On February 13th, Governor Lamont closed Executive Branch offices due to a snowstorm, and as he did in 2023, he is continuing to improperly apply the State's Telework agreement with the Unions.
The Governor's written directive states:
All level 2 executive branch state employees whose job duties can be completed remotely should telework, or they may request use of accrued leave
Yet the actual Telework Agreement, which the Administration signed, states in item 8.3.2.:
In addition, teleworkers may be requested to telework on non-telework days as operational needs dictate or in the event of an emergency (e.g. power outage, flooding/water damage at official duty station etc.). Acceptance of such request shall be at the option of the employee.
SEBAC already has a grievance awaiting arbitration on this very issue relating to a prior incident in 2023 and while SEBAC does not recommend that employees ignore the Governor/Agency directive to telework if they are capable of doing so or request use of accrued leave, we will be filing another grievance based on this most recent directive and we will seek to recover the time.
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