Know Your Rights It is imperative that you know your employee rights in order to ensure equal treatment and fairness in the workplace. As a public employee, you have rights that are granted through your union contract, state and federal law, and work place policies. UPE's staff and member-leaders have fought tirelessly throughout the years to expand and protect these rights. Some of these rights include proper representation during an investigatory meeting pertaining to a disciplinary matter. Your rights to Family Medical Leave Act, American Disabilities Act, and sick/vacation leave request/usage. A change of policy that impacts your current working conditions prescribed under the MOU and or government code. All of this matters and we will educate you through this process. To that end, we are developing a series of short, easy-to-read summaries of many of your employment rights. More summaries will be added to this website over the coming months. Always feel free to ask your Steward and or your Business Representative about your employment rights and how they apply to your specific circumstances. In most cases, your employer is not required to inform you of your rights. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

UPE Secures Vaccine Release Time for all Sacramento County Employees      As workers are all aware, COVID-19 vaccines are now available for workers based on age, medical condition and, in some cases, job function with the County.  From the beginning, UPE proposed that the County pay for workers to get vaccinated.  First, the County agreed to cover 2 hours of paid time for workers being vaccinated through a County arranged clinic.  This was a good start, but not enough.  Continue Reading.

New 2021 Covid Supplemental Paid Sick Leave      California has adopted a new “Covid-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave” statute. SB 95 will go into effect on March 29, and is significantly broader in scope than the emergency paid sick leave provided by federal law that expired in December 2020, and is also more generous than California’s prior supplemental paid sick leave statute that also expired at the end of 2020. The new law applies to public and private employers of more than 25 employees nationwide, so long as at least one employee works in California, and requires them to provide a new allotment of “Supplemental Paid Sick Leave” (SPSL) between January 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021, for specific purposes. Continue Reading.

DHA Open Lobby Bureaus: County Proposes CalWORKs Intake Service Center Model  April 30, 2021           UPE was noticed by DHA that they plan to implement a CalWORKs Intake Service Center Model in the open lobby bureaus by the close of Fiscal Year 2020/2021. As a result, UPE met with DHA on several occasions to better understand the proposed changes so that we can mitigate impacts to our DHA Intake, CSR, and Homeless Assistance employees. At first glance, DHA is proposing that employees in Intake, CSR, and Homeless Assistance functions rotate quarterly between application processing, application processing phone queue, application follow up, Customer Service Representative, and Homeless Assistance Phone Queue, essentially creating a generic intake worker. UPE has submitted nearly 30 questions related to these proposed changes to DHA. As we hear back, we will assess the impacts and make suggestions including proposals to ensure appropriate changes are made to mitigate these impacts. No changes have been finalized, and more meetings will continue to occur. We would like to thank the following 008 Board members who have played a pivotal role thus far: James Starr, James Kent-Basham, Dan Herrera, Stephanie McCall, James Cobos, Patrick Hunter and 008 members - Eason Ramson, Adriana Guzman-Hernandez, and Lauri Calkins. TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG

Meet & Confer Update Sacramento District Attorney’s office Proposed Social Media Policy April 29, 2021  United Public Employees received a draft proposal for a “Social Media Policy” from the County of Sacramento’s District Attorney’s Office with the intention of encouraging discussion with the two Bargaining Unit’s that represent Members who work in the District Attorney’s Office. On April 29, 2021 a UPE Business Representative and Governing Board Members from the 005 & 008 Bargaining Units met with Sacramento County and District Attorney representatives with the goal of sharing our feedback. During the two-hour discussion, UPE representatives raised numerous concerns regarding the proposed policy, including but not limited to; addressing how the policy was written to consider all forms of social media, how the policy addressed both professional and personal interactions, and how violations would subject a Member to discipline. UPE noted that the draft presented had language that suggested existing County policies would be applied to all forms of social media engagement. It was not very clear how the County defined “behavior unbecoming of a District Attorney employee.”  UPE noted that the draft presented was very different from other County policies; both in style and format, context, and purpose. In response, County representatives acknowledged that this was just a first draft; that they intended to listen to UPE’s concerns; make any necessary adjustments to the Policy; and meet again with UPE should they decide to move forward.   TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG

Negotiations for 005 Immediate Proposals Exchanged  April 19, 2021  The first day of negotiations commenced for the 005 Office Technical Unit on 4/19/21. The County proposed a 1-year contract roll over with a meager 2% salary increase. UPE immediately shot back with the following proposal, a 2.5% salary increase on the 1st pay period of July 2021, and another 2.5% on the first pay period of January 2022 for a total of 5% for a one-year contract. In addition...   Continue reading...

008 Negotiations Update #1 April 20, 2021        Your UPE 008 Bargaining Team met with the County on April 20, 2021. During the preliminary meeting, the County proposed a 1-year contract extension with a 2% raise the first pay period in July. UPE considers this proposal unacceptable. The County’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic placed our members in harm’s way, forcing members to jeopardize their health and the health of their families. Our members made daily sacrifices in the face of rising workplace infections, in order to keep this County running. Your Bargaining Team expects the County to acknowledge these hardships. In response to the County’s frankly insulting proposal, your Bargaining Team’s opening proposal for a 1-year contract extension called for a 5% equity adjustment and $3000 for all essential workers to provide immediate financial relief. The County will be taking our proposal to the Board of Supervisors for discussions at closed session on May 4th. UPE expects to meet again with County in early May. TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG

UPE Featured in the Sacramento News & Review!     Read how UPE steps in to advocate for members when they need them the most.   Click here to read more.

UPE Members of the Quarter!      UPE Recognizes & Appreciates Your Support!  Not Pictured: Yashoda Reddy, Angela Ortega, Amber Guerro, Andrii Beresnev, Angela Soltero, Andy Lee, Phyllis Duarte-Lowe, Tamra Williams-Jordan, Dana Somera, Michele Brashear, Charles Severance, Maria Angel, Christina Zepeda  Cynthia Raley, Loretta Christian, Donna Seese, Angel Atilano, Angel Williams, Angela Horper, Michael Meraz, Nancy Wallace  Lona Bradford, Catherine Hamilton, Angela Howard, Angelica Avalos, Angelique Reyes, Christina Tapia-Cortinas, Lissa Hernandez, Marie Sims, Tiffany Shende Bargas, Romellia Alcaraz, Donna Helms, Dori Aros