11/13/14 MSOP Meeting Minutes

PRESENT: Tim Lokensgard, Scott Grefe, Cindy Jungers, Bonnie Wold, Melissa DuChene, Matt Stenger, Molly Kennedy, Troy Sherwood, Chuck Hottinger, Amanda Mathiowetz

MANAGEMENT AGENDA ITEMS

1. Reminder that there will be forums on Wednesday, November 19th

2. Clarification: We are not on a hiring freeze. We are on a spending restriction that does cover everything. Management does not have any updates on this. When currently hiring it has to be at a critical need and must be approved by the commissioner.

3. Combined Charities a. Management bought one parking spot for 3 months to give to an Employee of the Week. This will include all staff. b. MSOP raised over $10,000. St. Peter alone brought in $4,700. Great job!

AFSCME AGENDA ITEMS

Follow up:

1. Vacation proposal a. There have been some updates to the way vacation is granted. If a staff puts in for 5+ days of vacation a year out it will be posted for 7 days. For example Counselor A puts in for 11/14/2015 through 11/18/14 this will be posted for 7 days. Counselor B puts in for 11/16/2015 through 11/20/2015 on 11/16/2014. On 11/21/2014 the dates Counselor A put in for will be approved and part of Counselor B’s time (through the 18th). “Piggy backing” is still not allowed. b. Staff can ask for vacation one year out until whenever. Ex. You can ask out today through December 1st, 2015 if desired. Please be aware that now vacation requests for 2+ weeks will automatically be audited to ensure that staff does have enough time.

2. Radio distribution a. 15 additional radios have been located. This includes some training radios and some new. b. All clinicians now have 1 radio. c. Tim Lokensgard will be asking Katie Hildebrandt about getting an additional radio in the Count Coordinator office.

3. 1st watch control center a. There are now a couple of additional Security Counselors trained on NOC’s Control Center. There have not been many issues with getting breaks in because of this. b. When will the condensed training begin? Management stated that OD Pasbrig is going through this training first. Those who receive the condensed training will not be in Control Center by themselves. When there is no other option for Control Center to receive breaks Shantz Control will be transferred to Pexton Control where one regular staff will be accompanied by a staff with condensed training.

4. 1st watch additional vacation spot for summer of 2015 a. The option to add 1 additional vacation spot to 1st watch for the summer months was presented about 3 months prior. Management stated that they will keep this on the table and will continue to monitor. 

New items:

1. No sinks in Shantz break rooms a. The break rooms on the wings were designed to be a place for staff to store their food. There is a separate bathroom next to the break rooms with a sink. There is a large break room with a sink for all staff in the Shantz basement.

2. Alcohol based hand sanitizer a. There has been a meeting about this. Certain areas are on a list to be approved for alcohol based hand sanitizer. Such areas would include break rooms and possibly the count office. b. All alcohol based hand sanitizers must be wall mounted.

3. Discussion on process of granting holidays a. Currently holidays are granted by bid positions. Holidays are offered within those working units, Control Center, Treatment Post if there are walks, Transport if there are transports scheduled. The extras that are required for emergencies are given to Utility Pool to backfill. Should the Shantz and Pexton basement posts be pooled in with Utility Pool? These are bid positions. b. Contract only states “seniority unit based.” Vacation is granted by seniority per watch. It was agreed by labor and management that this should carry over to how holidays are granted. The scheduler will now go down the watch seniority list when granting holidays. Those capable and qualified to work Control Center and A-Team will be included in the total watch seniority list. c. Those who do not want to work the holiday can request that 21 days or more out.

4. New FMLA coordinator a. There is not an FMLA coordinator currently but for the interim Julie Whited and Karen Miller will be taking on that role.

5. Response to employee engagement survey from Nancy Johnston/update on work committee a. There is a work committee formed to address the areas MSOP scored low on. The directors chose Security Counselors Justina Roach and John Hibbard to represent MSOP. Patricia Todd is leading this committee. It consists of MSOP, DHS, and DCT. Justina and John will be speaking more on this committee at the all staff forums Wednesday, November 19th. b. An idea was presented to talk to employees about what they would like to see. The response was that the group was getting off track and not sticking to the agenda. This raises some concerns. AFSCME suggested having a freer flowing committee meeting steering away from a rigid agenda. Bonnie will have a discussion with Shelby on the employee engagement committee. c. Human Resources asked if there was anything we could do as a site? Bonnie Wold stated that she thinks we have and will continue to build on employee engagement. An example Bonnie gave is the site’s involvement in Combined Charities. d. A group presented to the management team a project done on employee engagement. Often employee engagement gets confused with the employee’s overall happiness. Employee engagement is defined as “a workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organization's goals and values, motivated to contribute to organizational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.” This will be brought to a lead meeting. Management would like people to feel safe bringing things forward. e. Forums are a great place to bring forward any questions to Shelby Richardson and Nancy Johnston. If possible, please submit any questions/concerns beforehand to Bonnie Wold so she can give them to Shelby and Nancy to get a more informative response.

6. Labor and Management's current working relations a. The working relationship has been amicable between labor and management, although AFSCME feels like they used to be more informed of changes. Management stated that things are happening more last minute. This is a good point and there is not a reason why information cannot be shared.

7. Campus Security a. Who will be funding campus security? Will MSOP have their own? Management stated that they are in favor of keeping lower access. They are unaware of what this will look like in the future.