,# Synopsis of Collective Bargain Agreement between ohio council S, AFSCME, AFL-CIO/Child care Providers Together and The State of Ohio Preamble. purpose of Agreement is to promote access to quality child care, enable licensed and cerlified family provider to reach higher quality standards. to improve the recruitment and retention of quaiinea child care providers, to allow child care providers to participate in the decisions affecting their businesses and to provide for the prompt and equitable resolution of disputes. if any provision of the Agreement requires statutory or regulatory change, the State, ODJFS and ttri Union agree to propose, lobby and work jointly to effectuate the statutory, regulatory or legislative t-unding necessary to fully implement each provision of the Agreement' Article 1. Recognition The State recognized the Union as the exclusive representative of either Type A providers who do not meet the definition of employee under the National Labor Relations Act or Type B certified providers and in-home aides. The State will not, during the life of the Agreement negotiate with or reach agreement with any other organizationof family child care providers with respect to any matters subject to collective bargaining. Article 2 Non-Discrimination Neither the State nor the Union shall discriminate against any provider on the basis of race, sex, 6eed, color, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, height, weight, parental or marital status, pregnancy or childbirth in compliance with existing federal and state laws' No provider shall be discriminated against, intimidated, restrained, investigated, retaliated against or coerced in the exercise of their rights under the Agreement because of their participation in the Union'
Article 3 Parental Rights Parents have the sole and exclusive right to select providers and discontinue service. Union agrees to maintain confidentiality regarding parents and children in its duties as a representative of child care providers. ODJFS has agreed to create a brochure, in consultation with the State-Union mid-term Committee. for parents. The brochure will focus on eligibility requirements and the rights and responsibilities of parents including any co-payment obligations. ODJFS agrees to develop, in consultation with the Union, a list of items to be included in a parent handbook for Type B Certified providers to distribute to parents. No conflicts between a provider and a parent(s) shall be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure. Article 4 Union Rights Information: The Union shall be entitled to a list of provider names, addresses, provider type and ID number so that it can police the bargaining unit. Union Orientation: The Union shall have up to 30 minutes during Health and Safety training for Type B providers and Administrative Training for Type A providers to conduct union orientation, hand out information concerning the Union or Union benefits and distribute membership cards. Neutralit.v-: The State agrees to remain neutral on questions concerning union membership. Notice: The State agrees to provide the Union with copies of any notice the State sends to providers. r*{ Health Care: The State agrees to work with the Union to establish a deduction mechanism for \educting health care premiums for providers who choose to participate in the union sponsored health care plan upon implementation of the State administered payment system. Union Dues/ Fees: Upon implementation of the State administered payment system the State shall deduct from the reimbursement due to providers union dues and/or fair share fees.
Article 5 Provider Rights Policy and Rule Changes: With the exception of emergency rules, the State shall include the Union in its clearance process if the proposed change affects the terms and conditions of bargaining unit members. The State will also try and provide the Union with advance notice of proposed emergency rule changes. Proposed rule changes will be a standing items on the State-Union Committee. If the Union desire to bargain over a proposed rule change, it must notif,/ the State within 20 days of its receipt of the notice of the proposed change. The State shall also provide the Union with copies of all new or modified rules submitted to ODFJS from a CDJFS. Rule and policies adopted by a CDJFS are also appropriate topics for the State-Union Committee. State-Union Committee: In order to communicate and cooperatively discuss issues of mutual concern the parties shall form a State-Union Committee. The Committee shall meet quarterly. The Committee will be made up of four representatives from the ODJFS and one representative from the State Office of Collective Bargaining and five union representatives. CDJFS representatives may also be invited to participate. The Committees purpose will be to review and discuss existing and proposed policies, rules and regulations utilized across the State, to identiff best practices and to work toward uniformity in the regulation of child care. Provider Files: Provider shall have a right to access, review and copy their files at the State or CDJFS. The provider may be accompanied by a union representative or authorize the Union to access their files. Any complaint in a providers files shall be accompanied by a copy of the findings and the outcome ofany appeal procedure. Insgections and Investigations: Providers have a right to be treated with respect during visits, inspections and investigations and to receive impartial evaluations. Providers have the right to ask CDJFS employees for identification during home visits. CDJFS employees shall be required to inform providers whether the home visit is about a complaint or a routine inspection. ODJFS shall develop a curriculum for use by all counties in training inspectors. The curriculum will include a state-wide uniform checklist to be used by CDJFS inspectors during inspections. The form will include a section to allow the provider to comment on the inspection. A copy of the inspection form shall be provided to the provider at the end of the inspection. A similar form will be used for all complaint investigations. The curriculum will also educate CDJFS inspectors on issues of running a child care business
and identiffing developmentally appropriate activities and equipment. Additionally, inspectors shall be required to attend the Health and Safety Training that is required of providers. The Union shall be consulted about the curriculum and inspection checklist. Article 6 States Rights Unless modified by the terms of the Agreement the State retains all of its rights to manage the State's child care program, including the right to set rules, regulations, policies and qualifications of providers. Article 7 Grievance Procedure A grievance is defined as "arr alleged violation, misinterpretation or misapplication of the terms of the Agreement or allegations that a county rule or regulation is in conflict with the terms of this Agreement. An allegation that a CDJFS is violating a state statute. rule or policy may be raised as a grievance by a provider or the Union but will not be subject to binding arbitration. Participation in the grievance procedure shall be done in such a way as to not disrupt child care. Grievance meetings or teleconferences shall be scheduled at times when the provider is not serving children. Grievance Steps Informal Step: Provider may consult ODJFS without filing formal grievance by calling the Help Desk. Step 2: In the Event the issue is not resolved informally, a grievance may be submitted within 15 days of knowledge of the violation with the Office of Collective Bargaining. The Office of Collective Bargaining shall hold a grievance meeting within 7 days after receipt of the grievance. A response shall be issued by the Office of Collective Bargaining within 7 days of the meeting. The Answer shall be reviewed by the ODJFS Agency Director. Mediation and Binding Arbitration: If the matter is not resolved, the parties can agree to submit the dispute to mediation. If the matter is unresolved the Union can submit the grievance to final and bindins arbitration. Article 8 Non-Traditional Work Hours The State shall propose to add the following holidays to the def,rnition of "non-traditional hours",
New Years Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day. Article 9 Committee Participation The State will allow the Union to have representation on any committees that are established for the purpose of addressing issues affecting the subsidized child care program. There will be at least one representative from AFSCME and one provider representative on the Child Care Advisory Council and Early Childhood Advisory Council. Article L0 Appeal Procedure The ODJFS agrees to propose a change that a union representative or steward can function as a "legalrepresentative" of providers in the administrative appeal process. Article 11 Timelv Pavments A form will be created for the CDJFS to send to parents and providers as soon as a change in eligibility occurs. Upon implementation of the State-administered payroll system, the State will establish timely payment schedules and provide statewide training to providers in an effort to avoid billing errors. The State shall also consider direct deposit. Article 12 Reimbursement Rates The State agrees to conduct a study over the terms of this Agreement to evaluate the cunent method of reimbursing providers. The State will seek participation in the study from the Union and Type A and Type B Providers. The State shall not implement its finding during the term of this Agreement. ODJFS agrees to propose a change to eliminate the rule that CDJFS can negotiate its own rate to be paid to its county child care providers. 7 Articte 13 Health Insurance The State agrees to assist the union in obtaining grant funding for purposes of providing health care insurance to providers and to gather data from providers in order for the union to shop for best coverage and hold down costs of union sponsored health care insurance plan.
jhr',-j 5 0 o Step Up to Qualify The State and Llnion shall review the current "Step llp To Quality" program to adapt it to provider and to implement it as soon as it is economically feasible to do so. Article 15 Ohio Professional Development Network Registry providers are encouraged to register and the Union shall encourage participation' Article 16 SuccessorshiP The terms of the Agreement shall be binding on successor agencies of ODJFS. Article 17 Dufy to Bargain The State recognizes its obligation to bargain over all issues affecting rates and other terms and conditions of employment for providers. The State and Union shall have authority to bargain mid tem and enter into Amendments of this Asreement. Article 18 Agreement Article 19 No Strike Article 20 Miscellaneous Union to pay for copies of Agreement. Article 2l Term of Agreement Agreement will expire on June 30^ 201 0, Either pafiy my provide 120 days written notice prior to expiration of the contract to request bargaining over a successor agreement.