Hard Work Deserves Commensurate Pay. Rank-and-File State Scientists Fall into one of two Work Week Groups: Work Week Group 2 (WWG 2) or Work Week Group E (WWG E). If an employee is exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in state service, their classification falls into Work Week Group E (WWG E) – these employees do not typically qualify for overtime. WWG E employees would be referred to as “salaried” in the private sector. Conversely, if an employee is not exempt under the FLSA, in state service, they fall into Work Week Group 2 (WWG 2), also known as “hourly” employees. Hourly employees qualify for overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week.
State Scientists in Work Week Group E (WWG E) may qualify for one of two Pay Differentials when responding to a Governor-Declared State of Emergency. Pay Differential (PD) 62 – Arduous Pay may be available to employees who are in WWGE, for up to four months in any fiscal year. PD 62 provides qualifying employees a differential equal to $300 per workweek, up to $1,200 total per pay period. To qualify for Pay Differential 62, all of the following conditions must be met: the work must have a nonnegotiable deadline or extreme urgency; the work exceeds normal hours and normal productivity; the work is unavoidable; the work involves an extremely heavy workload; no other additional compensation is provided.
Alternatively, Pay Differential (PD) 421 may be available to employees in WWG E who are formally assigned to work on emergency response or recovery efforts as a result of a Governor-declared emergency. PD 421 provides qualifying employees a differential equivalent to their base salary, divided by 4.33 for the first two qualifying weeks of response; followed by a differential equivalent to their base salary, divided by 4.33, then multiplied by 0.5 for all subsequent qualifying weeks of response. To qualify for PD 421, all of the following conditions must be met: the work must immediately address and/or recover from a Governor-declared emergency; the work must be extraordinarily demanding and must significantly exceed the normal work productivity expectations of the employee’s regular assignment; the employee must work at least 60 hours per workweek; the Pay Differential must be approved by the Governor’s Office, Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and the Department of Human Resources (CalHR).
Both Pay Differentials should be requested from your Department, via your personnel liaison. If you meet all the qualifications necessary but still encounter issues with securing either Pay Differential, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org).
State Scientists in Work Week Group 2 (WWG 2) also have options: CAPS MOU, Section 7.7, states, “Employees in Work Week Group 2 required to work in excess of forty (40) hours per week shall be compensated for such ordered overtime either by cash payment or compensating time off in the following manner:
a. Cash compensation shall be at one and one-half (1 1/2) times the hourly rate.
b. Compensating time off for Work Week Group 2 employees shall be given at one and one-half (1 1/2) hours for each overtime hour worked.”
Overtime is defined in the MOU as “all hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods.” If you encounter issues with Overtime or CTO, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org).
What Happens to Bargaining During the Pandemic? The CAPS Bargaining Team has continued to meet, to discuss and to prepare upcoming presentations and proposals for bargaining, once normal operations resume. While the Team has had to “pause” the face-to-face meetings with CalHR for now, they have continued to develop information that will save preparation time and allow CAPS to roll right back in, hopefully sooner rather than later (within guidelines set by public health officials). The Team is also keeping a watchful eye on information about the economy and any analyses that are released. CalHR’s team has informed CAPS that they are eager to return to the table as soon as we are able.
State Scientist Day Postponed. CAPS’ Annual State Scientist Day event, scheduled for Wednesday, May 6th, 2020, has been postponed due to safety precautions surrounding the novel coronavirus. We will monitor the situation as it unfolds and plan to select a new date later this year, once large events have been given the all-clear by public health officials. Stay tuned.
News Briefs
48,600 coronavirus test results still pending in California – Streamlined reporting adds to the tally of tests for the novel coronavirus conducted in California – but as of Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, the results were still pending for tens of thousands of them.
California Isn’t Testing Enough Children For Lead, Prompting Legislation – In some parts of California, a higher percentage of children who were tested had elevated levels of toxic lead in their blood than in Flint, Michigan, during the height of that city’s water crisis. That finding and others in a recent audit has spurred lawmakers to introduce five bills to get more children tested as required, expand mandated testing to more children and improve follow-up care for children with elevated blood lead levels.
Oiled Wildlife Rescued After Tanker Crashes Into Cuyama River – A turtle and a bird rescued from an oil spill in the Cuyama River east of Santa Maria were receiving veterinary care, California Department of Fish & Wildlife officials said Monday. The state Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) joined with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Petrol Transport Inc. in the cleanup of 6,000 gallons of oil released from a tanker accident, while racing to stem the spill ahead of approaching rain.
The coronavirus test that wasn’t: How federal health officials misled state scientists and derailed the best chance at containment – From its biggest cities to its smallest towns, America’s chance to contain the coronavirus crisis came and went in the seven weeks since U.S. health officials botched the testing rollout and then misled scientists in state laboratories about this critical early failure. Federal regulators failed to recognize the spiraling disaster and were slow to relax the rules that prevented labs and major hospitals from advancing a backup. Scientists around the country found themselves shackled as the disease spread. “We were watching a tsunami and standing there frozen,” said Dr. Debra Wadford, director of the public viral disease laboratory in California, where some of the country’s earliest patients were identified.