MGEC had so many agenda items for the May 1st Meet and Confer with the DOT that we had to schedule a second meeting! The topics covered in both meeting included an update on the student loan reimbursement program (which has gone “live” at the agency), whether the agency has the staff it needs to do its work, and communications from frustrated members who have their Grad 2-to-Senior Engineer reallocations held up by the employer with no explanation.
With respect to the student loan reimbursement program, a communication went out from MDH on May 28th announcing the application period is now open. The topic has been very active for several years, over several contract cycles. It’s a positive development to finally see it happen.
On the second topic of reallocations for Grad 2s, the agency seemed to take a position that fails to acknowledge the seriousness that MGEC takes on this issue. They did not acknowledge the frustration that employees experience when they are aware that their peers in other agencies are being reallocated within a month or two of attaining the qualifications for the next job position, but they’ve been waiting for over a year. There is clearly a lot of work to do on this particular topic, and it won’t be solved in a “meet and confer” meeting. But we can use the meeting as an opportunity to communicate to senior level agency leaders that there is a problem that they need to address.
Reasons for the agency finding it difficult to fill positions were discussed. MGEC addressed hard to fill positions and the lack of competitive pay and restrictions of authorization of “remote worker” status (not to be confused with someone who is teleworking). Despite finding it hard to fill positions, MnDOT does not consider pay an issue due to a low turnover rate of current employees.
Another topic of increasing frequency that MGEC raised with MnDOT relates to mileage calculation. Employees would prefer that any miles driven for work purposes be reimbursable. It should not matter when the trip started at the teleworkers home or assigned office location.
If you have issues thar you’d like to see on “meet and confer” agendas, please let us know!