Planning for the 2009 UPTE Strike
FOR UC MANAGEMENT USE ONLY
SICK LEAVE
If you receive calls on November 18 and 19 requesting sick leave, you may require the employee to provide a verification of illness from a licensed health practitioner when s/he returns to work as a condition of sick leave approval.
If you choose to require medical verification, the requirement must apply to all employees who call in sick that day. The request must be made at the time the employee calls in sick. If the employee leaves a message either on a machine or with someone else, you must call the employee back and inform her/him of the requirement.
Advance Notice to Employees of Medical Verification Requirement—Suggested Script
"This is to inform you that if you call in sick on November 18 and 19 you will be required to provide verification of illness from a licensed health practitioner upon your return to work. Without this verification, absences from work will be considered unauthorized absences without pay and you may be subject to disciplinary action."
Employees Who Call in Sick—Suggested Script
"In order for me to approve your sick leave request for today, you will need to bring in a verification of illness signed by a licensed health care practitioner at the time you return to work. Failure to do so will result in a denial of sick leave and you will be absent from work without authorization and will not be paid and may be subject to disciplinary action."
If you believe that your employees will call in sick on November 18 and 19, you may send them advanced written notification of the requirement that they bring verification of illness from a licensed health practitioner.
VACATION REQUESTS
You may receive requests for vacation for November 18 and 19. Your decision to grant or deny the request should be based on operational needs. The reason for the vacation should not be the basis of the denial or approval of the request.
Advance Notice to Employees of Decision Not to Grant Vacation Leave for November 18 and 19—Suggested Script
"This is to inform you that due to operational needs, no vacation leave will be granted for November 18 and 19. Employees whose vacation leave requests for time that includes November 18 and 19, 2009 have been previously approved will be permitted to take the vacation leave as scheduled. All other staff are expected to report to work as scheduled. If you fail to report to work as scheduled, your absence will be considered an unauthorized absence without pay and you may be subject to disciplinary action."
Denying Individual Vacation Requests—Suggested Script
"Due to operational needs, I am not able to grant your request for vacation leave for November 18 and 19, 2009. You are expected to report to work for your scheduled shift. If you fail to report to work as scheduled, your absence will be considered an unauthorized absence without pay and you may be subject to disciplinary action."
ATTENDANCE
Managers may ask employees if they plan to come to work on a particular day or days for the purposes of determining staffing needs. Managers should not survey or communicate with employees concerning their intention to participate or not participate in a strike or a sympathy strike.
If you plan to ask employees whether they intend to report to work during any of the strike days, the question asked must be narrowly focused to avoid potentially violating labor laws.
The following script should be used if employees will be asked about reporting to work:
"We are working to determine what our staffing needs will be during the week of November 18 and 19. Do you plan to report to work as scheduled on November 18 and 19? If your plans change, please let me know so that our staffing plan can be adjusted if necessary."
If you have additional questions, please contact Labor Relations (labrel@berkeley.edu).