Car Signs and Petition!

Come and get your car signs to show your support for a fair contract now! Your Local Unit Officers and Contract Action Team will be handing them out over the next few weeks. While you grab your sweet car sign, please sign the petition so we can show management that our bargaining unit is strong and ready to fight!

Symplr: How will this roll-out work?

We spent an entire bargaining day and then some working on the newly revealed details of the impending roll-out of the Symplr Timekeeping System to replace Kronos. We created an extensive list of questions and got answers to many of them, though there are still some questions that will need to be answered over the next few weeks. While management has the right to choose which software it uses for timekeeping, that doesn't supersede contract language, so we have reached an agreement with them on how our current contract language will be updated for this transition period until we are done negotiating this contract.

The most important parts in that agreement are:

1. The March schedule that was posted on February 15 will remain unchanged (unless by mutual agreement per the contract). We encourage nurses to take a screen shot of their schedule as it is displayed in Kronos, because at this point, Symplr will only display the next four weeks of scheduled shifts (until March 22). Rest assured, your posted shifts from March 23 to March 31 are set; they'll just show up on the next posted schedule.
2. Management assured us that there will be 24/7 in-person and phone support for staff during the roll-out.
3. There were concerns raised by staff about changes to how master/patterned schedules are administered. Management assured the team that there were no plans to change how they are applied, and that they will honor the current process of requesting voluntary trades to balance the schedule.
4. The first deadline under the new Symplr system that will affect you is submitting your PTO requests for the April portion of the 3/23-4/19 schedule period by March 2. Per Diem requests for the 3/23-4/19 period will be due by March 6. The final 3/23-4/19 schedule will be posted on March 12.
5. Day-to-day time clock functions can be completed on the badge reader, including clocking in and out, clocking in and out for meal breaks, documenting missed breaks and coding for pay premiums like float and precepting.
6. We have not agreed to any changes to the minimum availability requirements for Per Diems. The existing requirements in the contract still apply; the only change is the date by which you must submit your availability. If management is telling you otherwise, please contact one of your local unit officers.

This MOU is intended to clean up some of the mess that management made by not negotiating this ahead of time and by their attempt to implement a mid-term change in working conditions. The biggest change you should see is the new requirement to clock in and out for meal periods so management can prove they are complying with Washington's new staffing and break laws. Otherwise, this closely mirrors the calendar month deadlines that we've been using for years.

Your Team,

Laura Bayes, Robin Cully, Jenn Engelhart, Rhonda Tull, Tracy Pullar, Amber Pouley, Jen Hampton, Kristin Malmo, Errin Hull, and Kelly Carroll