Question: I retired or resigned since June 30, 2020.  Am I eligible for retroactive pay for the contractual raises in our current 2020-2023 contract?  Am I eligible for the COVID bonus? Answers: To be eligible for the contractual raise that is effective July 2020, you must have been employed from July 1, 2020 through June 30,…

Question: I have more than 375 hours of accrued vacation time. What will happen with the extra hours? Answer: Thanks largely to the circumstances surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic, employees have been adjusting to teleworking and the new demands of remotely providing service to their institutions.  Knowing that increased workload would affect employees’ ability to take…

Question: What do you want to learn on Advocacy Day? What issues would you like brought to the attention of the state legislature on Higher Ed Advocacy Day, Monday, March 2, 2020? Answer: On Advocacy Day, representatives from all of the Higher Ed Unions and students converge on the statehouse and let legislators know of their concerns…so, let us…

Question: What is happening with Paid Family Medical Leave from the Union’s perspective? Answer: To date, and over the course of three bargaining meetings concerning PFML, the APA, along with sister-unions MCCC and MSCA have only agreed about process of notifying employees of the impending deduction from their bi-weekly pay. No Massachusetts state-employee bargaining unit…

Question: What is the process for changing APA member job Descriptions? Answer: (Please refer to Article III, (Workload of Administrators) Section A (Duties and Responsibilities: Job Descriptions) for complete details. In a nutshell, the APA Agreement stipulates that every administrator shall have a written job description.  Every member should have received a copy of the…

Question: Do I have to do my bi-annual Employee Narrative?   Answer: Yes.  It is a requirement.  But, more importantly, it allows APA members to set the tone and the agenda for their Annual Review.  By reviewing and documenting both your accomplishments and hindrances to completing tasks and projects, you remind your supervisor about just…

Question: Should employee and supervisor be required to meet after both Bi-Annual evaluation narratives are submitted by the APA member to the Administrative Area Supervisor (November and April)?   Answer: The intention of the new evaluation process is to promote communication between employees and supervisors. Ideally, after the first bi-annual report is submitted there would…