CAPS Bargaining Team Releases Survey. The CAPS Bargaining Team (CAPS Team) released a new bargaining survey for members last Wednesday afternoon. There are two versions – a survey designated for members, and a survey designated for non-members – so that the CAPS Team can hear from as many State Scientists as possible. Please encourage your non-member colleagues to, at a minimum, take the survey, and then join YOU and thousands of other State Scientists in opting-in to CAPS membership. The CAPS Team will begin reviewing survey data at the end of March to prepare for meetings with the State at the bargaining table. Please be sure to get your survey in!
Thank you for volunteering in the CAPS Science Fair Program – make sure to claim your Mentoring Leave! CAPS sponsors a special award at 15 regional STEM Fairs (that’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics!) that are held in California. The CAPS Special Award is called the Science Achievement Award. Students chosen for the award receive a $100 prize, and the members who volunteer to attend the fairs and select the winners on behalf of CAPS can earn mentoring leave pursuant to CAPS MOU, Section 3.17. Up to 40 hours of Mentoring Leave can be earned per calendar year. Members use their own leave credits, and then are provided an equal number of hours as Mentoring Leave. Thank you to the members who volunteered to judge the in-person and virtual fairs so far this year! Be sure to log your hours for future leave credits!
In Review.
March 7, 2023. CalHR Policy Update – Section 2124. Employee Leave Management. CalHR recently released an update to their Policy Manual Section 2124. The update does not affect Unit 10 members. The Vacation/Annual Leave cap for other units was updated, but CAPS’ leave cap still remains expanded. The Policy states for Unit 10, in relevant part, “In compliance with the Side Letter Agreement, dated June 25, 2020, the rollover/cap accumulation limit shall be increased by 192 hours, and will remain in effect through June 30, 2025.” This allows Unit 10 members to carry over 832 hours of accrued Vacation/Annual leave until July 1, 2025. Some departments have been requesting Unit 10 scientists to reduce their leaves back to 640, which is not the current leave cap. You can read more and reference the expanded benefit here: https://hrmanual.calhr.ca.gov/Home/ManualItem/1/2124
Read the rest of the entries, or see what else you may have missed on the CAPS Website here: http://capsscientists.org/members/caps-member-updates/ The password is ChooseCAPS! – it is case-sensitive.