Reemployment Rights
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State
Retirement
Credit for Laid-off
Workers
Public Act No.
03-2 provided that each person laid off then returned to employment with the
state pursuant to this public act shall be deemed to have been employed by the
state, with no interruption in service or pension credit, during any period that
such person was laid off on or after November 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003.
Employees who were laid-off during this period and returned to state service by
June 30, 2005 will receive retirement credit for their lay-off period provided
that the appropriate notification is received by the Retirement & Benefit
Services Division by March 27, 2007 and, when applicable, the required
retirement plan contributions have been made. Affected employees should contact
their agency personnel/human resources office to complete the necessary
notification form (see sample  Retirement
Credit Notification Form).
For additional
information see March
27, 2006 - Memorandum on Procedures for Implementing Retirement Credit for
Layoff Provision
In SEBAC’s federal suit against the layoffs filed in
2003, Judge Covello ruled against the Rell administration’s request to dismiss
the case. Discovery has been stayed. The State is appealing Judge
Covello's decision not to dismiss the case to the Second Circuit Court.
SEBAC’s original state suit against the layoffs filed
in 2003 is languishing as the state judge has delayed making decisions.
SEBAC filed a second suit in state court earlier this
year seeking monetary damages for the laid-off workers. This case is pending.
An independent group has filed an action in state court
for state employees to receive checks as part of Anthem’s demutualization. No
progress has been made in the case, which will take years to come to a decision.
SEBAC is monitoring the case.
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Arbitrators
Decision on A&R Institutional-Layoffs
Upon consideration of the parties' proposed issues, the record
evidence, and the parties' positions, the Arbitrator finds that
the following issues fairly and appropriately frame the scope of
the parties' dispute:
1. Is the instant matter
arbitrable, including claims of violations of Articles 5 and 6?
2. If so, did the State violate Articles 4, 5, 6, 13, 38 and/or 40
of the P-5 Contract when it determined that an economic
necessity existed for layoffs in 2003?
3. If so, what shall the remedy be consistent with the P-5
Contract?
AWARD
1. In response to the State's
claims that various grievances are not arbitrable, the Arbitrator
finds as follows:
a. The March 13, 2003 grievance
(Joint Exhibit 2B) is arbitrable.
b. The Military Department grievances are not arbitrable.
c. The Office of the Treasurer grievance (Carl Thiesfield) is not
arbitrable.
2. The State violated Article 13
of the P-5 Contract when it determined in 2003 that an economic
necessity existed for layoffs of employees in the
"industry-funded Agencies) ie., Department of Banking,
Department of Public Utility Control, Office of Consumer Council and
the Workers' Compensation Commission.
As Remedy, Grievants in the
industry-funded Agencies should be forthwith reinstated to their
positions that were occupied at the time of layoffs and made whole
for all lost pay and benefits. In calculating the Remedy, the
State has the right to deduct from back pay due any amount of
monies Grievant has earned between the time of the layoffs and the
date of their reinstatement or monies received as unemployment
compensation. This Arbitrator will expressly retain jurisdiction
of this proceeding for the sole purpose of resolving any and all
disputes that may arise concerning the implementation of the
Remedy provided herein.
3. The grievances are sustained
only to the extent indicated. In all other respects, the instant
grievances are denied.
For more information see full
document
Arbitrators Decision on
Layoffs
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A&R
Layoff Seniority List
Producing the A&R Layoff Seniority List is an onerous
task. Article 13, Section 2a of our contract defines seniority
"as accumulated service in the P-5 bargaining unit". Management is only required to create such a list
when there is going to be a layoff. Therefore, the most current A&R
Layoff Seniority List is from November 25, 2002. It does not show the effects of the layoffs or
subsequent retirements, deaths, promotions, rehires, etc. The list below is
in Microsoft Excel format.
- SEBAC
List of A&R Members with Rehire Rights
Below is the
latest SEBAC list of individuals who still have rehire rights. This list
includes those individuals who have not obtained their laid-off salary equivalent
to date and all A&R job classes for which they are qualified. (NOTE:
Hiring is not based on seniority. Management can pick anyone on this list who
qualifies to fill a vacancy.) The list
below is in Microsoft Excel format.
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7/08
SEBAC Rehire List (updated
8/5/08)
Source: Department of Administrative Services (DAS)
- Duration of Reemployment Rights
SEBAC Rehire List and Rights remain in effect
indefinitely until
individuals obtain their laid-off
salary equivalent by being "made whole".
THESE RIGHTS HAVE EXPIRED: Some confusion has
arisen over how long re-employment rights exist for laid-off members.
The following quote was lifted from the Department
of Administrative Services (DAS)
website. “When an employee is
laid off from state service, re-employment rights last for a period of 3
years from the date of layoff. (For employees in the NP-2 bargaining
unit, re-employment rights last for 5 years from the date of layoff.)
Re-employment rights may be disabled prior to this time, if the employee
is hired back into a position at the same or comparable salary level as
when s/he was laid off. (In this case, the employee has no further
re-employment rights.)” We have also verified
by telephoning and emailing the Department of Administrative Services
that A&R reemployment rights will continue for three years from the date of
layoff.
The Reemployment List
is covered in our contract in Article 13, Section Six. Filling a vacancy
is done by seniority from those who formerly permanently held the job
class of the vacant position, or a comparable class. In our contract,
there is no limit to the number of times you can turn down positions
you're offered from the Reemployment List.
If no one is available
on the Reemployment List for the position, the SEBAC Rehire List is used
to see if anyone has the skills and experience needed to perform the
duties of the vacant position's job class. There is specific language in
the SEBAC Agreement which covers waivers:
"If a SEBAC
employee waives a suitable job from a State agency, they will be placed
in an inactive status for the position classification in that agency. If
a SEBAC employee waives two (2) suitable position offers from any State
agency (ies) for a specific classification, the employee will be placed
in an inactive status for that classification. If a SEBAC employee
waives a total of three (3) suitable position offers from any State
agency(ies) for any position
classifications, the employee will be placed in an inactive status for
all SEBAC position opportunities. Notification will be provided to the
employee and their union if they are placed in an inactive status. An
employee will be removed from the inactive status upon reapplication to
the Bureau of Human Resources
accompanied by a written indication of willingness to accept employment,
if offered. A reapplication will be reviewed by the SEBAC Placement
Staff for position qualifications and position interests."
Waiving a
"suitable position" once has a significant impact on being
rehired in the offering agency in the job class being offered. Waive
"suitable positions" for the same job class twice and you lose
your SEBAC rights for that job class. Waive "suitable
positions" three times (any classes) and you lose your SEBAC
rights. Please note that you can argue that a position wasn't
"suitable"
for a variety of reasons. Please also note that even if you waive and
lose some SEBAC right, a simple letter should be enough to have your
SEBAC Rehire List rights fully restored.
Our most important
rehire rights are in Article 13, Section Six of the A&R contract.
The next most important rehire rights are in 5-241 of the Connecticut
General Statutes and the regulations promulgated there under. Finally,
the SEBAC agreements contain the remainder of our rehire rights.
To summarize our rehire
rights:
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Contract:
Employees shall be
entitled to specify for placement on the reemployment list for any or
all classes in which they formerly held permanent status or which are
deemed comparable. In the event that an employee is appointed to a
position from a reemployment list but such position is in a lower salary
group than the class or classes for which his/her name is entered upon a
reemployment list, he/she shall remain eligible for certification from
the latter list.
For the purpose of
layoff selection, it is understood that an employee in a training class
is deemed to be an incumbent in his/her target class. This provision
shall not alter the reemployment rights, if any, to which such
individual is entitled by contract.
There shall be no
appointment from outside State service until laid-off employees until
laid-off employees eligible for rehire and qualified for the position
involved are offered reemployment.
- Statutory:
The employee will be placed on the reemployment list for the appropriate
class for which he has attained permanent status or has the ability to
qualify, as determined by the commissioner. During the period he is
entitled to remain on the reemployment list, such an employee shall be
rehired in the classification from which he was laid off or for which he
is qualified, as vacancies occur, in the reverse order of layoffs. Any
employee who is rehired from a reemployment list shall not be required
to complete a new working test
period, as defined in subdivision (1) of section 5-196.
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SEBAC
Reemployment
Rights
For A&R job
classes, first chance goes to those, formerly in the A&R bargaining
unit, on the SEBAC list, who meet the experience and training
requirements of the job class of the position being filled.
Rehiring from the SEBAC
list does not have to be done by seniority. The appointing authority can
choose from among those qualified on the list.
Three important points:
1.) Hiring from the contract and statutory reemployment list must be
done by seniority.
2.) If any, retired, "120-day wonder" is hired to do an
A&R member's job, that is a violation of the contract.
3.) Connecticut Careers Trainees and Accounting Career Trainees qualify
for placement on the reemployment list and must be hired into their
former job class before anyone "off the street" can be hired
The first step for
laid-off A&R members is to contact the Department of Administrative
Services (713-5059, 713-5210 or 713-5204) and insist on being placed on
two lists:
1.) The reemployment list for all job classes you formerly held and for
any comparable job classes
2.) The SEBAC list for all of the above job classes and any job classes
for which your life experience qualifies you. If you were asked for your experience and credentials once, but were
rushed, now is the time to expand the record.
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