Answers to questions: MAPE's 2015-17 proposed contract

ver. 10/30/15

Below are answers to questions MAPE employees are asking about MAPE's 2015-17 proposed contract, including the approval process.

Wages

The proposed 2015-17 contract includes general wage increases in both years:

• 2.5 percent effective July 1, 2015
• 2.5 percent effective July 1, 2016
• Step increases apply both years (note: step increases average 3.55 percent in MAPE's contract)

A general wage increase means that each of the hourly rates illustrated on each of the compensation grids (see Appendix E-2 on pages 94-98 of the current contract) will be increased by negotiated wage adjustment. For example, an hourly rate of $30.68 will go to $31.45 effective July 1, 2015, and to $32.24 effective July 1, 2016. Step increases generally occur on the employee’s anniversary date. Step increase amounts vary somewhat, but the average is 3.55 percent.

Q: Is everyone entitled to step increases in addition to the 2.5 percent general wage adjustments on July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016?
A: MAPE employees who receive a satisfactory performance evaluations on their anniversary dates and who don’t meet or exceed the maximum salary in their ranges are eligible for step increases in each year of the contract. Note that the average step increase is 3.55 percent.

Q: When will I receive my 2.5 percent wage adjustment for July 1, 2015?
A: MAPE represented employees will receive the 2.5 percent wage adjustment (retroactive to July 1, 2015) after the membership votes to ratify the proposed agreement and the legislative subcommittee recommends that it be passed. The proposed contract will be sent to the Legislative Coordinating Commission’s Subcommittee on Employee Relations (SER) via Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB). If there is a tie vote of SER on its recommendation, the vote fails and the contract goes into effect in 30 days.

Regardless of any action, the proposed contract will go before the Legislature for final approval in 2016. Should the 2016 Legislature not approve the proposed contract, MAPE reverts back to the 2013-15 contract and MAPE will go back to the bargaining table. Money from pay adjustments received prior to this would not have to be paid back.

Insurance

MAPE has received a variety of questions regarding health-insurance changes included in our 2015-17 proposed contract. Below is a brief overview of the structure of state health insurance and the key changes included in the proposed agreement, followed by answers to health-care questions.

Under the State Employee Group Insurance Plan (SEGIP), there are separate premium costs for single coverage and dependent coverage. The state sets these premium levels each year based on the expected costs of providing health care to employees and to dependents. These costs include provider charges, administrative expenses and money needed to maintain reserve accounts.

Premiums are expected to increase by approximately 7.4 percent on Dec. 31, 2015, and by 6.6 percent on Dec. 31, 2016. (See table below with projected future premiums.) Premiums tend to go up each year to reflect the increased overall costs of providing health care. Holding costs down is in the interests of MAPE members provided that everyone has access to affordable, high quality health care. It is also in the interests of state agencies to hold down premium costs given that agencies pay to SEGIP the portion of the premium not paid by the employee (the larger portion).

Under the current contract, the state pays 95 percent of the employee premium and 85 percent of the dependent premium. MAPE's Negotiations Team successfully negotiated against the governor team’s proposal to increase employees' single premium responsibility to 10 percent. This means that employees will continue paying 5 percent of the employee coverage premium and continue to pay 15 percent of the dependent coverage premium.

With the tentative agreement comes modest increases across all four tiers in co-pays, deductibles, prescription drugs and out-of-pocket charges. These charges are outlined below and in Article 20 of the contract.

Summary of health insurance changes

1. Employee and dependent co-premiums – No change (it will remain at 5 percent for employee co-premium and 15 percent for dependent co-premium)
2. Out-of-pocket charges
   a. Annual first dollar deductible
   i. Cost level 1 – current $75/150 to proposed $150/300
   ii. Cost level 2 – current $180/360 to proposed $250/500
   iii. Cost level 3 – current $400/800 to proposed $550/1,100
   iv. Cost level 4 – current $1,000/2,000 to proposed $1,250/2,500
   b. Office visits co-pay
   i. Cost level 1 – current $18/23 to proposed $25/30
   ii. Cost level 2 – current $23/28 to proposed $30/35
   iii. Cost level 3 – current $36/41 to proposed $60/65
   iv. Cost level 4 – current $55/60 to proposed $80/85
   c. Prescription drug (Rx) co-pay
   i. Tier 1 meds – current $12 to proposed $14
   ii. Tier 2 meds – current $18 to proposed $25
   iii. Tier 3 meds – current $38 to proposed $50
   d. Plan maximum out-of-pocket expenses
   i. Cost level 1 – current $1,100/2,200 to proposed $1,200/2,400
   ii. Cost level 2 – current $1,100/2,200 to proposed $1,200/2,400
   iii. Cost level 3 – current $1,500/3,000 to proposed $1,600/3,200
   iv. Cost level 4 – current $2,500/5,000 to proposed $2,600/5,200

Note: The tentative agreement includes an expansion of coverage for palliative care, which is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both patients and families.

The tentative agreement also includes improvements in dental insurance coverage. In-network coverage will go from 60 percent coverage to 80 percent coverage after the deductible is met:

Premiums for dental insurance are projected to remain unchanged for employees and increase a small amount for families in 2017. (See dental premium projections below.)

All insurance changes are effective Jan. 1, 2016.

Q: Will single and dependent insurance coverage go up?
A: Yes. Although single and dependent insurance will remain covered at 95 and 85 percent, respectively, for all employees, the cost is anticipated to go up 7.4 percent for 2016 and 6.6 percent for 2017. The increases will result in an annual increase for employees in January of those years. For employee coverage this amounts to a $1.96 per month increase in co-premium and for dependent coverage it amounts to $11.32 per month increase in 2016. (See table above for premium projections.)

Q: What other changes in health insurance costs are included in this contract?
A: Other than those listed above, there are no other increases to prescription out-of-pocket charges, additional cost shifts or structural benefit changes.

Q: Are there any changes to our dental insurance?
A: Yes. In-network dental coverage currently covered at 60 percent will now be covered at 80 percent for certain dental therapies including: fillings, endodontics, periodontics, oral surgery and crowns. Employees will continue to pay 10 percent of the single premium for dental coverage and 50 percent of the dependent premium under the proposed agreement. (See above table for projected dental premiums.)

Q: Is there a cap on dental benefits?
A: Yes. While we did negotiate significant improvements to in-network coverage (60% to 80%), the annual maximum benefit for dental remains at $1,500 per year (excluding orthodontia for children). The annual maximum benefit was improved in the 2013-15 contract, and we know that currently very few people reach the maximum benefit level. Our priority this year was to improve the in-network coverage percentage.

Q: If my spouse works for the state of Minnesota, can one of us just pay the 5 percent single-coverage insurance premium while the other can be covered by the spouse’s dependent coverage?
A: Yes. However, this option isn’t right for everyone. For example, those that are CERP-eligible must retire with employee coverage in order to continue their coverage post-retirement. 

Q: Since I’m required to pay 5 percent of the single premium coverage, can I opt out of the state’s insurance altogether?
A: No. The tentative agreement does not change this requirement. Allowing employees to opt out of SEGIP coverage would weaken the vitality of the self-funded insurance plan.

Q: Are we ever going to get a health club reimbursement?
A: No. Every round of negotiations we hear from members interested in receiving reimbursement for their health club membership. MAPE has attempted to bargain reimbursement of fitness club fees for the past several contracts. However, the governor’s negotiating team refuses to offer the benefit. This is an item we know from years of negotiations: the state’s actuaries cost out at 100 percent, though we know actual employee participation is minimal. Research has shown that the reimbursement is very costly to the health plan, and that most of the participants drop out after several months. We will continue to work with the state to have this costed out more proportionately to its potential usage.

Q: Will Lasik eye surgery be covered by state employees’ health insurance?
A: Lasik eye surgery will not be included in insurance coverage for SEGIP members. The cost for this optional coverage was extremely expensive, and we were unable to reach an agreement to include coverage for Lasik eye surgery in the health plan.

Retirement

Q: I’ve heard there was a proposal on “phased retirement”. What is this and will it be available to qualified employees?
A: MAPE did propose establishing a phased retirement program. The proposal simply provided that if the appointing authority agreed, a retirement-eligible employee could reduce their work hours by up to 50 percent without loss of any benefits. Unfortunately, the governor’s team did not agree to this proposal. In the final hours of negotiations, however, they did agree that we could pilot the concept with any interested agency. At this point, we don’t know which agencies are interested. In the weeks ahead, MAPE will be reaching out to agency leaders to see whether they are interested in pursuing a phased retirement pilot program. We believe that such a program would prove beneficial both to the agencies and MAPE members.

Q: If employees retire after July 1, 2015, but before the new contract goes into effect (ratified and approved by SER), will their unused sick leave and vacation leave (put into their health-care savings accounts) include the 2.5 percent pay increase?
A: No. Employees who retire prior to receiving any back payment of wages on their pay checks will not receive any additional retroactive benefits as a result of this proposed agreement.

Q: What progress has been made on establishing a phased retirement option?
A: During negotiations, the governor’s team said there is interest from several agencies in exploring the options for phased retirement. An agreement was made to work with interested agencies in establishing phased retirement pilot programs.

Other benefits

Q: Does the tentative agreement include any changes to vacation accruals?
A: No. While MAPE argued for changes, the governor’s team would not agree to them. Repeatedly the governor’s team argued that the vacation accruals are adequate and competitive with other employers. MAPE strongly disagrees with this perspective and found ample evidence to suggest otherwise, especially for those in earlier years of their career.

Q: Did the governor’s team support MAPE’s paid parental leave proposal?
A: There is no new benefit at this time. However, Gov. Dayton has committed to reviewing various potential parental leave policies and implementing changes for all state employees (not just MAPE employees) based on that review. A task force will be formed and the governor has committed to include MAPE in this review process.

Q: Were any deferred compensation changes made in this contract?
A: No. MAPE brought a proposal to improve the deferred comp match, but the governor’s team would not agree to the changes. As in the past, the governor’s team costs these proposals as if every employee takes advantage of the benefit even though many members do not use the deferred compensation benefit. This makes it a very costly proposal, and unfortunately did not make it through to the final proposed agreement for this contract.

Q: What are the changes to the allowable annual professional development reimbursement?
A: The tentative agreement includes an increase in this reimbursement from $250 to $350 per year. Note that since these reimbursements are discretionary, they must be approved by management.

Q: Will those who require the use of service animals be allowed to take time off for initial service dog training?
A: Yes. Under the new contract tentative agreement, those who need to attend initial training with a service dog will be allowed unlimited use of both sick leave and vacation to do so. The prior contract capped this at 40 hours.

Q: What is the cap on the use of sick leave to accompany a parent to a medical or dental appointment?
A: The 24-hour per year cap has been removed, allowing for unlimited use of sick leave to accompany parents to their medical or dental appointments.

Other questions

Q: How does MAPE’s contract settlement compare to other state unions?
A: AFSCME and MAPE were the first unions to settle state contracts for 2015-17. The remaining state contracts are being negotiated. Historically, other settlements have closely mirrored the MAPE and AFSCME contract settlements on pay and benefits.

Q: Where can I find the initial offer made by the governor’s team on insurance and other benefits?
A. The initial offer from the governor’s team can be viewed here: www.mape.org/my-mape/news/governor-team-insurance-proposals.

Q: Why are there differences between the various state employee contracts on certain wage and benefit provisions?
A: While insurance is negotiated in coalition with the other state employee unions, the other provisions of the contract are not. Because of this, each of the various contracts contain a variety of different provisions. This is often due to the different trade-offs that are made during negotiations. For example, whereas a typical AFSCME step increase would equal roughly a 2.5 percent increase, the a typical MAPE step increase equals roughly a 3.55 percent. On the other hand, AFSCME’s contract provides up to a $175 match on deferred compensation contributions whereas the MAPE contract provides a $100 as a dollar-for-dollar match. These differences are the result of differing bargaining priorities, as well as differing views on the relative worth of one benefit over another.

Q: What happens if members vote to reject this contract?
A: Article XIII, section 2 of the MAPE bylaws states that “if the membership does not ratify the contract, a strike is automatically authorized.” Section 3 of the same article further states that “A strike authorized by the membership may only be implemented upon a majority vote of the Board of Directors.”

Q: What happens if the 2016 Legislature fails to approve the MAPE contract?
A: The tentative 2015-17 contract would no longer govern the wages, hours and conditions of work for MAPE represented employees. Terms and conditions would revert back to the 2013-15 contract. While employees would not owe back wages for the higher wages earned during the interim, their wages would revert to 2013-15 rates. Additionally, MAPE would have to go back to the bargaining table and attempt to negotiate a revised agreement. The option to go on strike would also be available if negotiations failed.

Q: How did the respectful workplace policy play into negotiations?
A: The new anti-workplace bullying language is now included in the contract, which makes the issue grievable for MAPE members.

Q: I heard probationary periods have been extended … Details?
A: The normal probationary period remains at six months. However, the three-month extension option has now been increased to a possible six-month extension, meaning probationary periods can now total one year. However, management is now required to conduct a performance review during the extended review period, as well as meeting with the association and the employee to discuss improvement strategies.

Q: What changes will we see in job postings?
A: Bid jobs will now be posted electronically for seven calendar days, rather than 10 days. Also where no one is qualified to interest bid, the state can choose not to post internally with notice to the Association.

Q: Will Greater Minnesota stewards be granted adequate travel time?
A: An additional half hour of travel time (1.5 hours total) has been permitted for Greater Minnesota union stewards to participate in grievance related activities.

Q: Are there any new provisions to help employees requiring ADA accommodations at work?
A: Yes. New language will require management to provide information regarding employee ADA accommodation requests to MAPE so that MAPE can advocate for better accommodations for employees with disabilities.

Q: With such a large government surplus ($2 billion) couldn’t the state afford higher salary increases?
A: Politics matter. So while the surplus is large, the 2015 Legislature only allocated an additional 1.8 percent more for higher salaries and benefits. This limited the governor team's ability to offer more.

Q: How do we find out if there were any changes to the contract supplemental in our specific agencies?
A: The contract voter booklet found on the MAPE website includes the revised supplemental agreements. MAPE members are also encouraged to check with their Negotiations Team representatives about specific changes. Members will also receive an email including a link to the voter booklet outlining all the changes prior to the contract vote.