, compensatory time, or floating holiday time, by entering their request in Work Flow and entering the time in the electronic timekeeping program.

When a holiday falls on an employee’s regular day off, the employee will earn eight (8) hours holiday earned in-lieu (“HE”) time.  

C. Shift Differential

Shift differentials shall be paid in accordance with the shift differential provisions under Article III of the Local 39 MOU.

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III. WWE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE SHIFTS

The SFPUC will fill permanent shift vacancies in WWE Operations and Maintenance Divisions as they become open under section III.M of the MOU. The SFPUC shall email the Union and all WWE Stationary Engineers with an updated seniority roster and an organizational chart identifying all vacant permanent shifts available for the shift bid concurrently with posting permanent shift openings. All permanent WWE Stationary Engineer shift openings shall be posted for a minimum of twelve (12) calendar days.

Stationary Engineers who meet the requirements in Section III.M may bid to any of the following ten (10) shifts, based on divisional seniority, through the permanent vacancy bidding process:

1. Watch One: 12-hour Day Shift at Westside/Oceanside Plant 
2. Watch One: 12-hour Day Shift at Bayside/Southeast Plant
3. Watch Two: 12-hour Day Shift at Westside/Oceanside Plant
4. Watch Two: 12-hour Day Shift Bayside/Southeast Plant
5. Watch Three: 12-hour Night Shift at Westside/Oceanside Plant 
6. Watch Three: 12-hour Night Shift Bayside/Southeast Plant
7. Watch Four: 12-hour Night Shift at Westside/Oceanside Plant 
8. Watch Four: 12-hour Night Shift Bayside/Southeast Plant
9. Watch Five: Operations 8-hour Day Shift (6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday-Friday) 
10. Maintenance 8-hour Day Shift (6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday-Friday)2

Under MOU section III.M, this bidding process does not apply to temporary assignments of less than ninety (90) days.  In addition, under MOU section III.M, the SFPUC can make a WWE Stationary Engineer shift assignment outside of the bidding procedure upon mutual agreement between the Union and the SFPUC.

Unplanned Absences

The SFPUC may backfill an unplanned absence prior to the start of a shift (e.g. sick leave) by reassigning an employee to report directly to a plant outside the employee’s bid location.  SFPUC shall first seek qualified volunteers.  If there are no qualified volunteers, a qualified employee shall be reassigned from another location based on reverse seniority. This language is intended to cover individual shifts. This language is not intended to cover extended leaves.

Voluntary Shift-Change

Employees in WWE Operations and Maintenance may voluntarily participate in a semi-annual shift change process. Such voluntary shift changes shall take place on the first day of the first pay period of January and July of each year. The SFPUC shall provide at least six-weeks’ advance notice by email to all WWE Stationary Engineers of the voluntary shift change process. Employees must sign up to request a voluntary shift change to one or more designated shifts for a designated shift change date at least four weeks before the shift-change date, and the SFPUC shall notify eligible employees two weeks before the shift-change date regarding new shift changes, if any. Employees may rescind their requests to change shifts within three (3) business days of submitting a shift-change request.

An employee may change shifts only if there is an employee in the same classification who has signed up for a voluntary shift change in the same semi-annual shift change, and both employees are eligible to exchange shifts. In addition, an employee on leave must show that the employee can return to work within thirty (30) days of the shift change date to be eligible to participate in the shift change process.  

Seniority and employee certification grade shall be used when determining voluntary shift changes. The SFPUC will assign the most senior employee to their first selection, however, if an employee does not possess the appropriate certification grade, that employee shall be excluded from the voluntary shift-change process unless the employee can accept an available shift for which the employee qualifies.

Employees: (i) with documented performance deficiencies, including but not limited to employees on a Performance Improvement Plan, (ii) currently under investigation or subject to pending discipline, (iii) provisional employees, (iv) as-needed employees, or (v) probationary employees who are not within 30 days of satisfactorily completing probation, are not eligible to participate in this voluntary shift change process. The SFPUC may delay the shift change date for up to ninety (90) days for any employee the SFPUC determines should remain on their current shift due to operational need for additional training on equipment and/or plant processes.  Notwithstanding the limitations on voluntary shift changes set forth above, employees can participate in the voluntary shift-change process at any time subject to mutual agreement between the Union, the employees and the SFPUC.

SFPUC Management Right to Adjust the Number of Employees Assigned to the Ten (10) WWE Operations and Maintenance Shifts

The SFPUC may exercise its management right at any time to permanently adjust the number of employees assigned to the ten (10) Operations and Maintenance shifts listed above, and shall notify the Union of all such changes subject to impacts bargaining under the Meyers-Milias Brown Act.  

In addition, and subject to the requirements of this paragraph, with two (2) months’ notice, the SFPUC can also implement adjustments to employee shift assignments once annually with such adjustments becoming effective in July of each year.  If the Union requests meet and confer regarding such staffing adjustments, the SFPUC will engage in post-implementation meet and confer on any identified impacts.  Before reducing the number of employees assigned to any given shift, the SFPUC agrees to seek volunteers for reassignment to other shifts.  If there are no volunteers, the SFPUC shall then reassign the least senior employee.  Any reassigned employee shall be allowed to displace other stationary engineers in the same classification in WWE Operations or Maintenance based on seniority and certification.

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IV. WET WEATHER

When there is a 30% or greater chance of rain as predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA"), SFPUC management shall cover any additional staffing, in addition to regularly scheduled staff, if needed as determined in the SFPUC's sole discretion, through the overtime call-out procedure. Overtime shall first be offered through the overtime wheel to personnel (certified by the State Water Resources Control Board and qualified by WWE) on location, at either the Oceanside Plant or the Southeast Plant, and then throughout WWE.

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V. LABOR-MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

The Parties shall maintain a Union/City Relations Committee (“Committee”) with four (4) members from the Union and four (4) members from the City. Additional members may be invited to a meeting on a case-by-case basis subject to mutual agreement of the Parties. The Committee shall meet quarterly, at dates and times to be mutually agreed to by the Parties, to discuss operational issues at the SFPUC WWE. Additional Committee meetings may be scheduled on a case-by-case basis subject to mutual agreement of the Parties. The Parties agree to exchange a written agenda of issues to be discussed at least seven (7) calendar days before the scheduled Committee meeting.

The Parties agree that the Committees will not have the authority to add to, subtract from, or in any way alter the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. The Committee shall have no right to determine issues under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Civil Service Commission. Finally, the Parties agree that the Committee will not discuss matters relating to pending grievances filed by the Union or an employee, discipline, or individual performance issues.

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VI. SIDE LETTER COVERAGE

Under this Side Letter, the terms and conditions of Appendix A to this MOU no longer apply to WWE employees.  The work and pay rules set forth in this Side Letter are subject to the grievance and arbitration procedures set forth in Section I.G of the MOU.

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APPENDIX “A”

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WORK AND PAY RULES

Overview

In October of 1990, management and employees sought an alternative to the traditional 8-hour shift schedule at the Wastewater Enterprise.  They developed the schedule in Appendix A as a means of providing a schedule that employees preferred over the traditional 8-hour shift schedule.  The goals were to meet the needs of employees, while maintaining employee safety, attendance, plant productivity and at no increased cost over the old schedule to the City.

The old schedule was a traditional 8-hour shift, which worked as follows:

• 7 days on night shift (2200 to 0600) (shift differential paid on all hours) - 2 days off
• 7 days on swing shift (1400 to 2200) (shift differential paid on hours between 1700 and 2200) - 2 days off
• 6 days on day shift (0600 to 1400) (no shift differential paid) - 4 days off

As a result of the cost-neutral provision of the project, the shift differential is adjusted downward to compensate for the added scheduled overtime in the 12-hour Appendix "A" schedule.

Effective July 1, 2014, the 12-hour schedule that had applied only to the Wastewater Enterprise, may be applied by  Water Enterprise management at any of the following locations, provided the same goals necessary for the implementation of the alternative schedule at Wastewater Facilities (i.e., meets the needs of employees while maintaining employee safety, attendance, plant productivity and at no increased cost over the old schedule to the City) are met with regard to the Water Enterprise operations:

• Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant
• Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant

All provisions of Appendix A shall apply to employees of the Water Enterprise at the locations listed above, effective six (6) months after notification to the affected employees and their union representative.

1. 12 hour Shift Change Times

    D = 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. shift (Wastewater Facilities and the above identified Water Facilities)

    N = 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. shift (Wastewater Facilities and the above identified Water Facilities)

    t = 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. shift (see "t" shift section) for Wastewater Facilities

    t = 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shift (see "t" shift section) for the above identified Water Facilities
        Various starts equal to 8.5-hour day without shift differential

    d = 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. shift Watch 6 Crew
        Various starts equal to 8.5-hour day without shift differential

2. Work Week

Employees continue to be paid bi-weekly.  12-hour shift work week begins and ends at 6:00 a.m. every Saturday.

3. Straight Time Pay

Under the 8-hour work shift schedule an employee received 40 hours of pay, for the first 40 hours worked in a work week (assuming no overtime is worked).  For those employees that rotate shifts, the 12-hour shift work schedule rearranges the first forty hours worked such that some weeks an employee works less than 40 hours and some weeks works more than 40 hours.  However, at the end of 5 weeks on the 12-hour schedule, an employee will have worked 200 hours or 40 hours per week (assuming no overtime was worked).

Under the 12-hour shift work schedules employees will earn and use comp time (i.e. overtime hours) to provide 40 straight time hours of pay each week.

In those weeks where an employee works more than 40 hours (i.e., weeks 3 and 5), comp time earned at the rate of 1.5 times the wage rate is applied for those hours in excess of 40. Therefore, an employee accumulates 12 hours of comp time and is paid 40 hours of pay for 48 hours of work in weeks 3 and 5.

In those weeks where an employee works only 36 hours, 4 comp time hours are used to provide 40 paid hours that week. Similarly, during the 32 hours work week, 8 comp time hours are used to provide 40 paid hours that week.  An employee must have 40 paid hours per week to accumulate maximum retirement and sick leave benefits.

At the end of a five week cycle an employee earns a total of 208 paid and/or comp time pay or overtime hours for 200 hours of work on the new 12 hour shift schedules. This is equivalent to a 4% pay increase for each employee or 83.2 additional pay hours per year.  To keep labor costs and employee earnings cost neutral under the new shift schedules, this pay increase (8 hours comp time very 5 weeks) is offset by changes in shift differential policies and holiday premium pay (see section #10).

At the discretion of the employee, accumulated overtime hours (comp time) may be received as cash as long as the employee maintains 16 comp time hours in the employee’s account at any one time. Employees who fail to maintain the minimum number of overtime hours necessary for use during any 32 or 36 hour scheduled work week will not receive a full 40 hours of pay for any such week.

4. Overtime Premium Pay

The 12-hour schedule pays an overtime premium in the form of accrued comp time equal to 1.5 times the hourly wage rate anytime a shift employee works: (1) more than 8 hours if scheduled to work an 8-hour shift, (2) more than 12 hours if scheduled to work a 12 hour shift and (3) more than 40 paid hours on any work week.

5. Holiday Benefit Pay

Holiday benefit pay remains the same.  The City of San Francisco recognizes eleven holidays per year and provides either 8 hours of pay or 8 hours of time off (lieu day) per holiday.  Each employee receives 88 hours of benefit per year.

All eleven holidays are designated days in the employee handbook and are moved to alternative days on the new schedule.

On the 8-hour work shift schedule an employee (on average) was scheduled to work approximately 71 percent of the 11 holidays each year. Therefore, on average, an employee is scheduled to work 8 holidays and is scheduled off 3 holidays each year. This provides 64 pay hours and 24 in lieu hours (or 88 total hours) of holiday benefit per year.

Under the 12-hour work shift schedule, an employee is scheduled to work only 51 percent of the 11 holidays each year. Therefore, on average, an employee is scheduled to work 6 holidays and is scheduled off 5 holidays each year. This provides 48 pay hours and 40 in lieu hours (or 88 total hours) of holiday benefit per year.

A "t" shift (which is scheduled work day) that falls on a holiday is a day off with 8 hours pay.

6. Holiday Premium Compensation

Holiday premium pay is paid at 1.5 times the hourly wage rate for the first 8 hours worked on a holiday. For pay purposes, a holiday begins at 6:00 a.m. the day of the holiday and ends at 6:00 a.m. the next day.

Employees who prefer to work holidays instead of having them off can volunteer to work additional holidays during their "t" shift week or on a day off

On the 8 hour work shift schedule, an employee was paid 1.5 times their wage rate for all hours worked on a holiday. On the 12-hour shift work schedule an employee is paid 1.5 times the wage rate for only the first 8 hours of a 12 hour shift.  To the employee, this is a reduction of 2 pay hours per holiday worked or 8.8 pay hours per year compared to the old 8 hour shift work schedule (11 holidays per year X 14 shifts scheduled over 35 days X 2 pay hours per holiday).

7. Vacation Benefits and Pay

Vacation benefits and pay remain the same under the new work shift schedule. However, these benefits and pay must be accumulated and used in hourly increments (not days).

For example, an employee with two years of continuous service has a maximum entitlement of 80 vacation hours. If that same employee uses 72 hours of vacation (i.e., six 12 hour shifts), the employee has 8 vacation hours left. These hours can be used or carried over into the next year.

Although each employee still receives the same number of vacation hours each year, the use of those hours can provide longer periods of time off.  For example, on the new schedules it is possible to use 32 hours of vacation during the "t" shift week and get 15 consecutive days off.

Employees are still required to meet the minimum service and notification requirements along with any other current policies for vacation. Employees are also still entitled to use vacation in one-hour increments according to existing notification and approval policies.

Shift employees are encouraged to schedule vacation during "t" shifts. Vacation will only be restricted on "t" shifts if there is a conflict with scheduled training or operational necessity.

8. Sick Leave

Sick leave benefits and pay are also unchanged under these shift schedules. Employees can still earn up to 104 hours of paid sick leave per year. Under these schedules an employee uses 12 or 8 hours of benefit depending on the length of the shift scheduled to work on the day sick leave is taken.

9. Shift Differential

Under the 8-hour shift schedules, hours worked on second shift (8 hours swing) are paid at a 8.5 percent premium, and hours worked on third shift (8 hours night) are paid at a 10 percent premium.

On the 12-hour shift schedules, an effective 9.25 percent shift differential is paid for all 12 hours worked on a night shift (6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.).  (Although the shift differential is either 8.5 percent or 10 percent depending on the hours, for purposes of the calculation immediately below, the blended rate of 9.25 percent is used as both day and night shifts have equal numbers of second and third shift hours (i.e., six of each for a 12-hour night shift).

On the 8-hour shift schedules an employee worked 91 swing shifts (i.e., 8.5%) and 91 night shifts (i.e., 10%) every year and would be paid 134.7 pay hours in shift differential (182 shifts x 8 hours per shift x 9.25 percent per hour).  On the 12 hour schedules, an employee works 72.8 night shifts every year and is paid 80.8 pay hours in shift differential (72.8 night shifts x 12 hour shift x 9.25 percent).  Therefore, an employee loses 53.9 pay hours per year in shift differential on the new 12-hour shift schedules.

There are 3 factors that provide additional or less compensation under the new 12-hour shift schedules.  The average difference in pay hours per year is summarized in the following table.

Annually an employee receives 20.5 pay hours of additional compensation.  This pay/benefit increase can be made cost neutral by adjusting the shift differential to 6.9 percent [72.8 night shifts x 12 hour shifts x (9.25  –  6.9 percent).

10. Jury and Military Leave

Under the new schedules, employees are paid for jury and military leaves up to 12 hours per day, if scheduled to work a 12-hour shift.

(1) Subject to existing departmental policies, employees who work a swing or evening shift and are required to report in person for jury duty shall be reassigned to a day shift for the duration of their obligation to report to jury duty.

(2) Employees who receive a summons to report for jury duty shall notify their supervisor as soon as possible upon receiving the summons.

11. "t" Shifts

"t" shifts are designed to be day shift training assignments. There are 333 hours per year of "t" shifts per employee with each of the new schedules. Since the current training workload at the plant does not require 333 hours, alternative uses of this time must be identified.

A "t" shift can be used for:

a. Getting training   this is the highest priority for "t" shift hours.  Can be in a classroom, on-the-job, at a conference, etc.

b. Covering a vacancy   An employee can cover a vacancy on day shift or another shift. The Division agrees to use the following procedure when filling vacancies with employees on their "t" shift.

Step 1. Ask for volunteers from the "t" shift crew, first.  
Step 2. If there are no volunteers, assign a "t" shift employee.  If there is at least 48 hours notice and does not exceed the number of hours that an employee has taken off on other than "t" shifts.

c. Work on special project.

For training to have the highest priority on a "t" shift it must be scheduled in advance so that employee vacations do not disrupt scheduled training. It will be the responsibility of each Chief to make sure that their crew schedules enough training during the "t" week to meet minimum training requirements. The start times for "t" shifts may be adjusted slightly to accommodate different training programs.

12. Relief Coverage

There are two ways to cover vacancies, either with a voluntary or mandatory coverage system. A voluntary system requires no one to be forced into work or on call to cover for vacancies.

Under the new shift schedules, the Division would like to maintain a voluntary system for covering vacancies (i.e., those who want overtime volunteer to work and those who do not want to work overtime do not have to work). However, for a voluntary coverage system to work the employee at a plant must work together and be willing to come into work occasionally on their day off (at an overtime rate of pay). 

Should this voluntary system fail to provide adequate coverage for vacancies, then the Bureau reserves the right to assign employees to cover vacancies using current practices or implement a mandatory relief system.  Note that the voluntary system fails when employees have to work 18 consecutive hours to cover a vacant shift.

Every effort will be made to prevent an employee from working 18 consecutive hours.

Vacancies on 12-hour shift, in many cases, are filled by employees who come into work on their days off. Since it takes additional time to contact an employee and have them commute into work, employees on 12-hour shift schedules are expected to give at least 2 hours notice before the beginning of an assigned shift for any absence.

In the event there are more employees wanting to fill vacancies than there are vacancies, then an overtime equalization policy will be used to distribute the overtime. The goal of this policy is to ensure that every employee has opportunity to fill overtime vacancies. One way to accomplish this is to first make sure that all employees have an opportunity to volunteer for vacancies and in competitive situations, give priority to employee with the least amount of overtime.

13. Other Work and Pay Rules

All other work and pay rules not addressed by this implementation package are covered by the rules described in the Letter of Understanding between the City and County of San Francisco and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Stationary Local 39 (for fiscal Years 1990-1993).  In addition, other rules are described in the Employee Handbook for al1 City and County of San Francisco employees.

14. Uniforms 

The Port will provide employees Port-labeled shirts, including laundering.

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APPENDIX “A-1”

The parties shall begin meeting and conferring no later than July 8, 2019, regarding proposed changes to the Wastewater Enterprise Work and Pay Rules currently set forth in Appendix A and this Appendix A-1.  

If the parties reach agreement after meet and confer has concluded, then, upon such agreement, the current Appendix A shall be superseded by this Appendix A-1, which shall become effective and controlling, and the Public Utilities Commission may implement the proposed changes and, at such time, the City may administratively amend this Agreement to effectuate the revisions as set forth below.  If the parties are unable to reach agreement on the language set forth in Appendix A-1, then the parties may agree to alternative A-1 language provided, however, that before such alternative language can become effective, it must be presented as a MOU amendment and approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Should the parties fail to reach agreement regarding proposed changes to the Wastewater Enterprise Work and Pay Rules currently set forth in Appendix A and this Appendix A-1 by September 9, 2019, upon the request of either party, as the exclusive impasse resolution procedure, the parties shall submit any issues remaining in dispute to a mediation/arbitration board convened in accordance with the procedures set forth in City Charter section A8.409-4, except that with respect to A8.409-4(b), the parties shall select and appoint board members, including the neutral chairperson, not later than September 23, 2019, and with respect to A8.409-4(k), the decision of the mediation/arbitration board, if any, shall be in accordance with the procedures and criteria set forth in Charter Section A8.409-4(d), and shall be issued on or before January 1, 2020.  In all other respects, A8.409-4(k) shall apply.  The parties shall amend this Agreement to reflect the decision of the mediation/arbitration board.  If a party invokes the impasse resolution procedure, the City shall not implement any proposed changes that are the subject of impasse until the impasse resolution process is complete.

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ARTICLE III - PAY, HOURS AND BENEFITS

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III.D. ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION

NIGHT SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL

112. Classifications subject to the alternative work schedule within the Wastewater Enterprise (who shall be compensated in conformity with the Work and Pay Rules attached hereto as Appendix "A") are not eligible for night shift differential as specified in this provision.

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ARTICLE III - PAY, HOURS AND BENEFITS

III.I OVERTIME COMPENSATION

183. Employees subject to the alternative work schedule within the Wastewater Enterprise pursuant to Appendix "A" will receive overtime pursuant thereto.

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ARTICLE III - PAY, HOURS AND BENEFITS

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III.B. WORK SCHEDULES

104. For all employees covered by the provisions of this MOU (except for classifications subject to the alternative work schedule within the Wastewater Enterprise who shall be compensated in conformity with the Work and Pay Rules attached hereto as Appendix "A") the normal work day shall be eight (8) consecutive hours for Watch Engineers and eight (8) hours within eight and one-half (8-1/2) hours for maintenance engineers.  Watch Engineers shall be permitted sixteen (16) hours off between the end of the Watch Engineer’s regular shift and the beginning of the Watch Engineer’s next shift. Maintenance engineers shall be permitted fifteen and one-half (15-1/2) hours off between the end of the Maintenance Engineer’s shift and the beginning of the Maintenance Engineer’s next shift. The normal work week for such classes shall be forty (40) hours of five (5) consecutive days, except that engineers assigned to rotating shifts may work six (6) or seven (7) consecutive days before receiving their consecutive days off.  Any work performed outside of this designated schedule shall be paid at the overtime rate of time-and-one-half (1-1/2).  Except in emergency situations, the City and the Union agree that prior to any changes in unit work schedules, the Union will be given notice and an opportunity to meet with the appropriate department(s) regarding the proposed change.

105. For all employees covered by the provisions of this MOU working a ten (10) hour schedule, the normal work day shall be ten (10) consecutive hours for watch engineers and ten (10) hours within ten and one-half (10-1/2) hours for maintenance engineers.  Watch engineers shall be permitted fourteen (14) hours off between the end of  the Watch Engineer’s regular shift and the beginning of the Watch Engineer’s next shift. Maintenance engineers shall be permitted thirteen and one-half (13-1/2) hours off between the end of Maintenance Engineer’s shift and the beginning of Maintenance Engineer’s next shift. The normal workweek for such classes shall be forty (40) hours of four (4) consecutive days.  Any work performed outside of this designated schedule shall be paid at the overtime rate of time and one-half (1-1/2).  Except in emergency situations, the City and the Union agree that prior to any changes in unit work schedules, the Union will be given notice and an opportunity to meet with the appropriate department(s) regarding the proposed change.

106. Assignment from either a watch schedule to a maintenance schedule or from a maintenance schedule to a watch schedule will result in beginning a new count of consecutive workdays.  The existing practice when one engineer relieves another engineer for shift change will continue.  

107. Further, upon notification to an authorized representative of the Employee Relations Division, the Union and City may meet for the purpose of establishing alternate work schedules.  Upon request of the Union, the City agrees to explore alternatives to existing eight (8) hour rotating shifts that meet the needs of employees while maintaining employee safety, attendance, plant productivity and cost neutrality with respect to the old schedule. Notwithstanding the foregoing, except in emergency situations, the City and the Union agree that prior to any changes in unit work schedules, the Union will be given notice and an opportunity to meet and confer with the appropriate department(s) regarding the proposed change to the extent required under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.

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ARTICLE III - PAY, HOURS AND BENEFITS

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III.M. SENIORITY

204. Providing the employee has the qualifications and abilities as determined by management to perform the work, departmental seniority or, for the Public Utilities Commission (“PUC”), divisional seniority, will prevail in the following areas:

205. 1. In the filling of permanent vacancies (bidding of shifts):

a. Due to the broad geographical area involved, for PUC Water Supply and Treatment Division, the bidding of shifts includes work location.

b. All permanent shift openings shall be posted for seven (7) days. Locations working the twelve-hour rotating watch shall post for twelve (12) days.  New appointees will be assigned to the “no interest” positions.  Provisional and as-needed employees do not have bidding rights.

c. The shift-bidding procedures used in June 1999 will continue provided that two positions at PUC Water Pollution Control Division, Oceanside Plant, Operations Section (one Class 7372 Stationary Engineer and one Class 7373 Senior Stationary Engineer) will be considered floating.  These floating positions on each watch will be filled as vacancies at the Oceanside Plant arise.  Class 7372 Stationary Engineers and Class 7373 Senior Stationary Engineers currently assigned to the Oceanside Plant will not be involuntarily reassigned.

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APPENDIX “B”

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EAP AND PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM

Transport Workers Union Locals 250A and 200, Automotive Mechanics Local 1414, Teamsters Local 853, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 6, Laborers Union Local 261, Service Employees International Union Local 790, Stationary Engineers Local 39, and Glazier and Glass Workers, Local 718, and the  Municipal Transportation Agency (“MTA”) hereby agree to create an Employee Assistance Program   as follows:

A. Overview of EAP Program

This Employee Assistance Program (“EAP”) shall cover employees only, and is designed to assist employees, in consultation with their families where clinically appropriate, with problems that may affect their ability to perform their jobs.  The EAP shall offer counseling services, including assessment, referral, and follow-up services.  

• EAP’s offer assistance by helping employees assess and identify problems arising from a variety of personal areas.
• EAP’s assist employees by referring them to services which lead to solutions.
• EAP’s provide training and consultation services to management and union leadership regarding assisting troubled employees.

The primary goal of the EAP will be to maintain employee’s ability to be fully productive on the job.  EAP’s help employees, management, and supervisors maintain a high level of service by:

• Motivating employees to help;
• Helping supervisors identify troubled employees with job performance problems that may be related to personal problems;
• Assessing employees with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, family problems, depression, stress and other problems that can result in performance problems;
• Providing easily accessible quality helping services which include short-term problem-solving and referrals to more intensive care;
• Providing crisis intervention services;
• Providing follow-up assistance to support and guide employees through the resolution of their problems; and by
• Acting as an education and training resource.

Employees shall be able to access the EAP through calling directly (self-referral), through the Peer Assistants, or through a supervisory referral based on job performance.  Participation in the EAP is voluntary.

Establishing a voluntary EAP to compliment the mandatory testing program is intended to encourage employees to seek treatment early and on their own.  The EAP will assist employees in obtaining information, guidance, and counseling to help them handle their problems before they become a drug testing or disciplinary issue.

An outside vendor has been selected and will perform the following duties:

• Maintain a toll-free telephone access for referrals and respond to calls in no more than sixty (60) seconds.
• Provide union/management consultation relative to the development and integration of organizational policies and procedures necessary for effective Employee Assistance Program implementation
• Orient employees regarding the purpose, scope, nature and use of the Employee Assistance Program.
• Train Union (including Division Chairpersons and any other Union officials), supervisory and management staff to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively utilize the program in the performance of their responsibilities.
• Provide direct one-to-one counseling utilizing licensed professional staff for crisis management and to identify and evaluate personal concerns among Employer’s employees and/or their immediate dependents.  Such direct counseling shall provide for three (3) sessions per family per year.  Fees for any counseling sessions exceeding three (3) will become the financial responsibility of the employee and/or dependent, unless otherwise arranged for by the employer.  For non-urgent situations, an appointment will be offered within seventy-two (72) hours of request.  For urgent situations, an appointment will be offered on the same day as the request for service.
• Provide legal consultation, medical advice, financial consultation; one (1) consultation per incident is provided for each service, up to three (3) incidents per service, per year.
• Provide referral services to professional community resources for treatment and/or assistance, as may be appropriate.
• Provide continuing liaison and contact, when appropriate, between the employee, treatment agent or agency, and Employer to determine case status.
• Provide monthly statistical evaluation of program activity, and other reports, as needed.
• Send its principal or the designated representative to monthly meetings of the Municipal Railway Improvement Fund Board of Trustees, and any other meetings as reasonably required.
• Assess all employees involved in Critical Incidents (e.g., on the job assaults, threats and/or accidents) that occur while on duty.
• Provide up to three (3) counseling visits per employee involved in a Critical Incident.
• Develop Critical Incident Program Policies and Procedures.
• Provide Critical Incident Case management, including:

(a) Determination regarding an employee’s ability to perform duties, including coordination with management and union personnel for employees who require time off work as a result of a Critical Incident;

(b) Assisting employees in securing additional counseling visits beyond the three (3) Critical Incident/trauma response visits described above, when necessary.

B. Organization

(1) The Joint Labor-Management Committee:

(a)    Membership and Meetings: Five (5) Committee members and two (2) alternate members to be appointed by the Unions. Five (5) Committee members to be appointed by the City.

If the City chooses to appoint less than five persons, it shall still have voting strength equal to that of the Unions.  On the matters that come before the Committee, the City shall have one vote and the Unions shall have one vote.  The vote of each side shall be controlled by the votes of the Committee members present for each respective side.

The Committee shall elect from its ranks a Chairperson and a Co-Chair, one of whom shall be a City appointee and the other the Unions’ appointee.  The Chair shall be held by one side for a year, then relinquished to the other side for the next year.  Either the City or the Unions may replace their named Chair or Co-Chair at any time.  The Chair shall preside over meetings of the Committee.  In the absence of the Chair, the Co-Chair shall so preside.  The MTA Director of Transportation shall provide staff support to the Committee as appropriate.

A quorum for the transaction of business by the Committee shall consist of three (3) Union Committee members and a majority of the City-appointed Committee members.

(b) Functions:  To receive and review information regarding the Substance Abuse and Peer Assistance Programs

(c) Consolidation of Committees:  The parties to this Agreement and to the Agreement concerning drug and alcohol testing and EAP between TWU Local 250A and the MTA may elect to combine the joint labor-management committee established here and in the Local 250A Agreement.

(2) Substance Abuse Program:

The MTA Director of Transportation or designee will manage all aspects of the FTA-mandated Substance Abuse Program.  The director or designee shall have appointing and removal authority over all personnel working for the Substance Abuse Program personnel, and shall be responsible for the supervision of the SAP.

(3) EAP Services:

The City and the Unions have concluded that it is in the best interests of all concerned to establish a uniform EAP Program for all employees.  On this basis, the parties agree that the City shall engage an outside contractor to provide these services.

(4) The Peer Assistance System:

(a) Structure:

The outside contractor selected to provide EAP services shall also be directly responsible for the clinical and administrative management of the Peer Assistance Program.  This Program shall be established on a 24-hour, seven-day a week basis.  The peer assistants shall provide coverage during regular business hours (Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) for all Muni worksites or sections.  A system-wide EAP crisis hotline shall be established.  Night, weekend and holiday crisis coverage shall be provided by one of the peer assistants and shall be rotated among the peer assistants, who shall be available on a pager.  The full compensation of the Peer Assistant providing such night, weekend and holiday coverage shall be pager pay.  Pager pay will not be provided for regular daily coverage.

(b) Peer Assistance Oversight Committee:

This Committee, composed of one representative from Locals 250A, 200, 6, 790 and 1414, shall be responsible for trouble-shooting and making decisions on program operations.

(c)  MTA Liaison:

The MTA Liaison shall be an individual designated by the MTA Director of Transportation to serve as the City’s emissary in matters such as labor relations and administrative issues.

(d) Qualifications:

• A MUNI employee who has previous counseling experience or is interested in peer counseling and is willing to make a two year commitment to pursue training and education toward certification as a drug and alcohol counselor
  OR
• A MUNI employee who was a former substance abuser who has been clean and sober for a least two years and who continues to participate in a twelve step program
  OR
• A MUNI employee who has had experience with family members’ substance abuse and who had participated in a self-help group for co-dependency
  AND
• A MUNI employee who is respected by their peers, the union, and the management
      AND
• A MUNI employee who is committed to the goals of the Peer Assistance Program

(e) Duties:

• Assist employees in accessing the Voluntary Substance Abuse Program and EAP.
• Provide on-going support and case management for clients in the Voluntary Substance Abuse Program.
• Abide by state and federal confidentiality laws.
• Publicize the EAP verbally and through distribution of literature.
• Provide employees with information regarding the EAP and Voluntary Substance Abuse programs and create a forum for employees to discuss their concerns.
• Assist in publication of Voluntary Substance Abuse Program newsletter.
• Seek out opportunities to participate in training programs to further develop knowledge and skills.
• Develop and implement new ideas to increase utilization and maximize the effectiveness of the EAP and Voluntary Substance Abuse Programs.
• Develop and maintain a professional environment in which to interact with clients.
• Develop a group of volunteers in the divisions to support the goals of the EAP and Voluntary Substance Abuse Programs.
• Assist in education and training sessions for new and existing employees.
• Keep accurate records of client contacts and promotional activities.

(f) Staffing:

There shall be a clinician employed by the outside contractor for EAP Services who will be on-site a minimum of 20 hours a week.   The clinician shall report directly to the outside contractor, Peer Assistance Oversight Committee and the MIF liaison.  There shall be three full-time Peer Assistants reporting to the outside contractor.

(g) Volunteer Peer Assistants:

1. Up to eight (8) Volunteer Peer Assistants.
2. Assist peer assistants upon request during their off-duty time.
3. They shall participate in designated training.
4. Their activities shall be within the limits of their training.
5. Volunteer peer assistants will receive no compensation for their services.

(h) Functions:

The outside contractor, in consultation with the Peer Assistance Oversight Committee, shall develop procedures for the Peer Assistance Program.

(i) Civil Service Commission Approval:

The use of peer assistants shall be subject to the approval of the Civil Service Commission.

C. Pay Status During Voluntary Self-Referral Treatment (Voluntary Substance Abuse Program)
(1)    An employee who has a drug and/or alcohol abuse problem and has not been selected for drug and/or alcohol testing can voluntarily submit to the EAP for treatment.  The EAP will evaluate the employee and make a specific determination of appropriate treatment.  An employee who has completed two rehabilitation programs may not elect further rehabilitation under this program.

(2) In the case of the up to two voluntary, employee-initiated referrals, the MTA will pay the employee the difference between the employee’s SDI benefits, use of accrued paid leaves, and any catastrophic illness benefits, and the employee’s regular hourly base pay, for up to the eight hours per day for full-time employees and up to three hours per day for part-time employees, up to a maximum of 21 work days during a five-year period.  This provision shall not apply in the event the employee does not receive SDI benefit payments or during the follow-up period established by the SAP after a positive test.

D. Non-Paid Status During Treatment After Positive Test

The employee will be in a non-pay status during any absence for evaluation or treatment, while participating in a rehabilitation program.

E. Education and Training

The foundation of this Program is education and voluntary compliance.  It is recognized that alcohol and chemical dependency may make voluntary cessation of use difficult, and one of the Program’s principal aims is to make voluntary steps toward ending substance abuse easily available.

The outside contractor shall review and develop on-going educational and training information on the adverse consequences of substance abuse and the responsibility to avoid being under the influence of alcohol or chemicals at work. Certain training required by the DOT Regulations shall be the responsibility of the Substance Abuse Program.

F. Confidentiality

Participation in the EAP shall be confidential and shall be conducted in accordance with DOT and DHHS standards.

G. Funding

The Employee Assistance Program and the Peer Assistance Oversight Committee shall be funded by the City.

H. Special Provisions

Any proposed discipline resulting from the FTA Drug and alcohol testing program shall be in accordance with the MOU’s, as amended June 12, 1995.  The MTA and the City recognize the rights of employees and/or the Unions, who may consider themselves aggrieved by any discipline proposed, to raise such grievance through the authorized grievance procedure.  The MTA Director of Transportation will act in a fair and equitable manner, and shall prescribe that no personnel hired, contracted, selected or directly involved in the drug and alcohol testing program shall propose or render discipline.

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APPENDIX “C”

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SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION POLICY

1. MISSION STATEMENT

a. Employees are the most valuable resource to the City’s effective and efficient delivery of services to the public.  The parties have a commitment to foster and maintain a drug and alcohol free environment.  The parties also have a mutual interest in preventing accidents and injuries on jobsites and, by doing so, protecting the health and safety of employees, co-workers, and the public.  The City and Union agree that this Policy shall be administered in a non-discriminatory manner.

b. The City wants a safe and healthy workforce and sees drug and/or alcohol addictions as treatable diseases.  

c. The City is committed to identifying needed resources, both in and outside of the City, for employees who voluntarily seek assistance in getting well.  Those employees who voluntarily seek treatment prior to any testing shall not be subject to any repercussions or any potential adverse action for doing so.  However, seeking treatment will not excuse prior conduct for which an investigation or disciplinary proceedings have been initiated.

d. The City is committed to fostering and maintaining a safe work environment free from alcohol and prohibited drugs at all of its work sites and facilities.

2. POLICY

a. To ensure the safety of the City’s employees, co-workers and the public, no employee may sell, purchase, transfer, possess, furnish, manufacture, use or be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs at any City jobsite, while on City business or in City facilities.  Further, no employee shall use alcohol or illegal drugs while the employee is on paid status.

b. Any employee, regardless of how the employee’s position is funded, who has been convicted of any drug-related crime that occurred while on City business or in City facilities, must notify the employee’s department head or designee within five (5) days after such conviction.  Failure to report within the time limitation shall subject the employee to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

3. DEFINITIONS

a. “Accident” means an occurrence associated with: (a) the operation of a vehicle (including, but not limited to, green machines, and any City owned vehicle or vehicles used during the course of the employee’s work day), power tools, or vessel; or (b) on equipment that is utilized to change the elevation of the employee.

b. “Adulterated Specimen” means a specimen that contains a substance that is not expected to be present in human urine, or contains a substance expected to be present but is at a concentration so high that it is not consistent with human urine.

c. “Agreement” or “Policy” means “Substance Abuse Prevention Policy” between the City and County of San Francisco and the Union contained in this Appendix C.

d. “Alcohol” means the intoxicating agent in beverage alcohol, ethyl alcohol or other low molecular weights alcohol including methyl or isopropyl alcohol.  (The concentration of alcohol is expressed in terms of grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath as measured by an evidential breath testing device.)

e. “Cancelled Test” means a drug or alcohol test that has a problem identified that cannot be or has not been corrected.  A cancelled test is neither a positive nor a negative test.

f. “City” or “employer” means the City and County of San Francisco.

g. “Covered Employee” means an employee in a represented classification covered by this Agreement.

h. “CSC” means the Civil Service Commission of the City and County of San Francisco.

i. “Day” means working day, unless otherwise expressly provided.

j. “DHR” means the Department of Human Resources of the City and County of San Francisco.

k. “Dilute Specimen” means a specimen with creatinine and specific gravity values that are lower than expected for human urine.

l. “EAP” means the Employee Assistance Program offered through the City and County of San Francisco.

m. “Illegal Drugs” or “drugs” refer to those drugs listed in Appendix C, except in those circumstances where they are prescribed by a duly licensed healthcare provider.  Appendix C lists the illegal drugs and alcohol and the threshold levels for which a covered or prospective employee will be tested.  Threshold levels of categories of drugs and alcohol constituting positive test results will be determined using the applicable Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) (formerly the National Institute of Drug Abuse, or “NIDA”) threshold levels, or U.S. government required thresholds where required, in effect at the time of testing. Appendix C will be updated periodically to reflect the SAMHSA or the U.S. Government threshold changes, subject to mutual agreement of the parties.

n. “Invalid Drug Test” means the result of a drug test for a urine specimen that contains unidentified adulterant or an unidentified substance, has abnormal physical characteristics, or has an endogenous substance at an abnormal concentration that prevents the laboratory from completing or obtaining a valid drug test result.

o. “MRO” means Medical Review Officer

p. “Non-Negative Test” means a test result found to be adulterated, substituted, invalid, or positive for drug/drug metabolites.

q.  "Parties” means the City and County of San Francisco and the signatory unions to this Agreement.

r. “Prescription Drug” means a drug or medication currently prescribed by a duly licensed healthcare provider for immediate use by the person possessing it that is lawfully available for retail purchase only with a prescription.

s. “Refusing to Submit or Test” means a refusal to take a drug and/or alcohol test.

t. “Safety-Sensitive Function” means the operation of a vehicle (including, but not limited to, green machines, and any City owned vehicle or vehicles used during the course of the employee’s work day), power tools, vessel, device(s), mechanism(s), or equipment that is utilized to change the elevation of the employee.

u. “Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator” means a licensed physician, psychologist, social worker, certified employee assistance professional, or nationally certified addiction counselor with knowledge of and clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol-related disorders.

v. “Split Specimen” means a part of the urine specimen in drug testing that is sent to a first laboratory and retained unopened, and which is transported to a second laboratory in the event that the employee requests that it be tested following a verified positive test of the primary specimen or a verified adulterated or substituted test result.

w. “Substituted, Adulterated or Diluted Specimen” means a specimen submitted by a covered or prospective employee for which an approved testing laboratory reports the existence of an adulterant, interfering substance and/or masking agent or the sample is identified as a substituted specimen (as such terms are as defined in the DOT regulations, 49 C.F.R. Part 40), which shall be deemed a violation of this policy and shall be processed as if the test results were positive.

4. COVERED CLASSIFICATIONS/DEPARTMENTS

a. Covered Classifications.  All classifications listed in Article I.A of this Memorandum of Understanding shall be covered by this Policy.  The parties may add or delete classifications by mutual agreement.

5. SUBSTANCES TO BE TESTED

a.    The City shall test, at its own expense, for alcohol and/or the following controlled substances for Pre-Employment, Reasonable Cause/Suspicion and Post-Accident:

1. Amphetamines
2. Barbiturates
3. Benzodiazepines
4. Cocaine
5. Methadone
6. Opiates
7. PCP
8. THC (Marijuana)

b. The City also recognizes that covered employees may at times have to ingest prescribed drugs or medications.  If an employee takes any drug or medication known to have potential side effects that may interfere with job performance, the employee is required to immediately notify the designated Department representative of those side effects before performing the employee’s job functions.

c. Upon receipt of a signed release from the employee’s licensed healthcare provider, the department representative may consult with healthcare provider to confirm specific job duties that the employee can perform while on prescribed medication.  If the employee’s healthcare provider is not readily available or none is given, the department representative may consult with any City-licensed healthcare provider before making a final determination as to whether the employee may perform the employee’s job functions.  However, if an employee, at the time of notification, brings in a medical note from the healthcare provider who prescribed the medication clearing the employee to work, then the City shall not restrict that employee from performing the employee’s job functions.

d. If an employee is temporarily unable to perform safety sensitive functions because of any potential side effects caused by prescribed medication, the employee shall be reassigned to perform non-safety sensitive functions without loss of pay until either the employee is off the prescribed medication or is cleared by a licensed healthcare provider.  This reassignment shall last for a period of no more than thirty (30) working days.  If, after thirty (30) working days, the employee is still on said medication and/or not cleared by a licensed healthcare provider to perform safety sensitive functions, the City may extend this accommodation for a period not to exceed thirty (30) working days, provided that the healthcare provider certifies that the employee is anticipated to be able to resume safety sensitive functions after that thirty (30) day period.  Employees required to submit to testing shall immediately identify all prescribed medication(s) that they have taken.

e. The City reserves the right to test, at its own expense, for over-use, misuse or abuse of prescribed and over-the-counter drug or medication which had a direct job-related impact or played a role in an accident, pursuant to the testing procedures described below.

6. TESTING

A. Reasonable Cause/Suspicion

a. Reasonable cause to test an employee for illegal drugs or alcohol will exist when specific, reliable objective facts and circumstances would create a good faith belief in a prudent person that the employee has used a drug or alcohol.  Such circumstances include, but are not limited to, the employee’s behavior or appearance while on any City jobsite, while on City business or in City facilities, and recognized and accepted symptoms of intoxication or impairment caused by drugs or alcohol, that are not reasonably explained by other causes such as fatigue, lack of sleep, proper use of prescription drugs, or reaction to noxious fumes or smoke.

b. Any individual or employee can report an employee who may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  Upon receiving a report of possible alcohol or illegal drugs on the job, two (2) trained employer representatives will verify and document the basis for the suspicion and request testing.  The first employer representative shall verify and document the employee’s appearance and behavior based on the above-stated indicators and, if necessary, recommend testing to the second employer representative.  At work locations within the border of the City and County of San Francisco (including San Francisco International Airport), the second employer representative shall verify and document the appearance and behavior of the employee based on the above-stated indicators and has final authority to require the employee to be tested.  At work locations outside the border of the City and County of San Francisco, the second employer representative shall confer with the first employer representative to verify the employee’s behavior based on the above-stated indicators, and the second employer representative has the final authority to require the employee to be tested.

c. If the City requires an employee under reasonable cause or suspicion to be tested, then the employee may ask for representation.  Representation may include, but is not limited to, union representatives and shop stewards.  If the employee requests representation, the City may allow a reasonable amount (a maximum of one hour) of time for the employee to obtain representation.  Such request shall not delay the administration of the tests, however.

Moreover, if the City has reason to believe or suspect that a prescription medication may have interfered with or may have had a direct impact on an employee’s job performance, it may require that employee to be tested.

The department representative(s) shall be required to accurately document and file the incident and the employee shall be required to complete a consent form prior to any testing.  If an employee refuses to be tested, then the City shall treat the refusal as having tested positive and shall immediately take appropriate disciplinary action pursuant to the attached discipline matrix.  

The City shall bear the costs for any required testing for alcohol and/or drugs under this section.  Any counseling and rehabilitation services shall be on the employee’s time and at the employee’s cost, except that employees may use accrued paid time off to attend treatment and may utilize any resources covered by insurance.  Employees shall have the right to use any accrued but unused leave balances while enrolled in any counseling or rehabilitation program.  Any request by an employee to re-test a specimen shall be at the employee’s cost.

B. Post-Accident

a. The City may require a covered employee who was involved in an event meets any of the following criteria to submit to drug and/or alcohol testing:

1. Fatality;
2. Employee involved in an on duty vehicular accident resulting in death and/or injury requiring transport for medical treatment;
3. Disabling damage to vehicles;
4. Damage to machinery, moving parts, or other non-vehicular equipment or structures in excess of $500.00 and
5. When reasonable cause/suspicion exists.

b. Following an accident, all covered employees subject to testing shall remain readily available for testing.  An employee may be deemed to have refused to submit to substance abuse testing if the employee fails to remain readily available, including notifying a supervisor (or designee) of the accident location or if the employee leaves the scene of the accident prior to submitting for testing.  

c. Nothing in this section shall delay medical attention for the injured following an accident or prohibit an employee from leaving the scene of an accident for the period necessary to obtain assistance in responding to the accident or to obtain necessary emergency medical care.

7. TESTING PROCEDURES

A. Laboratory

a. The testing shall be done at a certified laboratory in California.  Upon advance notice, the parties retain the right to inspect the laboratory to determine conformity with the standards described in this policy.  The laboratory will only test for alcohol and drugs identified in this policy. The City shall bear the cost of all required testing.

b. Testing procedures, including substances to be tested, specimen collection, chain of custody and threshold and confirmation test levels shall comport with the Mandatory Guidelines For Federal Workplace Testing Programs, established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as amended and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act regulations, where applicable.  Drug tests shall be conducted by laboratories licensed and approved by SAMHSA, which comply with the American Occupational Medical Association (AOMA) ethical standards.  Tests shall be by urine screening and shall consist of two procedures, a screen test (EMIT or equivalent) and if that is positive, a confirmation test (GC/MS).  Alcohol tests shall be by breathalyzer.  

c. A covered or prospective employee appearing at a Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator-approved drug collection site must have a minimum of one piece of government-issued photo identification and may not leave the collection site for any reason – unless authorized by the collection agency – until the employee has fully completed all collection procedures.  Failure to follow all collection procedures will result in the employee classified as “refusing to test.”

d. Covered employees, who refuse to test, may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination, pursuant to the attached discipline matrix.

e. The specific required procedure is as follows:

1. Urine will be obtained directly in a tamper-resistant urine bottle.  Alternatively, the urine specimen may be collected at the employee’s option in a wide-mouthed clinic specimen container that must remain in full view of the employee until transferred to, sealed and initialed, in separate tamper-resistant urine bottles.
2. Immediately after the specimen is collected, it will be divided into two (2) urine bottles, which, in the presence of the employee, will be labeled and then initialed by the employee and witness.  If the sample must be collected at a site other than the drug and/or alcohol-testing laboratory, the specimens must then be placed in a transportation container.  The container shall be sealed in the employee’s presence and the employee must be asked to initial or sign the container.  The container will be sent to the designated testing laboratory on that day or the earliest business day by the fastest available method.
3. A chain of possession form must be completed by the hospital, laboratory and/or clinic personnel during the specimen collection and attached to and mailed with the specimens.

f. The initial test of all urine specimens will utilize immunoassay techniques.  All specimens identified as positive in the initial screen must be confirmed utilizing gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) technique that identifies at least three (3) ions.  In order to be considered “positive” for reporting by the laboratory to the City, both samples must be tested separately in separate batches and must also show positive results on the GC/MS confirmatory test.

g. All positive drug, positive alcohol or substitute, adulterated or diluted specimens as defined herein must be reported to a Medical Review Officer (MRO).  The MRO shall review the test results and any disclosure made by the covered or prospective employee and shall attempt to interview the individual to determine if there is any physiological or medical reason why the result should not be deemed positive.  If no extenuating reasons exist, the MRO shall designate the test positive.  The MRO shall make good faith efforts to contact the individual, but failing to make contact within two (2) working days, may deem the individual’s result a “lab positive.”  After the issuance of a “lab positive,” the covered employee may be placed on paid administrative leave pursuant to Administrative Code section 16.17, and will be barred from returning to work until the employee makes a contact with the MRO and the MRO sends the Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator a written confirmation of a negative result.  New prospective employees, who receive a “lab positive” during a pre-employment test, shall be ineligible for any future City employment for six (6) months from the date of the positive test result unless the rules of the Civil Service Commission deem otherwise.  

h. If the testing procedures confirm a positive result, as described above, the covered or prospective employee and the Substance Abuse Coordinator for the and departmental HR staff or designee City will be notified of the results in writing by the MRO, including the specific quantities.  In the event the City proposes disciplinary action, the notice of the proposed discipline shall contain copies of all laboratory reports, forensic opinions, laboratory worksheets, procedure sheets, acceptance criteria and laboratory procedures.

i. In the event of a positive drug or alcohol test, the testing laboratory will perform an automatic confirmation test on the original specimen at no cost to the employee.  In addition, the testing laboratory shall preserve a sufficient specimen to permit an independent re-testing at the employee’s request and expense.  The same, or any other, approved laboratory may conduct re-tests.  The laboratory shall endeavor to notify the MRO of positive drug, alcohol, or adulterant tests results within five (5) working days after receipt of the specimen.  The employee may request a re-test within seventy-two (72) hours from notice of a positive test result by the MRO.  The requesting party will pay costs of re-tests in advance.

j. If the final test is confirmed negative, then the Employee shall be made whole, including, if any, the cost of the actual laboratory re-testing, provided that proper documentation is submitted to the City in a timely fashion.

k. The Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator shall assure that all specimens confirmed positive will be retained and placed in properly secured long-term frozen storage for a minimum of one (1) year, and be made available for retest as part of any administrative proceedings.

l. All information from a covered or prospective employee’s drug and/or alcohol test is confidential for purposes other than determining whether this policy has been violated.  Disclosure of test results to any other person, agency, or organization is prohibited unless written authorization is obtained from the covered or prospective employee or as required by law.  The results of a positive drug test shall not be released until the results are confirmed.

B. On-Site

a. The parties agree that for post-accident purposes, the City may conduct “on-site” tests (alcohol breathalyzer testing and “Quicktest” urine testing) and only if any of those tests is “non-negative” will a confirmation test be performed.  This on-site test is to enable the covered employee and the City to know immediately whether that employee has been cleared for work.

b. In order to facilitate the on-site urine testing, the parties agree that an individual’s sample will be divided into three separate containers.  One of the containers will provide a sample for the on-site test that will be read within 5 to 10 minutes of collection. The other two containers will be sealed and sent to the lab, in the event a confirmation is necessary due to a “non-negative” outcome of an on-site test.  The laboratory will store the split sample in accordance with SAMHSA guidelines.  One of the two samples will be used for a confirmation test and the other will be made available to the employee for testing by a certified laboratory selected by the employee at the employee’s expense.

8. RESULTS

(a) Any test revealing (i) a blood/alcohol level equal to or greater than 0.08 percent (or the established California State standard for non-commercial motor vehicle operations), or when operating a moving vehicle or performing a safety sensitive function as defined in this policy; or (ii) any test revealing a blood/alcohol level equal to or greater than that 0.04 percent (or the established California State standard for commercial motor vehicle operations) when operating a commercial motor vehicle, shall be deemed positive.  

(b) Substance Abuse Prevention and Detection Threshold Levels

9. CONSEQUENCES OF POSITIVE TEST RESULTS

a. For reasonable cause/suspicion or post-accident, a covered employee shall be immediately removed from performing the safety-sensitive functions and shall be subject to disciplinary action if any of the following takes place:

The covered employee:

1. Is confirmed to have tested positive for alcohol or drugs; 
2. Refuses to be tested; or 
3. Has submitted a specimen for which an approved testing laboratory reports the existence of an “adulterant”, interfering substance, masking agent or the sample is identified as a substituted specimen (as defined herein).

b. If the Union disagrees with the proposed disciplinary action, it may utilize the grievance procedure as set forth in the parties’ Memorandum of Understanding provided, however, that such an appeal must be initiated at the Employee Relations Director step, unless the parties otherwise mutually agree.

c. All proposed disciplinary actions resulting from Consequences of Positive Drug/Alcohol Test(s) shall be administered pursuant to the disciplinary matrix contained herein.

10. RETURN TO DUTY

The Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator will evaluate a covered employee who has tested positive.  The Coordinator will evaluate what course of action, if any, and what assistance the employee needs, if any, and will communicate a return-to-work plan, if necessary, to the employee and department.

11. TRAINING

As soon as practicable but no later than thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of this policy, the City or its designated vendor shall provide training on this policy from first-line, working supervisors to the Deputy Director level.  In addition, all covered employees shall be advised of this policy and receive appropriate training.

12. ADOPTION PERIOD

This Policy shall go into effect six months following the final adoption of this agreement by the parties.

13. JOINT CITY/UNION COMMITTEE

The parties agree to work cooperatively to ensure the success of this policy.  As such, a Joint City/Union Committee shall be established with 2 members each from the City and the Union.  The Committee shall meet at a minimum on a quarterly basis and, in addition, on an as-needed basis to address any implementation and other matters of mutual interests concerning this policy.  The Committee may also discuss adding or deleting covered classification from this policy.  The Director of Human Resources shall make a final decision based on the recommendations from the Committee.

14. SAVINGS CLAUSE

Notwithstanding any existing substance abuse prevention programs, if any provision of an existing department policy, rule, regulation, or resolution is inconsistent with or in conflict with any provision of this policy, this policy shall take precedence. Should any part of this policy be determined contrary to law, such invalidation of that part or portion of this policy will not invalidate the remaining parts or portions.  In the event of such determination, the parties agree to immediately meet and negotiate new provision(s) in conformity with the requirements of the applicable law and the intent of the parties hereto.  Otherwise, this policy may be modified by mutual consent of the parties.  Such amendment(s) shall be reduced to writing.

Pending results of test, an employee may be removed from duty with pay or assigned non-safety sensitive functions without loss of pay. 

Any employee who is subsequently determined to be the subject of a false positive or in the event a department deems the mitigating record may have been altered shall be made whole for any lost wages and benefits and shall have their record expunged. The record of the positive result shall be placed in a sealed envelope and shall not be considered in subsequent disciplinary proceedings.

If the Union disagrees with the proposed disciplinary action, it may utilize the grievance procedure as set forth in the collective bargaining agreement, provided, however, that such an appeal must be initiated at the Employee Relations Director step, unless the parties otherwise mutually agree.

1. No Split Sample will be made available for re-test. 
2. Employee may use accrued but unused leave balances to attend rehabilitation program.
3. Employee may not return to work until SAPC certifies that the employee has completed recommended rehabilitation program and has a negative test prior to returning to full duty.
4. Proposed disciplinary action for a first positive test or Refusal to Test to be no more than 15 working days, except in cases resulting in death or serious bodily injury discipline shall include termination of employment. Proposed disciplinary action for Alteration of Specimen shall be termination of employment.
5. Proposed disciplinary action for Reasonable Cause and Suspicion for a first positive test to be no more than 15 working days except in cases resulting in death or serious bodily injury discipline shall include termination of employment. A second positive test within three years may result in more severe proposed disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
6. Proposed disciplinary action for Alteration of Specimen ("Substituted", "Adulterated", or "Diluted") and Refusal to Test for a first positive or occurrence to be no more than 15 working days, except in cases resulting in death or serious bodily infjury discipline shall include termination of employment. A second positive test or occurrence within three years may result in more severe proposed disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

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APPENDIX “D”

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UNION ACCESS TO NEW EMPLOYEES PROGRAM

I. Purpose

The purpose of this agreement is to memorialize the rights and obligations of the City and the Union in accordance with CA Government Code Sections 3555-3559, through the creation of a single, City-wide Union Access to New Employees Program applicable to all City Agencies and all City Employee Unions.  

II. Notice and Access

A. The City shall provide the Union written notice of, and access to, new employee orientations (hereinafter NEOs) as set forth below. It is the City’s policy that NEOs are mandatory for all newly-hired employees. It is the City’s intent that NEOs take place as promptly as possible after the first day of employment. Within thirty (30) calendar days of the start of employment, newly-hired employees will be scheduled to attend the next available NEO. NEOs shall be scheduled during an employee’s regularly scheduled, paid time.  In the event that a newly-hired employee’s regular schedule is outside of a scheduled NEO, the Department may make a one-time adjustment to the employee’s work schedule in order to accommodate this requirement.

In the event an employee does not attend the NEO that the employee was scheduled to attend, said employee will be automatically enrolled to attend the next available NEO.  If the employee does not attend the subsequently scheduled NEO, the Union NEO Coordinator may contact the Departmental NEO coordinator to arrange a meeting with the employee pursuant to Section F., below.  

B. Application: New employees include, but are not limited to, newly-hired employees whose positions are permanent, temporary, full-time, part-time, per diem, seasonal, provisional, or as-needed.

C. Notice

1. Single Point of Contact: The Union agrees to provide the City with a single point of contact (hereinafter, Union NEO Coordinator) and the City agrees to provide the Union with a single point of contact for each Department (hereinafter, Departmental NEO Coordinator), which will be updated by the City and the Union on an as-needed basis.
2. Notice of Schedule: For any NEO that takes place on a regular, recurring schedule, the sponsoring Department shall be responsible for providing annual notice to the Union. For NEOs that are not offered on a regular, recurring schedule, the sponsoring Department shall provide no less than ten (10) business days’ notice. Said notices shall be provided by email, to the Union NEO Coordinator. This requirement shall apply to all NEOs in which City personnel provide newly-hired employees with information regarding employment status, rights, benefits, duties, responsibilities, or any other employment-related matters.
3. Notice of Enrollment: Notice shall include a list of new employees represented by the Union scheduled to attend the NEO.  If practical, the City agrees to provide additional identifying information including, but not limited to, classification and department. Six months from enactment, in the event the City is unable to provide classification and department information in the Notice of Enrollment, the Union can reopen this Agreement for the sole purpose of meeting and conferring over the identifying information provided in this Section II.C.3 Notice of Enrollment.  Said meeting and conferring shall not be subject to the impasse procedures in Government Code Section 3557. The Department sponsoring the NEO shall provide the foregoing information no less than five (5) business days prior to the NEO taking place.  The Department will make best efforts to notify the Union NEO Coordinator of any last-minute changes.  Onboarding of individual employees for administrative purposes is excluded from this notice requirement.

D. Citywide and Departmental NEOs: New employees in those Departments identified in Attachment A shall attend a citywide NEO, sponsored by the Department of Human Resources. This citywide NEO shall take place at minimum on a monthly basis. Departments identified in Attachment B will conduct respective Departmental NEOs.  At the City’s discretion, Departments may be added to or removed from either Attachment A or Attachment B. For the citywide NEO, DHR will adhere to the Department notice requirements in Section C., above. The City will provide the Union with thirty (30) calendar days’ notice prior to moving a Department from Attachment A to B, or vice versa. Every City Department shall be listed on either Attachment A or Attachment B.

E. Access and Presentation: At all NEOs, the Union shall be afforded thirty (30) minutes to meet with represented new employees who are present, unless the Union’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides for more than thirty (30) minutes. The right of the Union to meet with newly-hired employees is limited to only those employees whose classifications fall within the Union’s bargaining unit. The City shall ensure privacy for the Union’s orientation, and it shall take place without City representatives present. This requirement can be met by providing either a private room or a portion of a room with sufficient distance from other activities in the room to limit disruption. The Department responsible for scheduling the NEO shall be responsible for including Union presentations on the agenda. The Union’s presentation shall occur prior to any meal break, and will not be conducted during a scheduled break time. One (1) of the Union’s representatives may be a Union member designated by the Union. Such member(s) shall be released to attend under the terms and conditions specified in the MOU. If not otherwise provided for in the MOU, the Union may request release of a Union-designated member to attend the NEO.  Release time shall not be unreasonably withheld. Said request shall be made to the Employee Relations Division no less than three (3) business days in advance of the scheduled NEO.  The Union agrees to limit its presentation to only those matters stated in Section H., below.

F. Alternate Procedures:  In the event the Union identifies one or more new employees who did not attend the Union’s presentation as described in Section E., above, the Union may contact the Departmental NEO coordinator to schedule a mutually-agreeable fifteen (15) minute time slot for the Union to meet privately with the new employee(s). If the number of such identified employees is five (5) or more at a particular location, the Union NEO Coordinator and Departmental NEO Coordinator will work together to schedule a mutually agreeable thirty (30) minute time slot for the private meeting. One (1) of the Union’s representatives may be a Union member designated by the Union, and such member shall be released to attend under the terms and conditions specified in the MOU. If not otherwise provided for in the MOU, the Union may request release of a Union-designated member as provided for in Section E., above. This alternate procedure shall also apply to any employee who has promoted or transferred into the bargaining unit.

1. The Union NEO Coordinator shall coordinate with the new employee(s) referenced in the preceding paragraph and the Departmental NEO Coordinator to schedule a fifteen (15) minute meeting during normally scheduled hours, which shall not be during employee’s break or meal period, for the Union representative(s) to meet privately with, and provide materials and information to, the new employee(s). City representatives shall not be present during said meeting. The Union agrees to limit its presentation to only those matters stated in Section H., below.
2. In the event the proposed time cannot be accommodated, the Union NEO Coordinator and the Departmental NEO Coordinator shall work together to find a mutually agreeable time within ten (10) business days of the Union’s request.
3. Department of Elections: Any new employee of the Department of Elections who is classified as Temporary Exempt (Category 16), whose duration of appointment is one (1) pay period or less, and works on an as-needed work schedule will receive written materials provided by the Union in lieu of attending a Citywide or Departmental NEO, a private meeting with the Union as provided for in Section F., above, or a Periodic Union Orientation as provided for in Section G., below.

G. Process for Periodic Union Orientations: By mutual agreement, the Union NEO Coordinator and the Departmental NEO Coordinator may schedule periodic thirty (30) minute Union orientations. Periodic Union orientations may be scheduled on an every-other-month, quarterly, or other basis.

The following Departments shall maintain existing Union orientation arrangements: Department of Emergency Management; Sheriff’s Department; and Police Department.

The 311 Customer Service Call Center shall maintain existing practice with respect to Union access to 311 Customer Service Agent Training.

H. Union Orientation Presentations: The Union agrees to limit its presentation to a general introduction to its organization, history, by-laws, and benefits of membership. The Union agrees not to engage in campaigning on behalf of an individual running for public elected office and ballot measures during the NEO, or other topics that would be considered beyond general discussion on the benefits of Union membership.

III. Data Provisions

Subject to the limitations contained in CA Government Code Section 3558, the City shall provide the Union with all required information on newly-hired employees to the extent it is made available to the City. In addition, within ten (10) business days of the conclusion of each NEO, the City agrees to provide the Union with a stand-alone report containing a list of employees, including classification code and division, who were scheduled to, but did not attend each NEO.

IV. Hold Harmless

The Union agrees to hold the City harmless for any disputes that arise between the Union and any new employee over application of this Agreement.

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ATTACHMENT A

• Adult Probation 
• Arts Commission 
• Asian Art Museum 
• Airport Commission 
• Board of Appeals 
• Board of Supervisors
• Office of Economic & Workforce Development
• California Academy of Sciences 
• Child Support Services
• Children, Youth and Their Families 
• City Attorney’s Office
• City Planning Department 
• Civil Service Commission
• Commission on the Status of Women 
• Department of Building Inspection 
• Department of Environment 
• Department of Elections 
• Department of Homelessness 
• Department of Human Resources
• Department of Police Accountability
• Department of Technology 
• District Attorney’s Office 
• Ethics Commission
• Fine Arts Museum
• Fire Department (Non-Sworn) 
• General Services Agency 
• Health Service System 
• Human Rights Commission
• Juvenile Probation Department 
• Library
• Mayor’s Office
• Office of the Assessor-Recorder 
• Office of the Controller
• Office of the Treasurer/Tax Collector 
• Port of San Francisco
• Public Defender’s Office 
• Rent Arbitration Board
• SF Children and Families Commission 
• SF Employees’ Retirement System 
• War Memorial & Performing Arts

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ATTACHMENT B

• Airport
• Department of Emergency Management
• Department of Public Health
• Human Services Agency
• Municipal Transportation Agency
• Police Department (Non-Sworn)   
• Public Utilities Commission        
• Recreation & Parks Department 
• San Francisco Public Works

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