These are proposals that have been resolved with a Tentative Agreement (TA) between URA and Rutgers. Agreement on individual articles is the first step towards reaching a complete agreement which will become binding after a member ratification vote. We’ve made improvements to each of these articles without any givebacks to management.
Article 3: Administrative Leave
- 1/2 day gain in AL for those who change from 10-month to 12-month employees.
- No loss in AL for those who change from 12-month to 10-month employees during the FY of the change.
- Cultural holidays added as a reason for AL.
Article 6: Bereavement Leave
- Bereavement leave can now be used within 120 days instead of 90.
- Requests for extensions due to a public health emergency that delays memorial observance, or for religious, cultural, or travel reasons shall not be unreasonably denied.
Article 8: Call-Back Pay
- Overtime-ineligible employees who have left their regularly-assigned University work locations will now be guaranteed a minimum of three hours of compensatory time at that work location instead of one.
Article 16: Holidays and Personal Holidays
- Juneteenth National Independence Day is now a holiday to be observed annually on the third Friday of June.
- Election Day has been added as a reason for PH, V, or AL Day.
- Rutgers employees who work in county offices are guaranteed 15 paid holidays.
Article 17: Job Openings
- jobs.Rutgers.edu job board now filterable according to URA-AFT positions.
- Minimum of two URA-AFT applicants must be interviewed before others.
Article 19: Just Cause – Discipline
- A verbal warning must be specifically stated as a warning at the time it is issued.
- Rutgers shall be required to give advance notice of a pre-termination meeting to both an employee and the URA by no later than noon of the preceding business day.
Article 27: Non-Hostile Work Environment
- The definition of harassment was expanded to include oral, physical or written harassment, which are now explicitly inappropriate and unacceptable.
Article 28: Overtime/Compensatory Time Benefits
- Exempt employee excessive workload process now has an improved appeal procedure.
Article 29: Parking
- Employees will now have their pay for parking deducted in 26 equal payments throughout the year, and employees can cancel their registration at any time in the fiscal year to stop further payments.
- Employees who do not purchase an annual pass can purchase up to 10 daily permits.
- Registration will automatically renew.
Article 33: Probationary Employees
- Class 1 employees who have completed a probationary period prior to entering the URA bargaining unit will not be required to serve another probation.
- Meeting to discuss any probationary extension must be held within 10 business days.
Article 34: Professional Development
- Professional Development now explicitly includes university-sponsored professional conferences, workshops, seminars, or conferences, and the ability to request an alternate work schedule has been expanded to include these items.
- Employees must have advance notification of costs in attending professional development events.
- Employees will be reimbursed for the costs of certifications and licenses required by the University or state (outside of travel expenses, which is governed by
University Policy 40.4.1).
Article 58: Accessible Parking
- Rutgers shall provide additional permanent or temporary parking spaces when there are fewer parking spaces than individuals registered for accessible parking.
- Rutgers must meet in a Labor-Management Conference within 10 business days if the union requests to meet regarding the number of accessible parking spaces.