On Friday, January 9, our Union held a second meeting with EDD regarding their intent to shift duties for many EPR’s working in the Workforce Services Branch offices to focus on 100% on RESEA funded duties. Our initial meeting was held on December 19.
EDD verified with our Union team that their primary intent in shifting these duties is to align the work done by the WSB with a more secure funding source than the existing Wagner-Peyser funding, which will allow the department to provide robust services and retain qualified staff. EDD does still receive Wagner-Peyser funding and doesn’t have current plans to shift employees away from working on those activities. This may mean further shifts in employee duties in the future, and our Union will be closely involved if those shifts occur.
EDD will be training managers on these duty shifts on Monday and Tuesday, January 12 and 13. Employees taking on these updated RESEA duties will have the opportunity to choose to be trained on either Wednesday January 14 or Thursday January 15. Managers will also attend these trainings.
For those WSB employees that are not shifting to RESEA duties for their entire workload, they may be asked on occasion to assist in coverage of RESEA duties when colleagues are briefly out of the office, but the intent is not for this coverage to include the case management duties that go along with RESEA services.
Our Union is monitoring this rollout closely and will continue to interact with the state – including additional meetings if needed – as this implementation moves forward. Please do not hesitate to contact your local steward with concerns about this issue and especially if you have any concerns about statements made at the upcoming trainings.
For any questions or concerns, contact your bargaining unit leaders at [email protected]
In Solidarity,
SEIU Local 1000, Bargaining Unit 1