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COVID-19: Important Bargaining Updates for SCCOE Members

On Tuesday, March 16, 2020, our Bargaining Team met with Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan and Assistant Superintendent Anisha Munshi, regarding the effects of COVID-19 on the working conditions of our membership.  In compliance with social distancing guidelines, some of our team joined via Zoom and three of us attended the meeting in person.

Mary Ann Dewan began the meeting by explaining how the past week has been quite busy and how she’s been really following the guidelines of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the Public Health Department to be a community partner.  She’s been essentially camped out at the County Incident Command Center and discussing plans with her SCCOE leadership team via telephone. Mary Ann also stated that her goal has been to keep our community and employees safe and financially whole during these unprecedented and constantly changing times.

On-Call Status

Given the current shelter-in-place order, the vast majority of SCCOE employees will remain in an on-call status until April 7, 2020. Employees in an on-call status will receive their full regular pay.  This includes all Student Services (Paraeducators, Special Education, OT/PT, SPHC, Head Start, Walden West, Interpreters, etc.), as well as all Administrative Assistants II, Bus Drivers, and Human Resources.  If you are placed in an on-call status, you will be required to check emails daily and respond to calls you may receive from your supervisor with any instructions or updates.  

As public employees in California, we are all covered by the Disaster Service Worker Act (Pease review: https://bit.ly/cadisasterservice). This means that if you are on-call, you will need to be available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.,  will not be able to consume alcohol during those hours, need to stay available in the San Jose area, and must be able to respond to a call-in within 2 hours. Email access: If you are having trouble accessing your email account, please contact the TSB_HelpDesk@sccoe.org or call 408-453-HELP (4357).  Some on-call staff are doing remote meetings via Zoom or conference calls to keep up-to-date or to coordinate long-distance learning for students.

For On-Call Status – If you are asked to come in, and you can’t come in because:

  1. You are sick with a non-COVID-19 related illness, you need to use your sick leave, vacation, doctor/dental time off, etc. Management is going to be lenient about what staff is able to use. Sick notes will not be required.
  2. You are home with your kids who are home due to school closure, then you can use any leave you have available. Management is going to be lenient about what staff may use for this as well.
  3. You are home sick or someone in your family is sick with something that may be COVID-19, then the new board policy regarding COVID-19 applies, and you would be on paid non-work status. Please review: https://bit.ly/sccoecovid19attendancepolicy

Workers who are 65 years old or older

All employees who are 65 years of age or more have been placed on paid leave and are at home self-isolating as requested by the County Health Department. Due to the extra risks for these employees, SCCOE is honoring the recommendation by the Health Department, by asking these employees to focus on sheltering-in-place and staying healthy until we get through this process.

Work from home

For the classifications that are not essential and have not been placed in an on-call status, SCCOE has approved work from home.  This includes Administrative IV, research and evaluation staff, charter school staff, inclusion collaborative staff, and PLISD staff. Staff who will be working from home will be provided access to their email, files, etc., and will be provided with a laptop, if necessary.

Employees with health conditions that place them at higher risk for COVID-19

If you are at a higher risk for COVID-19 due to a health condition that could be covered under the health departments’ shelter-in-place order, please contact Human Resources for an accommodation. 

Employees who cannot work because of the school closures and/or elderly family members

If you need to care for children due to the school closure or a family member who is at a higher risk for COVID-19, then you can use your sick leave, vacation, doctor/dental time off, etc. Management is going to be lenient about what staff may use.

COVID-19 Exposure or Positive Tests

If an employee is sick and tests for COVID-19, tests positive or someone in their family tests positive for COVID-19, or is mandated by the health department to self-quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19, then the new board policy regarding Covid-19 applies, and you would be on paid non-work status. Please review: https://bit.ly/sccoecovid19attendancepolicy

Essential Employees

SCCOE has also identified several departments and classifications as Essential Public Employees who need to be present at Ridder Park.  However, SCCOE is committed to complying with all social distancing standards and will allow staggered and altered schedules as well.  Mary Ann is allowing the Managers and Directors to determine the work hours of these essential employees during this international pandemic.  For our employees’ safety, SCCOE has closed the Ridder Park Offices to the public and will only have visitors (from the districts) by appointment only.    Some employees have been instructed to work reduced hours from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for the employees’ safety.   As a result, this reduced shift will call for a 15/20 minute break but not a 30 minute or 1-hour lunch.  Please be sure to discuss your reduced schedule with your Manager or Director.

Other Circumstances:

If we are asked to come in, and you can’t come in because:

  1. You are sick with a non-COVID-19 related illness, you need to use your sick leave, vacation, doctor/dental time off, etc. Management is going to be lenient about what staff may use.
  2. You are home with your kids who are home on school closure, then you can use any leave you have available. Management is going to be lenient about what staff may use for this as well.
  3. You are home sick or someone in your family is sick with something that may be COVID-19, then the new board policy regarding COVID-19 applies, and you would be on paid non-work status. Please review: https://bit.ly/sccoecovid19attendancepolicy

Lastly, if you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to contact a member of our negotiating committee: 

  • Marilyn DeRouen, Foster Youth and Homeless Youth
  • Irene Soto, Head Start
  • Kellie Guevara, District Business Advisory Services
  • Jenny Butterfield, Special Education
  • Sarah Gianocaro, Special Education
  • Angela Ballou, Special Education
  • Drew Doty, Walden West
  • Tony Bettencourt, Warehouse
  • Sylvia Rubio, Head Start
  • Carreen Debella, Oster
  • Lilia Vega, Early Learning Services
  • Pam Hale, Internal Business Services

Your negotiating team is confident we can get through this difficult time if we work together.

Please continue to visit the COVID-19 online toolkit: Resources + Information + Updates for up-to-date alerts and information for SEIU 521 members: https://www.seiu521.org/covid19/

In the COVID-19 online toolkit page you will find:

  • Local, State, and Federal Resources  
  • Fact Sheets 
  • Union demands of employers
  • Preventive actions taken by our union
  • Mental health support

We will continue to provide updates as they become available.