* AFSCME Council 31 is handing out a new flier to state workers to counter some of the statements made by the Rauner administration. This part was the most interesting to me. Click here for the full flier…

The end of overtime pay? What’s Rauner really up to with his plan to change overtime policy? His administration has informed employees that it plans to impose a new regimen in which the calculation of overtime will only count hours actually worked. What the specifics of the administration’s final offer make clear is that holidays, vacation days, and sick days will not count in that calculation: “Only actual hour worked above 40 will be at the overtime rate.”

In other words, if you’re out sick one day, you can be mandated to work 16 hours the next day, but you wont get paid overtime for those additional eight hours!

Worse, because Rauner’s “final offer” allows management to ignore overtime rotation procedures by picking who will be mandated to work overtime, you can be sure that employees in 24-hour facilities who have to use a sick day will be targeted to work overtime when they return. Managers will be making mandatory overtime assignments based on which employees took a sick or vacation day in a given week. [Emphasis in original]

I asked the governor’s office for a response at about 1:30. I’ll post it if they send one.

* Related…

* Berg: AFSCME’s egomania is betraying its members: The length and cost of negotiations thus far is already insulting to Illinoisans. And AFSCME has acted like a spoiled child at the bargaining table.

*** UPDATE ***  From Catherine Kelly…

Hi, Rich:

AFSCME’s talk of mandatory overtime is a distraction and a blatantly misleading tactic to divert attention from the fact they currently do not have to work 40 hours a week to earn overtime. AFSCME should stop these games and stall tactics and work with us on implementing the contract.

Best,
ck