CDPH Telework Meet and Confer
Update from April 15, 2022

Post

On Friday, April 15, 2022, our Union met with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) regarding the new Telework policy. CDPH stated they support telework department-wide and see telework as a retention and morale booster for CDPH. We had a productive meeting where we learned CDPH is working to address properly resourcing teleworking equipment and functions to ensure the best teleworking environment.

We learned the following: 

  • Confirmed softphones are currently available for all remote-centered employees
  • Confirmed duty statements should be updated to accurately portray current work duties and functions
  • CDPH is looking into securing resources to ensure all remote-centered employees have the equipment they need, such as laptops or other computing devices
  • Any telework denials should be brought to the attention of CDPH Labor Relations immediately, as Labor Relations serves the role of the CDPH Telework Coordinator
  • CDPH is working with CalHR to explore making a remote-centered employee’s home their headquarters for mileage calculation purposes
  • CDPH is working to make health care facility surveys paperless in the future
  • One issue in particular our Union will continue to address is for HFENs not being paid for travel time
  • If you are currently in need of new equipment for teleworking purposes, you can request this by submitting a Cherwell IT Ticket which can be found on the CDPH intranet.

Reasonable accommodations will continue to be met, whether remote-centered or office-centered. Efforts are being made for remote-centered employees with reasonable accommodation needs to be able to meet those needs through shared work spaces when coming to the office. If an employee is having issues with meeting their reasonable accommodation needs, please contact the CDPH Disability Management Office at dmu@cdph.ca.gov

This table will remain open and our Union will continue to work with CDPH to address issues with the new telework policy. If you are having issues with telework, please contact the SEIU Local 1000 Member Resource Center (MRC) at 866.471.SEIU (7348). You can also reach out to your respective bargaining unit leadership by emailing unit1@seiu1000.org, unit4@seiu1000.org, unit17@seiu1000.org