PROBATION EXTENSIONS
OCA has begun notifying the Court Officer Trainee (COT) class that was set to complete their 2-year probationary period on September 6, 2020, that their probationary period is in all likelihood being extended. OCA’s stance is that absences attributable to the CoVid 19 shutdown can be credited to leave in excess of a trainees 280 allotted hours off throughout their probation period. CSEA has been told that all excused leave (except military leave) will be considered an absence and factor into the members extension of probation. This decision by OCA could, potentially impact the probationary periods of clerical and operational members as well. At this time it does seem that new employee probation is being treated differently that promotional probation. We suggest any member that has their probation extended, ask for a breakdown of all the days/hours being extended. CSEA Local Presidents intend on filing grievances regarding how OCA calculates the time that will be extended. Please share your information with us when you receive it, and we will make sure you are included in the grievances as we move forward.
SICK LEAVE BANK OPEN ENROLLMENT
The deadline to enroll in the Sick Leave Bank is 9/16/20 (this coming Wednesday). Open enrollment will run from August 20th through September 16th and aside from taking place later than usual, the same rules apply. There will be no exceptions to the rules which are: employees must have a minimum of 56 hours of sick leave accruals (prorated for PT employees) by close of business August 19th and enrollment forms must be submitted no later than September 16th. Applications are available through your Judicial District personnel department. This will be the last opportunity to join the Sick Leave Bank until March/April 2021.
DEFERRED COMP WEBINAR
Dan Kain from NYS Deferred Comp will be holding an Enrollment webinar on (Thursday) September 17th at 10am – This webinar is for anyone who is looking to enroll or learn more about the NYS Deferred Compensation Plan and how it can help you save for retirement.
To register, you may click here:
If you cannot attend but would still like to speak with Dan you can use the following link to set up an individual appointment:
http://dankainphoneappointment.myRetirementAppt.com
PAYROLL TAX DEFERRAL
At this time the Office of the State Comptroller is not deferring social security taxes. OSC is awaiting a decision regarding the Payroll Tax Rollback from their counsel’s office. Once a decision has been made OSC will need additional guidance from the IRS. They will notify CSEA and OCA when they have further information. OCA will follow whatever the guidelines of the OSC are currently. To this point OSC is not going to defer payment of payroll taxes through January. Keep in mind this is not a tax forgiveness program, it is a deferral for political capital period. If employees participate they will see their FICA tax temporarily stop for approximately 5-6 paychecks (through December of this year) then in January and for the first 5-6 paychecks of 2021 the FICA deduction is doubled.
AFSCME DAY OF ACTION
We are asking you to please join us and our AFSCME sisters and brothers across the country in a Day of Action Thursday, September 17, to urge the U.S. Senate to take up a coronavirus aid package which includes robust aid for states, cities, towns and school districts.
Take action that day:
- Send an email to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer
- Join the tweetstorm! Tweet messages of support to them using the hashtag #FundTheFrontlines
- @GillibrandNY
- @SenSchumer
- Call their offices at 202-224-3121 and urge them to support funding public services.
It has been more than 100 days since the House passed the Heroes Act, a proposal that meets the scale of the health and economic crisis we face. The Senate has gone on recess TWICE, while our communities suffer and our everyday heroes, including nurses, emergency responders, sanitation workers, custodians and many more, are threatened with layoffs due to massive state and local budget shortfalls.
We can neither beat the pandemic or safely reopen the economy if we cut public services and thank these brave public service workers with pink slips. That is why we urgently need robust and direct aid to our states, cities, towns and schools.
CENTRAL REGION DRIVE-THRU
2:30 p.m. — 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 1
New York State Fairgrounds — Orange Parking Lot
CSEA is hosting a Drive-Thru Member Information day to provide member benefit information and guidance to all members.
- All participants MUST stay in their vehicle
- You MUST register for the event online at https://bit.ly/3johkfd by September 25
- Food trucks will be available. The first 250 members will receive a $15 food voucher.