2.1 Dues Deduction

The Council may have the regular dues of its members within the bargaining unit deducted from employees’ paychecks under procedures prescribed by the County Controller. Dues deduction shall be made only upon certification from the Council that an employee has authorized such deduction, and shall continue until: (1) such certification is revoked, in writing, by the Council; or (2) the employee transfers to a unit represented by another employee organization or transfers to another unit that is unrepresented. Employees may authorize dues deductions only for the organization certified as the recognized employee organization of the unit to which such employees are assigned.

Not more than once per week (preferably bi-weekly on non-payroll Fridays), the Council will send a list of changes to its member listing by email to the Controller’s Office at [email protected] with the following Certification statement:

  • “I, NAME, TITLE, hereby certify that SMCCE possesses and will maintain an authorization (for dues deductions and/or voluntary political contribution deductions, as indicated) signed by the individuals on this list from whose salary or wages the deductions is to be made.”

Certified spreadsheets that arrive by the non-payday Friday will be processed for the following week’s payroll.

2.2 Forfeiture of Deduction

 If, after all other involuntary and insurance premium deductions are made in any pay period, the balance is not sufficient to pay the deduction of Council dues required by this Section, no such deduction shall be made for the current pay period.

2.3 Fair Representation

The Council agrees that it has the duty to provide fair and non-discriminatory representation to all employees in all classes in the units for which this section is applicable regardless of whether they are members of the Council.

2.4 Hold Harmless

 The Council shall indemnify, defend, and hold the County harmless against any and all claims, demands, suits, orders, or judgments, damage related to dues deduction and council security, or other forms of liability that arise out of or by reason of this Council Security Section, or action taken or not taken by the County under this Section. This includes, but is not limited to, the County’s attorney’s fees and costs.

2.5 Communications with Employees

The Council shall be allowed by a County department, in which it represents employees, use of available bulletin board space for communications having to do with official organization business, such as times and places of meetings, provided such use does not interfere with the needs of the department. The Council may distribute materials to employees within the unit it represents through County mail distribution channels if approved by the Director of Human Resources. This privilege may be revoked in the event of abuse after the Director of Human Resources consults with representatives of the Council. Any representative of the Council shall give notice to the department head or designated representative at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of contacting departmental employees during and employee’s duty, provided that solicitation for membership or other internal employee organization business shall be conducted only during the non-duty hours of all employees concerned. Pre-arrangements for routine contact may be made by agreement between the Council and the department head and once made shall continue until revoked.

2.6 Use of County Buildings

County buildings and other facilities may be made available for use by County employees or the Council or its representatives in accordance with such administrative procedures as may be established by the County Manager or department heads.

2.7 Advance Notice

Except in cases of emergency as provided below, the Council, if affected, shall be given reasonable, advance, written notice of any new or change to an existing ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation directly relating to matters within the scope of representation proposed to be adopted by the County and shall, upon request, be given the opportunity to meet with the appropriate management representatives prior to adoption.

In cases of emergency when the foregoing procedure is not practical or in the best public interest, the County may adopt or put into practice immediately such measures as are required. At the earliest practicable date thereafter the Council shall be provided with the notice described in the preceding paragraph and be given an opportunity to meet with the appropriate management representatives.

2.8 New Employee Orientation

The County and the Council shall continue to work on best practices to ensure labor access to new employees for the purpose of educating them on their representation opportunities. Toward that goal, the County shall administer an opportunity for the Council to meet with new employees as follows:

All new employees are encouraged to attend the first new employee benefits orientation following the commencement of their employment. New employee Benefits Orientation is scheduled for every other week, and the Council will have up to thirty (30) minutes at the end of each session to provide information regarding its organization to its represented employees and members. One (1) member designated by the Union will be granted release time for this purpose, unless otherwise agreed to with Employee Relations.

The Council will be copied on the New Employee Orientation invitation sent to Council- represented workers.

For employees who do not attend a benefits orientation within the first month of their employment, the Council may schedule, at the supervisor’s discretion, up to thirty (30) minutes with each employee to meet directly with them to provide information. Release Time requested for this activity will be reviewed and approved by Employee Relations under normal Release Time processes.

2.9 Employee Roster

The County shall supply the Council monthly with a data processing run of the names and classifications of all employees in the units represented by the Council. Such lists shall indicate which employees were having dues withheld from their pay checks as of the date the roster was prepared, whether names were added to or deleted from the previous list, and whether each such change in status was by reason of leave of absence, termination or withdrawal from the Council. The lists shall be supplied without cost to the Council.

2019-07-03