New Contract Pay Increase

On your pay advice for September 2, 2016, one week (40 hours) is paid at your old rate and the 2nd week at your new rate. The pay period for this check is August 8 – August 21, 2016. The new HFC-SSA contract was approved on August 15, 2016 and the new pay rate begins as of that date.From Joe Zitnik:Administration actually agreed to retro pay back to July 1, which is when the steps should have occurred, if it were allowed by law. It was the state law that prevented it. For those interested, here is the culprit:PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS (EXCERPT)Act 336 of 1947423.215b Expiration date of collective bargaining agreement; wages and benefits; levels and amounts; retroactive levels and amounts prohibited; provisions applicable to labor disputes submitted to compulsory arbitration; definitions.Sec. 15b.(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, after the expiration date of a collective bargaining agreement and until a successor collective bargaining agreement is in place, a public employer shall pay and provide wages and benefits at levels and amounts that are no greater than those in effect on the expiration date of the collective bargaining agreement. The prohibition in this subsection includes increases that would result from wage step increases. Employees who receive health, dental, vision, prescription, or other insurance benefits under a collective bargaining agreement shall bear any increased costs of maintaining those benefits that occur after the expiration date. The public employer may make payroll deductions necessary to pay the increased costs of maintaining those benefits.(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) or (4), the parties to a collective bargaining agreement shall not agree to, and an arbitration panel shall not order, any retroactive wage or benefit levels or amounts that are greater than those in effect on the expiration date of the collective bargaining agreement.