Winter Season Brings on Respiratory Illnesses. Across California, three different illnesses have begun to run rampant. In response, Departments have released information about these viruses and some precautions suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Due to a rise in positivity rates, COVID-19 Community Levels for many counties across the state of California have moved into the Medium and High categories. Hospitalizations are surging not only from COVID-19, but also other respiratory illnesses including Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and the flu. CAPS suggests reviewing the following guidelines set by the CDC, including wearing a mask when you are indoors, if possible for your unique situation, in areas where community spread is high.
Be advised that COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave 2022 may still be available for you, should you test positive for COVID, through the end of 2022 (December 31, 2022) if you have not yet exhausted your allotted 40 hours on either a prior instance of COVID, caring for a family member with COVID, or getting or recuperating from the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters. Additionally, should you utilize all your sick leave, please be sure to request Catastrophic Leave through your department and notify CAPS to help spread the word for assistance.
Implementation of AB1949 updates Bereavement Leave. The passage of Assembly Bill 1949, codified as Government Code section 12954.7, updates Bereavement Leave in law. The code provides that effective January 1, 2023, all State employees, regardless of civil service status, shall be entitled to no fewer than a total of five days of unpaid bereavement leave.
For employees covered by collective bargaining agreements (CBA), bereavement leave entitlement consists of the number of days of paid leave under the CBA, with any remaining days of leave provided by law as unpaid, unless an employee requests use of vacation or annual leave, personal leave, sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to the employee. Currently, the 2018-2020 MOU provides three (3) paid eight-hour days, so with the legislation, CAPS members will receive three (3) days paid, and 2 days unpaid (or supplemented with other personal leave credits).
The law also provides that unless otherwise specified by an existing CBA, bereavement leave requests shall be completed within three months of the date of death of the qualifying family member. If requested by the appointing authority, the employee shall provide documentation of the death of the family member to the appointing authority within 30 days of the first day of the leave. CAPS’ MOU is silent on the timeline, so Unit 10 employees must now request the leave within three months of the date of the death.
CAPSule on the Web. The November issue of CAPSule, CAPS’ monthly newsletter, is posted on the CAPS website. You can view it here.
In Review. Check out what you may have missed from past CAPS Updates here:
December 2, 2022. Safety Footwear Reimbursements are Not Taxable Income. CAPS filed several grievances at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife recently, after members noticed their safety footwear reimbursements came back with additional taxes taken out. Members’ footwear reimbursement at the Department requires the submission of a receipt, and is given for the amount paid, not automatically provided each reimbursement period (i.e. members must first spend money, and must meet or exceed the limit of the Safety Footwear Reimbursement amount from the CAPS MOU to be reimbursed at the maximum amount, $275 every two years). CAPS argued the IRS Fringe Benefit Guide indicates Safety Footwear counts as Safety Equipment, and is therefore excludable. The Department disagreed, citing a State Controller’s Office Policy, and the grievances made their way all the way to CalHR, who sided with CAPS. If you have received a footwear reimbursement this calendar year that was inappropriately taxed, please contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org) to get on the list for your reimbursement to be corrected.
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.