On Wednesday, August 5th, MGEC and MnDOT held the quarterly “meet and confer” meeting. These meetings are an opportunity for each party to provide updates of events – and identify and address problems – that are unique to an agency.
Discussion highlights included an update from the agency on leadership and staffing changes and an update on how MnDOT employees are using the new Minnesota Paid Leave program. Regarding the latter, in its report to the meeting, MnDOT indicated that 564 applications for the new leave were received and 340 approved. Leave requests average 21 days and were most commonly used by new parents and those in need of medical leave that is greater than what is currently available.
MGEC brought forward concerns relating to new guidance from MMB about who qualifies as a “supervisor”, and how that creates a wide range of new problems for MGEC members. While the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does contain language that to be a “supervisor” one must have at least 2 reporting employees, MGEC reminded MnDOT leadership that the rule is neither new nor does it cap any benefits currently enjoyed by our membership. That requirement is relevant only for the purposes of the FLSA, but the agency seems to be reorganizing itself around that definition. The list of problems this creates for our members is wide and significant – reporting relationships have been disrupted and workflows affected.
While MGEC encourages and expects MnDOT to follow all applicable laws, we also expect it to follow our contract. We are evaluating how this change affects our members on a case-by-case basis to determine any possible violations of what the contract protects.