When Monterey County Psychiatric Social Worker Ryan Speed achieved licensure status that would qualify her for a pay increase, the County’s Human Resources (HR) staff delayed processing the required paperwork. Initially, HR was unwilling to issue back-pay even though Ryan had nothing to do with the paperwork mishap. After trying to sort the problem out with her managers, Ryan contacted our Contract Enforcement (CED) Department to file a grievance.
Assisted by her Steward, Karen Pontius, Ryan met with Health Director Elsa Jimenez, who committed to fixing the problem on the spot. We appreciate Ms. Jimenez authorizing retro-pay to settle our grievance and to make Ryan whole for the 1-month delay in processing her pay increase.
Grievance procedures are at the heart of all union contracts. Grievances provide a way for unions to enforce the rights and protections that members have negotiated. Grievances are not always resolved this quickly, but we can often use grievances to show management that resolving a problem early is the best option for everyone involved, as we did in Ryan’s case.
“I really appreciate our union, and the ease of this whole process.”
– Ryan Speed
