Workers at the UW are fighting hard for safety and respect. This past Friday, we won three new MOUs expanding our rights and protections.
Together, we moved the UW from just a $1.50 reassignment pay to $4.00.
The MOUs can be viewed in full here:
- UW Campus Unions Tentative Agreement
- Healthcare Workforce Mobilization Tentative Agreement
- UW Medical Centers Tentative Agreement
Here’s what you need to know about these changes:
Pay & reimbursements:
- Members reassigned outside of their home department or regular work location (to a different medical center) will be paid a $4/hour reassignment pay, retroactive to March 2nd.
- If a member is not permitted to work due to exposure of COVID-19 during the course of their work, they will receive paid administrative leave. This is retroactive to March 2nd. The leave is not charged against the employee’s paid time off balance.
- Free parking at the medical centers through April 30, 2020.
Reassignments:
- Anyone reassigned outside of their home facility will receive a travel reimbursement.
- Training will be provided for the area to which employee is being reassigned.
Safety & PPE:
- Employer will provide notice as soon as possible to any employee that may have had at work exposure to COVID-19.
- Employees who test positive for COVID-19 will be placed on paid administrative leave until they are covered by worker's compensation.
- Whenever possible, accommodations will be made for employees who are unable to work due to being part of the King County Public Health at-risk group (older than 60 or with an underlying medical condition), including telework or alternative assignments.
- If an accommodation cannot be identified for at-risk members, members can take their own accrued leave or access shared leave. If accrued leave is exhausted, at-risk members can take a leave of absence and will be eligible for unemployment benefits. Health insurance coverage will be retained.
- Members will be provided appropriate PPE following the UW Medicine’s COVID-19 guidelines including triage protocols around scarce resources. No employee will be disciplined or retaliated against for advocating for PPE that they believe is needed.
