VSEA surprised by Shumlin administration’s imposition of mandatory overtime rule

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The Shumlin administration is determined to get all the paper applications that Vermonters have filed for health insurance through the state’s health care exchange processed by the end of the year.
To that end, the Department of Children and Families invoked a mandatory overtime provision in the collective bargaining contract with state workers on December 10. David Yacovone, commissioner of the department, issued a memo to 130 employees (50 classified workers and 80 temps), requiring them to work 56 hours a week (including a day on the weekends) until further notice, but certainly through the end of the year ‘ starting Dec. 12. The workers are paid time and a half for the additional work hours.
The state’s website, Vermont Health Connect, has been fraught with functionality issues, glitches and slow page loads. In order to get 65,000 Vermonters ‘ employees and individuals ‘ signed up for insurance before the end of year, the state opted to accept paper applications.
Workers have not been able to keep up. Jan. 1 is the deadline for subsidized enrollment in the state’s health care exchange, and the state is scrambling to get as many Vermonters who have signed up into the system. (The deadline for individual applications is Dec. 23.)
Mandatory overtime was the only option, according to Kate Duffy, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Human Resources. The rule is more commonly used for workers who are employed in ‘24/7’ settings like correctional facilities, she said.
‘It’s not an ideal situation, and we’d prefer not to do it, but when you have to get something done and Vermonters expect you to get it done you do what you have to do,’ Duffy said in an interview. ‘I just appreciate the work these folks are doing, and most understand why they’re being asked to do this. These are hardworking people and we appreciate the work.’
The state has rarely used this mandatory overtime provision for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. state employees ‘ neither state or union officials could remember the last time it was invoked ‘ and the Vermont State Employees Association, the state workers union, was taken by surprise. VSEA cannot file a complaint about the requirement because it is built into the collective bargaining contract.
VSEA officials have asked for a meeting with Jeb Spaulding, the secretary of the Agency of Administration, before Dec. 25.
The union says workers aren’t as upset about the extra hours they are required to work during the holidays as they are about a lack of training.
There is no expert from the Department of Vermont Health Access on site to field questions from workers about whether applications have been filled out correctly, according to Doug Gibson, communications manager for the union.
In a VSEA newsletter, callers were described as ‘angry and exasperated’ with the Vermont Health Connect enrollment process.
‘They feel thrown into a really bad situation without the tools and resources they need,’ Gibson said.
Workers are also fielding phone calls from Vermonters, he said, when Maximus, the company that has been contracted to take the calls, is not able to answer questions.
‘Some applications are going to be rejected down the line, because workers are not familiar enough with the system to walk Vermonters through the application process,’ Gibson said.
VSEA workers say they are also frustrated with the website, which they characterize as ‘riddled with glitches’ and does not allow them to save partially filled out applications, which means they have to re-enter data into new forms.
In his letter to employees, Yacovone acknowledged that mandatory overtime ‘ especially over the Christmas holiday week ‘ would be a hardship for the employees. The commissioner told Vermont Public Radio that workers would receive four hours of training.