Meeting Summary: June 10, 2014
Topics Covered:
- FMLA Year
- Elimination of Unused Job Classifications Represented by Unions
FMLA Year
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a year for qualifying family or personal medical circumstances. This calculation varies slightly depending on how an employer defines its FMLA year:
- Calendar FMLA Year: Due to technological limitations, UW currently follows a calendar FMLA year. This means that employees are eligible for up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave between January 1 and December 31 each year.
- Rolling FMLA Year: HR/Payroll modernization will allow UW to implement a rolling 12-month FMLA period measured backward from the date an employee uses any FMLA leave. With this method the year is not fixed; an employee simply cannot exceed 12 weeks of FMLA leave in a given 12 month period.
Transition Period – Use of the rolling FMLA year will begin with the implementation of Workday, in January of 2016. Meanwhile, UW plans to establish an appropriate transition period in 2015 in which employees may choose either the calendar FMLA year or the rolling FMLA year, based on what best suits them.
Eliminating Unused Job Classifications
Background – During civil service reform, the UW and unions agreed to retain historical lists of classifications regardless of whether some of the classifications listed were still in use. This has resulted in several union-represented job classifications that are currently active, and yet are no longer used. Examples include statistical typist and hospital shift engineer.
The Plan – Carrying these unused classifications over into Workday will add unnecessary complexity, work, and maintenance requirements to the HR/P Modernization process. The HR/P Modernization project plans to only use the UW’s active job classifications in its design process, thereby eliminating those which are no longer used.
The HR/P Modernization, Compensation, and Labor Relations offices will coordinate to analyze potentially impacted job classifications, and then will inform the appropriate unions.
Next Steps
Questions that have arisen throughout these discussions can be found in the HR/P Labor Relations Frequently Asked Questions, and full details on the project are located on the HR/Payroll Modernizationwebsite. The next HR/P Labor Discussion is scheduled for June 24. Union participation and input in these meetings is strongly encouraged, and the University is providing paid release time for designated employees to attend.