REDUCTION IN FORCE A. In any reduction in the bargaining unit as a result of budgetary actions or curriculum and/or administrative organization, every effort will be made to transfer affected teachers to other similar positions within the school system where vacancies exist and for which the affected teachers are certified.
B. If no similar positions are available, rehired retirees, provisionally certificated teachers and non- tenured teachers in the subjects and/or grade levels affected will be laid off or separated from the active employment rolls prior to tenured teachers in the same subjects and/or grade levels. If it becomes necessary to lay off tenured teachers, they shall be laid off in the inverse order of their seniority. An appropriate seniority list will be made available for inspection when a tenured teacher has been laid off and disputes a seniority ranking. The seniority list will be developed from the last date of employment and furnished to the Association. If there is a tie, the affected teachers will have seniority calculated as defined in Article I, Section B.7. Teachers on an unpaid leave of absence shall retain accrued seniority. Teachers on military leave, Association leave and on layoff shall continue to accrue seniority during that time. A countywide list of all certificated personnel employed as of July 1 of each year shall be compiled and available upon request of FCTA. The list will indicate name, date of first employment, date of current employment and department and location code.
C. Teachers on layoff shall be placed on a priority recall list in accordance with their seniority. The teachers shall be recalled as vacancies become available in accordance with their position on the list and their certification for said vacancies.
D. When vacancies become available, the teacher will be notified of the vacancy by phone and email sent to the last known address. The teacher so notified shall notify the responsible administrator, in writing, in not more than ten (10) days after receipt of notification of the vacancy as to whether or not the position will be accepted. The teacher may decline the first offer of employment. If the teacher declines the second offer of a position, reemployment rights shall be forfeited. All teachers shall remain on the priority recall list for a maximum of three (3) years.
E. While a layoff continues, no new teachers shall be hired except in those unique circumstances where (a) there are no teachers on the priority recall list qualified to fill the vacancy or (b) all qualified teachers on the priority recall list decline the offer to fill the vacancy.
F. Any layoff due to reduction in force shall not be subject to any dismissal procedure required elsewhere in this Agreement.
G. Teachers recalled under these provisions shall have restored to them all previously accrued sick leave and personal leave.
H. The Board and the Association recognize that appropriate governmental agencies that have jurisdiction may promulgate rulings and/or regulations that may impact this Article. If such rulings or regulations cause any provisions to be in conflict, the parties shall meet within ten (10) days for the purpose of renegotiating only the provision(s) held to be contrary.
Reduction in Force and Recall Section 13.1. It is the intent of the parties, through this article, to establish an objective procedure by which a reduction in force (i.e., layoff or job abolishment) may be accomplished, should the need arise, and supersede the provisions of ORC 124.321 to 124.328, 124.37, OAC 123: 1-41-01 to 123: 1-41-22, and all local rules and regulations of the City of East Cleveland Civil Service Commission governing work force reductions.
Section 13.2. Employees may be laid off as a result of lack of work, lack of funds, or abolishment of position. In the event of a layoff, the Employer shall notify the affected employee thirty (30) calendar days in advance of the effective date of layoff. The Employer agrees to discuss with representatives of the FOP the impact of the layoff on the bargaining unit member. Any layoff in the bargaining unit shall be in accordance with departmental seniority, i.e., the most recent employee hired is the first employee laid off. Any employee laid off from a bargaining unit position may, at his option, displace a permanent part-time or intermittent employee in the same classification. Failure to bump or failure to accept a recall to a part-time or intermittent position shall not jeopardize an employee’s recall rights to a full-time position.
Section 13.3. Employees who are laid off shall be placed on a recall list for a period of three (3) years. If there is a recall, employees who are still on the recall list shall be recalled, in the inverse order of their layoff, provided they are presently qualified to perform the work in the work section to which they are recalled. Any recalled employee requiring additional training to meet the position qualifications in existence at the time of recall must satisfactorily complete the additional training required in this section. Such training shall be at the Employer’s expense.
Section 13.4. The recalled employee shall have ten (10) calendar days following the date of recall notice to notify the Employer of his intention to return to work and shall have fifteen (15) calendar days following receipt of the recall notice in which to report for duty, unless a different date for return to work has been otherwise agreed upon.
REDUCTION IN FORCE (RIF 13.1 This Section 13 shall apply to all Covered Employees.
13.2 As provided in state law and Board policy, the Board may cancel the employment contracts of Covered Employees when there is a justifiable decrease in the number of covered employee positions as a result of a fiscal exigency or program change as determined by the Board. However, before any meeting of the Board at which the Board will consider a proposed resolution or decision that a fiscal exigency exists or a program change is to be made that may require the cancellation of the employment contract of one or more Covered Employees, the Superintendent shall convene a meeting of the Professional Council established pursuant to Section 7 above to consult regarding the nature and extent of the fiscal exigency or proposed program change, and regarding any plan then contemplated by the administration for reduction of covered employee positions.
13.3 If the Board decides that the number of covered employee positions is to be reduced, normal attrition, retirement, and resignations shall be considered prior to any cancellation of Covered Employee employment contracts. In the event that cancellation of Covered Employee employment contracts is necessary to achieve the reduction required by the Board, the following shall be considered as significant factors in determining which particular employment contracts will be recommended for cancellation:
13.3.1 The needs of the district.
13.3.2 The best interest of the students enrolled in the district.
13.3.3 Education, licensing endorsements and other professional qualifications.
13.3.4 Job performance over the previous three year period as measured using the criteria and standards set by the Board for evaluation of Teachers and Counselors in accordance with applicable state law and state board of education rules governing evaluation of licensed personnel.
13.4 The probationary or non-probationary status of a Covered Employee, and the seniority of a Covered Employee, shall also be considered as additional factors in determining which employment contracts will be recommended for cancellation as a result of the decrease in covered employee positions, except that such additional factors may be considered only after the consideration of the factors set forth in the Paragraph 13.3 above, and only if consideration of such additional factors is in the best interest of the students enrolled in the district. The parties agree that such additional factors shall be applied as follows: (1) as between Covered Employees in the same endorsement area for whom the factors set forth subparagraph 13.3.1 to 13.3.4, above are not determinative as to whose employment contract should be cancelled, the Probationary I Covered Employees should be cancelled first, Probationary II Covered Employees second, and Probationary III Covered Employees third, before the employment contracts of Non-probationary Status Covered Employees are cancelled; and (2) as between Non-probationary Status Covered Employees in the same licensed and endorsement area for whom the factors set forth subparagraph 13.3.1 to 13.3.4, above are not determinative as to whose employment contract should be cancelled, the employment contracts of Non-probationary Status Covered Employees will be cancelled in the inverse order of seniority.
13.5 Covered Employees who have been subject to a RIF shall have the right to be recalled to a covered employee position, for which they are qualified, within the District for one (1) year from the date of RIF. Covered Employees shall be recalled in reverse order of RIF and previously accrued benefits shall be restored.
13.6 Probationary Covered Employees whose contracts will be canceled during, instead of at the end of, a school year; and Non-probationary Status Covered Employees whose contracts will be canceled either during, or at the end of, a school year, shall have a right to a hearing on the propriety of such cancellation in accordance with Board policy and regulations. If such a hearing is desired, the Covered Employee will request it in writing to the Board or Superintendent within ten (10) days after being notified of the proposed contract cancellation. If a hearing is requested, the Board will appoint an impartial hearing officer, who will specify the procedural rules to apply at such hearing. At the hearing, the Covered Employee may be represented by a person of the Covered Employee’s choice.
REDUCTION IN WORK FORCE 13:01 When circumstances require a reduction in the number of employees within a classification, the following procedure shall apply:
(i) An employee with the most seniority of those affected by the reduction in the classification shall displace the most junior employee in another classification within the same Seniority List, provided his seniority so allows and he can continue to perform the work required.
(ii) If the reduction results in the classification changing from Continuous Shift to a non-Continuous Shift, then senior employees being retained in the classification may, in order of seniority, be allowed to exercise any "bump" that the junior employee(s) could have exercised under 13:01 (a) (i) or 13:01 (d), provided the senior employee is capable of continuing to perform the work required.
(b) An employee so displaced shall in turn displace the most junior employee in another classification within the same Seniority List, provided his seniority so allows and he can continue to perform the work required.
(c) Notwithstanding (a) and (b) above, an employee displaced from a day job ("E" shift) through the provisions of this Article, shall have the following options: To displace the most junior employee on any Seniority List on a day job ("E" shift) not requiring training (*) provided his seniority so allows. OR To displace the most junior employee in any classification on any Seniority List (Maintenance skilled classifications excepted), provided his seniority so allows and he can continue to perform the work required.
(d) An employee displaced from a Departmental Seniority List, having previously exhausted all possible options within his own Seniority List as detailed in (a) and (b) of this section, shall be entitled to displace the most junior employee in any classification on any Seniority List (Maintenance skilled classifications excepted), provided his seniority so allows and he can continue to perform the work required. If more than one shift schedule is in effect in the classification, said employee may select his schedule provided his seniority so allows.
(i) An employee displaced from a Departmental Seniority List, having previously exhausted all possible options as detailed in (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this section shall be entitled to displace the most junior employee in any of the Seniority Lists (Maintenance skilled classifications excepted) provided his seniority so allows and he has the physical fitness to perform the work required and shall be trained to perform such work.
(ii) An employee displaced from a Departmental Seniority List, having previously exhausted all possible options as detailed in (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e)(i), who cannot perform the work required due to physical restrictions as confirmed by his Doctor, verified by the Company Doctor and where applicable verified by the WSIB will be allowed to displace the most junior employee of all those classifications on a comparable shift, provided his seniority so allows, and he can perform the work required as medically cleared by his Doctor, verified by the Company Doctor and where applicable verified by the WSIB. Training will be provided. If placement on a comparable shift is not applicable, then the restricted employee will be allowed to displace the most junior employee in the plant, seniority allowing in a classification in which he can perform the work required as medically cleared by his Doctor, verified by the Company Doctor and where applicable verified by the WSIB. Training will be provided.
(iii) If the restricted employee cannot be placed through the application of this section, then he shall be placed on the Inactive Seniority List (provided he is not receiving wages from other employment or refuses rehabilitative training as offered by the (Workplace Safety & Insurance Board) and the Company shall advise him of any future openings which he could perform.
(iv) An employee who cannot be assigned to another job through the application of 13.01(e) and who is ineligible for the Inactive Seniority List, may be placed on layoff.
(f) An employee entering another Department through the provisions of this Article, shall have his seniority transferred as of the date of the transfer.
(g) An employee displaced from his Department through the application of this Article, shall not transfer to another Department under the provisions of Article XII- Transfers and Promotions while a more senior non-restricted employee is on lay-off.
13:02 In the event a reduction of work results in a layoff, probationary employees shall be the first to be laid off.
13:03 Employees laid off shall for the purpose of recall, be provided with a form by the Human Resources Department on which they shall indicate the jobs they can reasonably perform. Employees who have indicated the jobs they can reasonably perform, on a form provided by the Human Resources Department, shall under certain circumstances be allowed to place themselves on lay-off.
13:04 In the event of lay-off for reasons other than those listed in Article XIX of the Agreement section 19:01 (a), (b), (c), and (d), the Company shall give at least seven (7) calendar days notice to the employees affected.
13:05 Whenever two (2) job classifications are combined into a single new classification, any employee who has been classified in either job during the previous five (5) years shall be allowed to displace a more junior employee in the new classification if he is affected by a reduction in the work force.
13:06 On occasions that scheduled maintenance of electrical equipment necessitates a power outage, employees affected shall be laid off for a period not in excess of one-half of their regular shift and shall not be eligible to displace other employees under the provisions of this Article.
13:07 In the event of a total plant closure, the Company agrees to pay a severance payment for all employees (except those on the Inactive Seniority List) at the rate of one (1) weeks regular pay per year of service to a maximum of twenty-six (26) weeks of pay. Employees with more than twenty-six (26) years of service shall receive an additional one-half (1/2) weeks pay for each year of service beyond twenty-six (26) (partial years of service will be included in the calculation of total severance pay). The Company will provide three (3) months notice to Union in the event of total plant closure.
Demotion in Lieu of Layoff The appointing authority shall determine by class, subject to review by the Director, whether demotion shall be afforded employees as an option in lieu of layoff. At the request of the appointing authority, a permanent employee shall, in lieu of layoff, be afforded the option of demotion within the same department to a position in a lower class, provided that no such demotion shall in turn require the layoff or demotion from such lower class of any employee whose layoff rating is at least as high as that of the demoting employee. A probationary employee may be afforded the opportunity to accept a demotion within the same department to a position in a lower class provided no such demotion shall in turn require the layoff of any employee in the lower class. Such probationer shall not become permanent in the lower class by this action except by completing a new full probation period in such lower class.