Category
Description: Collaborative
solutions that improve the work life of NYS CSEA-represented
employees (employee recognition, parking, pass days,
resolution of grievances, delegating responsibility, and
authority). [Top]
Category: Quality of Work Life
General-Use Terminals
PROBLEM:
Employees in Region 4 of the NYS Department of Transportation work in approximately 19 facilities spread over a seven-county area in western New York. Many employees spend most of their time in the field, maintaining over 4,626 lane miles of roads. For years, these conditions made communications a real problem. Important messages, such as job postings and promotional exam announcements, never reached some employees. Managers at the various sites did their best to distribute memos and maintain bulletin boards, but they had a hard time keeping up with the flood of paperwork that came across their desks. They needed a more efficient way to give employees access to the important information.
PROCESS:
The Labor-Management Committee (LMC) in Region 4 brainstormed ways to improve communications. Committee members considered the many different kinds of messages employees needed to receive. They gave special attention to time-sensitive announcements, the kind of messages that were often falling through the cracks. After careful study and discussion, they came up with a recommendation:
Each facility would set up a general-use computer terminal that would give employees instant access to the information they need. All employees would have an account on the terminal that they could access at any time. Information available on the terminal would be updated constantly, eliminating delays involved in distributing paper messages throughout the region.
The committee worked with Tracey Long, the Regional Support Manager, and Gordon Wilusz, the Regional Information Technology Manager. Gordon was able to locate the appropriate number of terminals to make this project work.
Chuck Parsons, the labor co-chair of the LMC, says, “The LMC process worked because this regional labor-management team is committed to the process of resolving issues at the lowest level.” Chuck’s comment reflects one of the basic principles behind the LMC process: the people who are closest to a problem are often in the best position to solve it.
SOLUTION:
General-use terminals were installed throughout Region 4. At least one terminal was installed at each residency (main office) and sub-residency (local office). There are now more than 19 terminals in use throughout the region.
The computer interface was designed to make the system easy to use, even for employees who have little experience with computers. All employees received training on the system.
The network of general-use terminals has become a vital communications link for management and staff. Employees use the terminals to learn about upcoming civil service exams, job postings, training opportunities, and payroll policies. They can download material safety data sheets, forms, and publications. The LMC and the regional Safety Committee post their meeting minutes on the network so that all employees can read them. The terminals also give employees access to the main Department of Transportation web site.
Jeff Dunlap, the management co-chair of the LMC, says, “Information is now distributed as real time information rather than old information.”
RESULTS:
General-use terminals have significantly improved communications at DOT. They have replaced the hit-or-miss distribution of paper announcements with a more reliable, efficient method of providing employees the information they need. For many employees in the field, the terminals have become their primary way to keep up with important news about work life issues.
Managers at DOT have also benefited from this innovation. They have to spend less time preparing and distributing paper communications. They can send important messages quickly and easily to employees spread out over a broad area.
Now the LMC in Region 4 is working on a way to make general-use terminals even more effective. The committee is developing a system to explain the seniority rules that apply to OSU employees in the Department. These rules are fairly complex. They affect such things as:
- Vacation scheduling
- Distribution of overtime
- Work location, shift and pass day assignments
- Non-competitive positions
- Order of layoffs
The system being developed by the LMC will explain how seniority affects each of these important issues. All employees will be included in a database that will allow them to see where they stand in terms of seniority on each issue.
Jeff Dunlap and Chuck Parsons are committed to the LMC process. Jeff says, “Our committee has been functioning for more than ten years now. We have experienced turn-over through promotions, retirements and even DOT organizational transformation. It has been the training and support we have received from the NYS-CSEA Partnership that has led to our ongoing success and longevity.”
Chuck agrees. Looking to the future, he says, “We are at a stage in our committee where we are now planning for the future rather than dealing with day to day issues. We review our status annually and decide on a path for the upcoming year.”
For More Information:
E-mail: LMCoach@nyscseapartnership.org
Category: Quality of Work Life
Triage
at Finger Lakes Developmental Disabilities
Services Office (DDSO)
Problem:
Speed, economy, justice. Those have been claimed as the traditional benefits
of union-management arbitration. Over the years, however, arbitration
has become increasingly formal and complex, eroding the promise of rapid
dispute resolution. Allegations of misconduct may linger for many months
before an arbitrator rules, leaving employees in limbo and frustrating
managers.
That was the situation faced by the Finger Lakes Developmental Disabilities Services Office (DDSO), an agency whose nearly 3,000 employees operate
group homes in a 10-county area, stretching from Lake Ontario
to the Pennsylvania state line. A dispute about a Notice of Discipline
(NOD) took so long to resolve through arbitration that dozens of cases
lingered in the backlog bin for as much as a year and half. “Employees
would get in trouble again before the hearing, leaving
us with two cases instead of one,” recalls Kathy Button, president
of CSEA Local 436.
Management, too, was dissatisfied. By the time
the hearing was held, according to Tom Wallace, the agency’s human resources director,
witnesses often forgot crucial details. “Memory gets foggy after
a while,” he observed, leaving the parties dependent on the documentary
evidence.
Employees sometimes had to be kept on administrative
leave while awaiting the outcome, creating back pay liability.
In one instance, he said, “We
won on a six-month suspension, but the case took two years.
So we owed the employee 1 1/2 years of pay.”
Process:
Responding to the clogged disciplinary system,
the labor-management partners crafted an innovative dispute processing
program, known as Expedited Resolution, which relies on a combination
of mediation and arbitration to produce faster and in many ways better
results. The hybrid has been nicknamed “triage,” a
term borrowed from the emergency medicine technique for
quickly sorting out the most serious injury cases. Disciplinary triage
is about infractions rather than injuries, but the goal is similar:
bringing attention swiftly to urgent matters.
Solution:
Triage is divided into two phases, according to
the agreement signed by the partners and put into effect in 2001. In
the first, a neutral serves “as
a mediator to facilitate discussion” and help bring about a voluntary
settlement. The neutral typically reviews written witness
statements and other records.
“The state presents, the union presents, and the grievant sometimes
speaks,” said Ms. Button. “The mediator then meets with each
side separately. The mediator tells us of any weaknesses in our position.
He says, 'Here is how I probably would rule.' He lays his cards on the
table. It’s very open. Employees may not like the outcome, but they
walk away knowing that he was honest with them.”
Mr. Wallace, too, considers the neutral's honesty
a key factor: "He
tells us the likely outcome—who has a strong case and who doesn't.
Nobody is going to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Most of
the time we get a settlement.”
If no agreement is reached and the facts are clear
to the neutral, he may issue a decision at once. Should there be a need
to hear witnesses, he moves to the second phase by convening an “expedited” hearing.
Unlike a conventional arbitration hearing, an expedited
session is limited to a single day. The parties are not represented
by lawyers, and the decision must be rendered within 14 days. Only about
20 cases have resulted in decisions, as opposed to voluntary settlements.
Results:
Compared with the old days, the pace is torrid.
Two days are scheduled each month for Phase One, and the parties dispose
of cases at the rate of four per day. The waiting time from the issuance
of the NOD has been reduced to three or four months—perhaps a third of the time it once
took—and about 100 cases a year can be processed efficiently.
Moreover, the parties collaborate so well that
they sift cases at an early stage. In one batch of 19 cases, Ms. Button
reported, the employer made offers on 12, leading to settlements; only
seven reached triage. “It’s
dealt with right away, and everyone moves on,” observed Ms. Button.
Fewer than half a dozen cases have gone all the way to
Phase Two.
The parties opted to retain a permanent
neutral rather than a revolving panel. Tom Rinaldo, an
arbitrator based in the Buffalo vicinity, has heard all
cases since the program’s inception. "Triage is working because
everyone involved wants it to work," said Mr. Rinaldo. "I
would recommend it to any agency with a large volume
of cases."
A single arbitrator guarantees consistency, according
to the program's designers. “If the employee ends up with a history [of discipline]," Mr.
Wallace explains, "he has a history with the arbitrator, who may
say, ‘I’ve seen you here before’.” Moreover, a
single incident may result in several employees receiving
NODs. Under triage, the same neutral would resolve all the cases, ensuring
a coherent disciplinary outcome.
A close working relationship between the parties
has helped the program succeed. “Employees may not always understand what it takes to maintain
the relationship,” said Ms. Button. “Some would rather be
blaming management than sitting and negotiating with them.” But
she notes: “We don’t force employees to settle. It’s
their choice. Nine out of 10 are satisfied with the outcome. Half go out
in tears—happy they did not lose their job.”
Mr. Wallace believes that both partners have "an
investment in keeping the process going. Some days we really have to
hammer out the settlements, but we know that otherwise we would be in
arbitration with all these cases.”
Ms. Button estimates that 80 percent of NODs calling
for termination, for such offenses as falsifying records or harassment,
are reduced during triage to a suspension or similar penalty. Employees
are returned to work by means of a process known as “reintegration,” which
begins with a session attended by union officials and managers. The
meeting ensures that the grievant understands the job expectations and
will not repeat misconduct.
The employee may receive retraining or be referred
to the Employee Assistance Program. Ms. Button and Linda
Unger, deputy director of the agency, monitor quarterly
evaluations to verify that performance expectations are
being met. “I
am very positive about the triage process, married to the
reintegration process, as a way to bring people back,” said Ms.
Unger.
The success of triage has been recognized by the
Governor's Office of Employee Relations, which commended
the program as "an excellent
example of labor-management cooperation." GOER declared that Expedited
Resolution "demonstrates innovative and outstanding accomplishments
by select members of the state's workforce." The program designers
were honored at an award ceremony October 26, 2005 at the
Executive Mansion in Albany.
For More Information:
E-mail: LMCoach@nyscseapartnership.org
[Top]
Category: Quality of Work Life
DOT Fleet
Inspection Competition
Situation/Problem:
There is a old adage that nothing stimulates like competition.
The truth of that saying has been reaffirmed in Department
of Transportation Region 4, where the labor-management
committee has harnessed the power of competition to enhance
the safety of mammoth snow and ice removal vehicles.
The problem was how to get employees to care about doing vehicle safety inspections.
There was no incentive to do a thorough check. If the operator did not do it,
there was no downside or penalty. There was however, a mutual desire to cut
down on accidents.
Process:
Labor-Management Committee Co-Chairs
Kevin Bush, the regional highway maintenance engineer and
Charles Parsons, a mechanic and president of CSEA Local
506 worked with the regional labor-management committee
to write a (Quality of Work Life Grant) proposal to fund
recognition awards for the winners of a region-wide safety
inspection competition among six Dept. of Transportation
residencies.
Solution:
The solution was to appoint a team of
inspectors, who make surprise visits to the approximately
20 locations where the equipment is housed. The team, composed
of an equipment management supervisor and an equipment
operator instructor, verifies the pre-checks (check
list) and scores
them for accuracy on a scale of zero to 100.
Results:
“There has been a dramatic improvement
in the safety of our fleet,” says Kevin Bush, the
regional highway maintenance engineer and management co-chair
of the labor-management committee, describing an innovative
equipment inspection program jointly launched by the partners
in the winter of 1998-99.
The inspections apply to the region’s
approximately 100 plow-equipped dump trucks, which clear
the highways in a seven-county area centered on Rochester
during the heavy storms that settle in from November through
April. Each vehicle, which may have as many as 10 wheels,
weighs about 52,000 pounds when fully loaded with salt.
Operators are expected to do a pre-check
before taking a vehicle onto the roads. They
make sure that the lights are working, that none of the
equipment is dangling, and that there are no loose objects
in the cab. They also document the presence of a first
aid kit and a fire extinguisher.
When spring arrives, the scores are tallied,
and the operators with the best inspection performance
are declared the winners. They are rewarded with prizes,
such as watches or gym bags, and become the guests of honor
at an annual recognition luncheon.
“It was long overdue,” observed
Parsons. “Everyone
thrives on recognition. It’s that competitive spirit
that we all have.” Bush agreed that “this program
instills pride. Now the operator asks: have I done everything
I am supposed to do on a daily basis?”
Proof of the effectiveness of the program
is in the steady improvement in the scores since the inspection
program began. The competitors are the six “residencies” or
subdivisions of the region; each is visited twice by the
inspectors during the snow season. In the first year, the
residencies scored in the mid-80s. By the third year, the
scores were higher than 96, and the current title holders
chalked up a near perfect mark of 98.7.
The intensity of the competition is demonstrated
by the narrow margins that separate the winning residency
from the second and third place holders: mere tenths of
a point. Only one residency at a time may be the winner,
but the keenness of the competitors and the resulting increase
in the attention paid to vehicle fitness means that the
program has achieved its goal.
Eileen Hoffman, an expert on partnership
programs at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Agency
in Washington, DC, commented that a fleet inspection program “can
be counted as a classic example of joint problem solving
by a creative labor-management committee. It’s a
win-win outcome.”
For More Information:
E-mail: LMCoach@nyscseapartnership.org
[Top]
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