Do you have prior military service? Did you take a break in state service to serve in the military? If you either have military service prior to your employment with the State of Minnesota, or you had taken a pause in your state employment, recent legislation allows you to purchase MSRS pension credits for the time spent in service. The formula of how much the credit purchase will cost is a function of your individual circumstances. Generally speaking, the closer you are to your full retirement the more expensive the purchase will be; conversely, the younger you are, the less it will ... Read More >>
IRS Mileage Increases
Article 19, section 2 of MGEC’s contract with the state ties eligible mileage reimbursement rates to the federal IRS rate. As we are all keenly aware, transportation costs have increased, and the IRS has reflected some of that increase by raising the standard mileage rate by $.015 to 67¢ per mile. When a State-owned vehicle is offered and declined by the employee, the Agency or designee shall authorize that mileage be paid at the rate of seven (7) cents less than the IRS mileage rate. The higher rate may be a paid if the use of the motor pool vehicle would have resulted in a greater cost to ... Read More >>
No Longer with MGEC – How Do I Get my Backpay?
If you separated/changed from State service after 7/1/23 you are entitled to backpay for the increased rate of pay effective retroactively to 7/1/23. This would include those that retired or were promoted out of the MGEC bargaining unit. To get your backpay, contact your prior human resources representative. You won’t receive your backpay without reaching out to request it. ... Read More >>
Why Didn’t My Pay Change?
MGEC Contract Implementation Update We are receiving a deluge of communications from the MGEC membership about the date of the payroll implementation of the new contract. We hear you! Here’s what we know: Communications from MMB to MGEC as well as all agency payroll staff advised that all of the negotiated changes - including the 5.5% effective 7/1/23 - as well as all of the other benefits would be implemented 12/20/23. That pay cycle started 12/20/23 and ended 1/2/24; The 12/20/23 change should be reflected on the upcoming paycheck to be paid 1/12/24, which is visible in the ... Read More >>
MGEC Contract Implementation
MMB has informed MGEC that the MGEC Contract 2023 – 2025 will be implemented 12-20-2023. The new contract is available on the MGEC website. The new contract rate of pay will be implemented December 20, 2023. December 20 – January 2nd pay period will be paid at the new rate which you will receive that check on January 12, 2024. Backpay, retroactive pay back to July 1, 2023, should be paid on the January 26, 2024, paycheck. If you are considering changing your deferred comp contribution or withholding allowance, please contact your Human Resources Representative for specific ... Read More >>
President’s Message
I am and will remain grateful for the opportunity to again serve as the President of the Minnesota Government Engineering Council during 2023. Things have changed immeasurably since I last served. At the turn of the century, most meetings were still in person and as you can see in this dated picture of me preparing for our June 2000 arbitration hearing, almost everything was done using paper. Our work back then seemed more exhausting, but was still well worth it (ie, goodbye to the midpoint of all pay ranges); which is how I feel about our most recent round of negotiations. Although we did not ... Read More >>