STATE OF CONNECTICUT
	OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER
Kevin Lembo State Comptroller	55 ELM STREET HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106-1775	Martha Carlson Deputy Comptroller

INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM

March 29, 2012

I. AUTHORITY

Vocational Federation of Teachers, Local 4200A, American Federation of Teachers Bargaining Unit Employees Contract Amendment and Extension September 1, 2011 through August 31, 2016

II. SALARIES (ARTICLE 3)

A. Salaries for Full-Time Employees (Article 3.1)

1. General Wage Increases
There shall be no general wage increase for contract years 2011-2013. For those years, the Salary Schedule of Appendix A in effect on June 30, 2011 will remain in effect.

Effective at the start of the pay period that includes September 1, 2013, all rates on the Salary Schedule for full-time teachers (Appendix A) will be increased by three percent (3%).

Effective at the start of the pay period that includes September 1, 2014, all rates on the Salary Schedule for full-time teachers (Appendix A) will be increased by three percent (3%).

Effective at the start of the pay period that includes September 1, 2015, all rates on the Salary Schedule for full-time teachers (Appendix A) will be increased by three percent (3%).

2. Compensation For Degrees
For each of the 2011-2016 contract years, there will be funds equivalent to one percent (1%) of the base salary account for full-time teachers as of September 1, each year, to be used for the purpose of funding the Degree Scale payments (Appendix G).

B. Method of Salary Payment (Article 3.2)

The current method of salary payment will continue. For new employees or employees returning from leave at the start of the school year, the first paycheck will be for the number of days actually worked starting with the first day of work in the school year (i.e., the first official teacher day in the year). Salary will continue to be paid for the remainder of the twenty-six biweekly pay periods, provided the full school year is worked. An employee who separates before the completion of all biweekly pay periods will be entitled to a pro-rata salary adjustment, based on the number of days actually worked; any adjustment will be at the per-diem rate in effect at the date of separation.

C. Payment for Extracurricular Duties (Article 3.3)

The Department will provide payment for extracurricular duties, to be paid as follows:

An employee who does not complete an extracurricular assignment, or who performs such assignment for only a portion of the season or year will receive only pro rata payment.

D. Mileage Reimbursement (Article 3.8)

Mileage reimbursement will be in accordance with standard State travel policy. The rate of reimbursement will be at the rate provided for non-bargaining unit employees of the State Department of Education.

Notwithstanding any prior practice, whenever an employee is required to travel to a mandatory statewide professional development conference and the distance is greater than the employee's normal commuting distance, the employee will be reimbursed for the extra travel involved at the prevailing rate for mileage reimbursement.

E. Annual Increments and Pay for Teachers at Maximum (Article 3.9)

1. Annual Increments
A full-time employee who is employed in a permanent position will receive annual increments provided that in the previous school year, the employee worked or was in pay status for at least one-half of the days in the work year as set forth in Article Six, Section One.

In the first two years of this Agreement (2011-2013), there will be no annual increments. In the final three years (2013-2016) of the agreement, teachers will advance one step on the salary schedule, in accordance with previously established standards and procedures. New employees or employees returning from leave of absence without pay must work not fewer than ninety-three (93) school days in order to be eligible for the annual increment in the following school year.

2. Payments for Teachers at Maximum - Lump Sum

There will be no lump sum bonuses for the first two years of this agreement (2011-2013).

For the 2013-2014 contract year, payable the first pay period in January 2014, a $1,500 lump sum payment will be made to teachers who are at the maximum step of the salary schedule.

For the 2014-2015 contract year, payable the first pay period in January 2015, a $1,500 lump sum payment will be made to teachers who are at the maximum step of the salary schedule.

For the 2015-2016 contract year, payable the first pay period in January 2016, a $1,500 lump sum payment will be made to teachers who are at the maximum step of the salary schedule.

F. Longevity

No employee first hired on or after July 1, 2011 will be entitled to a longevity payment; provided, however, any individual hired on or after said date who has military service which would count toward longevity under current (pre-July 2011) rules will be entitled to longevity if such individual obtains the requisite services in the future.

For employees not excluded from eligibility for longevity by subsection above the following will apply:

1. The schedule for longevity payments will be as set forth in Appendix C.

2. There will be no payment of longevity in October 2011.

3. No service will count toward longevity for the two (2) year period beginning July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013. Effective July 1, 2013, any service accrued during the period July 1, 2011through June 30, 2013 will be added to employees' service for the purpose of determining their eligibility and level of longevity entitlement if it would have otherwise counted.

III. PERSONAL DAYS (ARTICLE 4.3)

1. On the first day of the school year, all full-time bargaining unit employees will be credited with three (3) days of personal leave without loss of pay of benefits, not deducted from sick leave credits and not accumulated from school year to school year except as provided in section (f) of the agreement. Any personal days or portions thereof, which are not used by the end of the school year, may be returned to the State for payment. Payment will be at the daily substitute rate in effect on June 1st.

2. Instructors appointed after the beginning of the school year but before April 1st will likewise be credited with three (3) personal leave days per school year on appointment. In the event the new instructor separates from his/her position prior to December 31st and has used more than one day of personal leave, the employer will deduct from his/her final paycheck an amount equal to the personal leave used in excess of one day. The amount due will be calculated at the instructor's per diem rate.

3. Not more than one personal day may be carried over to the following calendar year, but it must be used prior to the end of the school year. If said day, or any portion thereof, is not used by the end of the school year, it may be returned to the State for payment as provided in article 4 section a of the agreement.

IV. CAREER DEVELOPMENT (ARTICLE 5)

The Board will allocate funds for the tuition reimbursement program for courses and other programs approved in accordance with this Article outside of regular working hours as follows:

Funds remaining from the annual allocation at the end of a given year will be carried forward and will not lapse. Tuition reimbursement funds are available to full-time permanent employees in the bargaining unit as well as to the following categories of employees covered by the Supplemental Agreement:

a. Durational Employees
b. Regularly scheduled part-time employees paid on an hourly basis and employed in the regular day program.

1. Tuition will be reimbursed up to nine (9) credits or 135 clock hours for skilled trade programs per fiscal year at the rate of one hundred percent (100%) for courses taken within the State's higher education system.

2. Tuition reimbursement is applied only to tuition or the equivalent of tuition (such as Connecticut State University "part-time fees" and "tuition/required fees") and does not include other fees of any kind, textbooks, or other incidental expenses. Costs eligible for reimbursement in other types of professional development activities will be as determined by the Union President, subject to the approval of the Superintendent; reimbursement is applied only to the cost of the program, and does not include transportation, meals, or lodging.

3. Tuition reimbursement (as provided above) will not exceed 100% of the per credit cost of the University of Connecticut.

4. Courses taken outside the State's higher education system are reimbursable at the actual cost not to exceed the amount in (3).

5. Skilled Trade programs will be reimbursed at the rate of $7.00 per clock hour up to the maximum of 135 clock hours.

Requests to take reimbursable courses must be endorsed by the Superintendent or his/her designee prior to enrollment in the course. Requests received up to two (2) weeks after enrollment may be considered subject to availability of funds. Requests received more than two (2) weeks after enrollment may be considered for payment at the end of the fiscal year.

V. WORKING CONDITIONS (ARTICLE 6)

Night Shift Differential (Article 6.1)
Nurse Instructors who are required to teach on work days commencing after 12:00 p.m. will be paid a night shift differential of $1.50 per hour.

VI. STIPENDS, HOURLY RATES, AND L.P.N. PARKING

A. Production Job (Article 6.3)

Employees on outside production jobs who are required to have lunch at the production site more than twenty times per year will be paid a stipend of $250. See contract for additional information.

B. Athletic Coordinator, Coaches, and Advisors Stipend (Appendix B)
Athletic Coordinator, Coaches, and Advisors Stipend will be increased as follows:

C. Hourly Rates - Night School, Summer School, and Special Programs (Appendix D)
The hourly rate for summer school, special programs, night school, and the apprentice program will be as follows:

D. L.P.N. Parking (Appendix E)
The State will establish a pool of $1200 each contract year to be allocated for parking expenses for L.P.N. Instructors incurred during the clinical phase. Upon submission of a proper receipt, the payment will be made on a first come first serve basis.

E. Daily Substitute Rate (Appendix F)
The daily substitute rate for clinical instructors in the LPN program will be $300 per day. The daily substitute rate for all other substitutes for 2011-2016 will be $155.

VII. TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT AS DEPARTMENT HEAD (ARTICLE 19.3)

An employee temporarily assigned in writing by the Principal to serve as Department Head will, commencing with the fifteenth consecutive workday, retroactive to the first workday, be paid at the Department Head rate.

VIII. SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT

A. Salaries (Article 3.1)

All regularly scheduled part-time employees who teach in the regular day program will be paid on a prorated portion of the full-time salary for VS 01, at such step as the Superintendent will determine at the time of hire. Provided that the employee works twenty-one (21) hours or more per week (60 percent or more), the employee will be eligible for an annual increment in the next school year on the same basis as full-time employees. See Appendix A of the agreement for details.

Hourly rates for all other part-time employees are set forth in Appendix B.
Stipends for athletic coordinators, coaches, and advisors are set forth in Appendix D.

B. Payment for Extracurricular Duties Coaches and Advisors (Article 3.2)

An employee who does not complete an extracurricular assignment, or who performs such assignment for only a portion of the season or year will receive only pro rata payment.

C. Salary Schedules (Article 21)

Full-time durational employees will be paid in accordance with Appendix A.

Stipend part-time employees will be paid in accordance with Appendix B.

Except as provided in Article 3 of the Supplemental Agreement, all other part- time employees will be paid in accordance with Appendix D.

Daily substitutes will be paid in accordance with Appendix F.

IX. JOB SECURITY (Appendix H)

From July 1, 2011 and through June 30, 2015, there will be no loss of employment for any full-time bargaining unit employee hired prior to July 1, 2011 or any regularly scheduled part-time employee employed in the regular day school program hired prior to July 1, 2001, except as provided below and subject to the following conditions:

1. Protection from loss of employment is for permanent employees and does not apply to:

• Non-renewal of a non-tenured employee's contract during/at the conclusion of
  the first year of employment;
• Expiration of a temporary or durational appointment;
• Termination of grant or other outside funding specified for a particular position.

2. This protection from loss of employment does not prevent the Board from eliminating positions due to decline in enrollment, closing of a school or satellite, or elimination of trade or course offering. In the event of such, the Board will provide affected full-time employees with those rights as are set forth in Article 12 of the collective bargaining agreement for full-time employees, and will provide part-time employees who have seniority under Article 11 of the supplemental agreement with those rights as are set forth in said article. Employees who are laid off and do not retain employment within the bargaining unit will be referred to the Placement and Training process of the SEBAC agreement for possible placement in another State position. An employee who is laid off either by the Board or as a result of the SEBAC Placement and Training process because of the refusal of an offered position will not be considered a layoff for the purposes of this agreement.

3. The Board may give notices of layoff in order to accomplish any of the above, or for layoffs outside the July 1, 2011-June 30, 2015 period.

X. SCHEDULED PAYMENT DATES

A. General Wage Increase

B. Annual Increments

C. Lump Sum Payment

XI. PAYROLL PROCEDURES

A. Implementation of General Wage Increases and Annual Increments
New pay plans will be implemented centrally with the new hourly rate and
bi-weekly salary effective with the pay period, at the proper time.

B. Stipends

1. On the Weekly Elapsed Time Page: Amount; Time Reporting Code XMISP.

2. On the Additional Pay Page: Amount; Earnings Code MPS.

XII. GENERAL

You may direct requests for assistance as follows:
Payroll Procedures:	Office of the State Comptroller
	Payroll Services Division, (860) 702-3447;
Contract Issues:	Agency Personnel Officers;
Tuition Reimbursement:	Office of the State Comptroller
	Management Services Division, (860) 702-3334;
Memorandum Interpretation:	Office of the State Comptroller
	Budget and Financial Analysis Division, (860) 702-3440.

KEVIN LEMBO
STATE COMPTROLLER

KL:ED
cc: Karen Shaw, SDE

Return to Index of Interdepartmental Memoranda
Return to Index of Comptroller's Memoranda
Return to Comptroller's Home Page