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ARTICLE 13 - WORK WEEK, SCHEDULES AND OVERTIME

13.01 - Standard Work Week

The standard work week for full-time employees covered by this Agreement shall be forty (40) hours, exclusive of the time allotted for meal periods, consisting of five (5) consecutive work days followed by two (2) consecutive days off.

Work days and days off for full-time employees who work non-standard work weeks shall be scheduled according to current practice or so that each employee shall have at least two (2) days off in any nine (9) day period. In addition, the Employer agrees to schedule each full-time employee with at least seventeen (17) weekends off per year in the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the Ohio Veterans Home.  The parties may mutually agree to other scheduling arrangements than those specified in this Section.

The week shall commence with the shift that includes 12:01 A.M. Sunday of each calendar week and end at the start of the shift that includes 12:00 midnight the following Saturday.

The Employer and the Union may discuss alternate work schedule arrangements as reflected in Section 13.13.

Part-time employees shall be surveyed to determine the number of hours they would like to work. The Employer shall attempt to schedule each part-time employee for his/her preferred number of hours in seniority order. Part-time employees shall receive posted schedules showing the days and number of hours they shall work.

13.02 - Work Schedules

It is understood that the Employer reserves the right to limit the number of persons to be scheduled off work at any one time, including persons on leave (excluding disability leave).

For purposes of this Agreement, "work schedules" are defined as an employee's assigned work shift (i.e., hours of the day) and days of the week and work area. Work areas, for the Departments of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Youth Services and the Ohio Veterans Home are governed by the August 31, 1987 Memorandum of Understanding between the Employer and the Union as set forth in Appendix N. Pick-A-Post Agreements shall remain in effect for the duration of this Agreement, unless otherwise mutually agreed and/or as modified in the agency specific agreements. It is agreed that work area schedules established under Pick-A-Post Agreements do not preclude the incidental, short-term assignment of an employee out of the work area to meet unforeseen circumstances, provided such assignments are not inconsistent with the provisions of Section 13.05.

Work schedules for employees who work in five (5) day operations need not be posted. However, where the work hours of such employees are determined by schedules established by parties other than the Employer, the Employer shall notify employees of any changes in their work hours as soon as it is aware of such.

Work schedules for employees who work in seven (7) day operations shall be posted at least fourteen (14) calendar days in advance of the effective date. The work schedule shall be for a period of at least twenty-eight (28) days and shall not be changed without a fourteen (14) day notice, except in accordance with reassignment as provided for in Section 13.05.

The parties recognize that there are certain jobs which require non-standard work schedules. Such work schedules shall be for operational needs. The Employer shall notify the Union prior to the creation of any new non-standard work schedules. The Union may request a meeting with the Employer to discuss the impact of such schedules. Non-standard work schedule assignments shall not be arbitrary or capricious.

13.03 - Meal Periods

Employees (including but not limited to Correction Officers, Juvenile Correctional Officers, and MCE Investigators and Load Limit Inspectors in the Department of Public Safety) who currently work eight (8) hours straight without a meal period shall continue to do so, except as otherwise mutually agreed.  Unless mutually agreed otherwise, No no other employee shall be required to take less than thirty (30) minutes or more than one (1) hour for a meal period.  The Employer will usually schedule M meal periods will usually be scheduled near the midpoint of a shift. 

Employees shall not normally be required to work during their meal period. Those employees who by the nature of their work are required by their supervisor to remain in a duty status during their meal period may, with the approval of their supervisor, either shorten their workday by the length of the meal period or else have their meal period counted as time worked and be paid at the appropriate straight time or overtime rate, whichever is applicable. A supervisor will honor an employee's choice where reasonably possible.

13.04 - Rest Periods

Those agencies that presently have rest periods shall maintain the current practices in effect as of the effective date of this Agreement.

13.05 - Reassignments Within Institutions

A.     Temporary reassignments, within institutions, may be required:

1.      To meet abnormal work loads;

2.      In the temporary absence of an employee where delay of the performance of duties would be unreasonable;

3.      Pending recruitment.

Temporary reassignments under this Section shall not normally exceed eighteen (18) work days but under no circumstances exceed sixty (60) work days where it is in the best interest of the youth, client, resident, patient or inmate population not withstanding provisions of Section 24.05 or pending recruitment (unless mutually agreed to by the Union and the Agency). Reassignment shall be on a seniority basis within the work area within the classification needed to provide the temporary coverage. Should more than one employee desire the available temporary reassignment, such reassignment shall be awarded on the basis of seniority, with the most senior employee being given first choice. Should no employee desire the reassignment, the least senior employee shall be reassigned first.

B. An emergency reassignment may be required. An emergency is defined as an infrequent, unexpected, rare occurrence; not an everyday event. In no event shall an emergency reassignment of any employee exceed eight (8) work days. Emergency reassignments shall be on a seniority basis within the classification needed within the work area most able to provide the emergency coverage. Should no employee desire the reassignment, the least senior qualified employee shall be reassigned first.

C.     If a specific certificate, license, training and/or immunization is required for the reassignment, the Employer shall canvass those employees within the classification who meet these criteria in the order specified above.

D.     When the Employer has advance knowledge of planned absences that will result in the reassignment of employees, then it will notify the affected employees of the reassignment as soon as possible.

E.      The creation of additional float or relief positions is an appropriate topic for Labor/Management Committee meetings.

13.06 - Report-In Locations

All employees covered under the terms of this Agreement shall be at their report-in locations ready to commence work at their starting time. For all employees, extenuating and mitigating circumstances surrounding tardiness shall be taken into consideration by the Employer in dispensing discipline.

Employees who must report to work at some site other than their normal report-in location, which is farther from home than their normal report-in location, shall have any additional travel time counted as hours worked.

Employees who work from their homes, shall have their homes as a report-in location. For all other employees, the report-in location shall be the facility to which they are assigned. 

13.07 - Overtime

Employees shall be canvassed quarterly as to whether they would like to be offered overtime opportunities. Employees who wish to be called back for overtime outside of their regular hours shall have a residence telephone and shall provide their phone number to their supervisor.

Insofar as practicable, overtime shall be equitably distributed on a rotating basis by seniority among those who normally perform the work. The parties shall negotiate Sspecific arrangements for implementation of these overtime provisions shall be worked out at the local or Agency level within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this agreement.  Such arrangements shall include parameters regarding the distribution of mandatory overtime.    Absent mutual agreement to the contrary, overtime rosters will be purged at least every twelve (12) months. Such arrangements shall recognize that in the event the Employer has determined the need for overtime, and if a sufficient number of employees is not secured through the above provisions, the Employer shall have the right to require the least senior employee(s) who normally perform(s) the work and who are listed on the lower one-half (1/2) of the seniority roster to perform said overtime.  Such mandatory overtime shall be rotated among those employees who are listed on the lower one-half (1/2) of the seniority roster.  In the event enough employees are not available, the Employer may require the least senior employee(s) available to work the overtime.  Good faith attempts will be made to avoid the mandation of the same individual(s) consecutively. Assignment of mandated overtime hours is an appropriate topic for each Agency’s Health and Safety Committee. The overtime policy shall not apply to overtime work which is specific to a particular employee's claim load or specialized work assignment or when the incumbent is required to finish a work assignment. 

The Agency agrees to post and maintain overtime rosters which shall be provided to the steward, within a reasonable time, if so requested. The rosters shall be updated every pay period in which any affected employee earned overtime.

Employees who accept overtime following their regular shift shall be granted a ten (10) minute rest period between the shift and the overtime or as soon as operationally possible. In addition, the Employer will make every reasonable effort to furnish a meal to those employees who work four (4) or more hours of mandatory or emergency overtime and cannot be released from their jobs to obtain a meal.

An employee who is offered but refuses an overtime assignment shall be credited on the roster with the amount of overtime refused. An employee who agrees to work overtime and then fails to report for said overtime shall be credited with double the amount of overtime accepted unless extenuating circumstances arose which prevented him/her from reporting. In such cases, the employee will be credited as if he/she had refused the overtime.

An employee who is transferred or promoted to an area with a different overtime roster shall be credited with his/her aggregate overtime hours.

Except as otherwise established by the Employer an employee’s posted regular schedule shall not be established in such a manner to require the Employer to pay overtime. An employee's posted regular schedule shall not be changed solely to avoid the payment of overtime within a single workweek or pay period.

Emergency Overtime

In the event of an emergency as defined in Section 13.15 notwithstanding the terms of this Article, the Agency Head or designee may assign someone to temporarily meet the emergency requirements, regardless of the overtime distribution.

13.08 - Call-Back Pay

Employees who are called to report to work and do report outside their regularly-scheduled shift will be paid a minimum of four (4) hours at the straight time regular rate of pay or actual hours worked (i.e. if actual hours worked exceeds 2.67 hours) at the overtime rate, whichever is greater providing such time does not abut the employee's regular shift. Call-back pay at straight time is excluded from the overtime calculation. Work which is to be performed at the employee’s residence shall not be subject to call-back pay, but shall be paid at the applicable regular or overtime rate for the time worked. 

An employee called back to take care of an emergency shall not be required to work for the entire four (4) hour period by being assigned non-emergency work.

13.09 - Report Pay

Employees who report to work as scheduled and are then informed that they are not needed will receive their full day's pay at regular rate.

13.10 - Payment for Overtime

All employees, except those in the classifications of Utility Attorney, Utility Attorney Examiner 1 and Utility Attorney Examiner 2, BWC Attorney 1, BWC Attorney 2, [if included in the unit] shall be compensated for overtime work as follows:

1.      Hours in an active pay status more than forty (40) hours in any calendar week shall be compensated at the rate of one and one-half (1 1/2) times the employee’s total rate of pay for each hour of such time over forty (40) hours;

2.      For purposes of this Article, active pay status is defined as the conditions under which an employee is eligible to receive pay and includes, but is not limited to, vacation leave, and personal leave. Sick leave shall not be considered as active pay status for purposes of this Article.

Compensatory Time

The employee may elect to accrue compensatory time off in lieu of cash overtime payment for hours in an active pay status more than forty (40) hours worked in any calendar week.  Compensatory time off will be earned on a time and one-half (1 1/2) basis.  The maximum accrual of compensatory time shall be two hundred forty (240) hours. When the maximum hours of compensatory time accrual is rendered attained, payment for overtime work shall be made. Compensatory time must be used within two hundred seventy (270) days from when it was earned.  Compensatory time not used within two hundred seventy (270) days shall be paid to the employee at the employee's current regular rate of pay. Any employee who has accrued compensatory time off and requests use of this compensatory time shall be permitted to use such time off within a reasonable period after making the request or, if such use is denied, the compensatory time requested shall be paid to the employee at his/her option to a maximum of eighty (80) hours in any pay period.

Upon termination of employment, an employee shall be paid for unused compensatory time at a rate which is the higher of:

1.      The final regular rate received by the employee; or

2.      The average regular rate received by the employee during the last three years of employment.

13.11 - Wash-Up Time

Employees whose jobs require it will be permitted a reasonable paid wash-up period before the end of the shift. The Labor-Management Committees may recommend to the Agency those positions which qualify for wash-up time.

13.12 - Stand-By Pay

An employee is entitled to stand-by pay if he/she is required by the Agency in writing to be on stand-by, that is, to be available for possible call to work. If it is not practical to notify an employee in writing regarding stand-by status, the Employer may utilize oral or telephone means. Stand-by status may be canceled by telephone, providing written notice of such cancellation is provided to the employee within forty-eight (48) hours. An employee entitled to stand-by pay shall receive twenty-five percent (25%) of his/her base rate of pay for each hour he/she is in stand-by status. Stand-by time will be excluded from overtime calculation.  Stand-By status shall be distinguished from Call-Back status by the following:  1)  Direct notice of the requirement, as in the preceding; 2)  Employee’s off-duty activities are specifically restricted by the Employer; 3)  Employee is given a specific period of time during which he/she must respond to any summons from the Employer with the consequence of discipline for failure to respond/report.  Once summoned to report, Stand-By pay will continue until the employee reports and actual work is performed, at which time the pay provisions of the Call-Back Section (Section 13.08) will apply and Stand-By pay will cease.  An employee required to carry a pager while “on-call” is not in Stand-By status unless specifically notified that he/she is to be on “Stand-By” status.

13.13 - Flextime/Four Day Work Week

Where practical and feasible, hours and schedules for bargaining unit employees may include:

1.      Variable starting and ending times;

2.      Compressed work week, such as four 10-hour days;

3.      Other flexible hour concepts.

4.      Schedule adjustments for pre-scheduled medical appointments shall be made only by mutual agreement.  It is understood  that the Employer's refusal is not grievable.

5.      The trading of shifts for pre-scheduled medical appointments shall be by mutual agreement. The refusal of the Employer is not grievable.

13.14 - Shift Rotation, Swing Shifts and Split Shifts

There shall be no rotating shifts in Rehabilitation and Correction. In other agencies with rotating shifts, the Agency Labor-Management Committee shall review the practice and recommend change if desired and operationally feasible.

Where swing shifts currently exist and are necessary to provide coverage for an employee's day off in continuous operations, they shall continue.

There shall be no split shifts for full-time employees.

13.15 - Emergency Leave

Employees directed not to report to work or sent home due to weather conditions or another emergency shall be granted leave with pay at regular rate for their scheduled work hours during the duration of the emergency. Employees required to report to work or required to stay at work during such emergency shall receive pay at time and one-half (1 1/2) for hours worked during the emergency. Any overtime worked during an emergency shall be paid at double time.

An emergency shall be considered to exist when declared by the Employer, for the county, area or facility where an employee lives or works.

For the purpose of this Section, an emergency shall not be considered to be an occurrence which is normal or reasonably foreseeable to the place of employment and/or position description of the employee.

Essential employees shall be required to work during emergencies. Essential employees who do not report as required during an emergency must show cause that they were prevented from reporting because of the emergency.

13.16  - Time Clocks

The Employer shall not add time clocks, unless the Union has been served notice and the agency has engaged in discussions with the Union. During the term of this Agreement, upon request of either party, the parties agree to establish a joint labor-management committee for the purpose of examining the impact of an automated state payroll system upon this Agreement and developing recommendations for the implementation of such a system.