PeoplePlus Update Improving Tracking of Credit Hours

The following is an update from EPA on improvements to PeoplePlus, Release 9, that allow employees on more kinds of schedules to track credit hours more accurately and easily. NTEU was actively involved in pushing the agency to make these important changes to improve employees’ ability to earn and record credit hours.

“As requested during the focus group discussions following the implementation of PeoplePlus 9.2, the agency was taking necessary steps to address concerns over the recording of credit hours. Please be advised that an update was made to PeoplePlus, Release 9. The release allows all employees on flexible schedules, including the Maxiflex schedule, to record earned credit hours daily in PeoplePlus, as opposed to recording earned credit hours only after fulfilling their biweekly work hour requirement.”

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Union Files Grievance Challenging Wasteful Timekeeping System

The EPA Inspector General investigates fraud, waste, and abuse, and defines "waste" as "extravagant, careless or needless expenditure of government funds, or the consumption of government property that results from deficient practices, systems, controls or decisions." The Office of Chief Financial Officer's roll-out of the latest PeoplePlus "upgrade" certainly qualifies. This new system caused thousands of wasted employee hours to accomplish what was previously being done in only a few minutes.

Our informal surveys of employees revealed dozens of hours of wasted time per employee just trying to accurately input time. We learned that many employees on flexible schedules were taking up to two hours to get time certified every two weeks. Assuming 20% of employees are on flexible schedules, that is approximately 5,800 wasted hours each pay period.....

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Daily Flexible Schedule

Have you ever gotten delayed coming into work? Did that stress you out because you were concerned that people were counting how many times you were late? Have you ever wanted flexibility to shift your schedule on a day-to-day basis without supervisor approval to handle child-care responsibilities, errands, or just because you like to vary things?

The Collective Bargaining Agreement approved last year includes a new schedule option called the Daily Flexible Schedule. Features include....

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Badging Entry Update

You may have seen an email this week from the Office of Administration and Resource Management's Facilities Management and Services Division regarding the "Physical Access Control System" in WJC North and South buildings. This new system will eventually require that your badge be held to a small black pad for a short time when coming into EPA buildings or into interior controlled spaces.

As you can probably imagine, this new system generates a large amount of data on when you came into a building, and if management has its way, in the evening when you leave. Our members are understandably concerned that this data would be improperly used as a defacto time clock, much like factory workers punch when clocking in and clocking out of the factory floor.

Fear not, NTEU has you covered.

EPA management assures us that this system is to be used for security purposes only, not for timekeeping. But we're not taking their word for it! We negotiated a memorandum of understanding that specifies that the system "shall not store or track, or be used to store or track, attendance, location, or work hours" of employees. It's just one more thing NTEU Chapter 280 is doing to protect you.

Keep in mind that we're only able to have this kind of positive impact on you if you are a dues-paying member. Please consider joining today and strengthening our bargaining position. More information here.