This section is dedicated to informing the members of one of their labor rights that they may not know of or be afraid to demand.

Personnel Files

This month’s contract education is focused on personnel files and discipline. Many staff report that issues which were ‘friendly conversations’ or ‘verbally counseling’ have later shown up in disciplinary actions. Nothing in a disciplinary action should come as a surprise! Are you being asked to sign something indicating you have been ‘reminded’ about policy/procedure/expectations? Are you being told you do not have the right to respond, or ‘tell your story?’

Know your rights and don’t be afraid to ask if you are uncertain.

II.L. PERSONNEL FILES

239. Only one (1) official personnel file on an individual nurse may exist. The official file shall be located in one of the three Human Resources offices of the Department of Public Health (San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital and 101 Grove Street) or at the Human Services Agency Human Resources Office.

240. Each nurse shall have the right upon request to review the contents of the nurse's official personnel file. Nothing may be removed from the file by the nurse but copies shall be provided upon request. Copies in excess of 100 pages will be provided at ten cents per page.

241. A representative, chosen by the nurse, may at the nurse's request, accompany the nurse in this review, or the nurse may give written permission to another person to review the file.

242. All material in the file must be signed and dated.

243. No derogatory information or statements not related to the nurse's assigned duties or professional responsibilities shall be placed in this file.

244. The nurse shall have the opportunity to sign, date and attach a response to all material in the official personnel file related to the nurse's assigned duties and professional responsibilities.

245. The nurse shall have the right to include in the file any material or information which is mutually considered to be germane to the nurse's professional career.

246. Discipline may not be imposed upon any matter in the file dated prior to two (2) years from the date of proposed discipline, unless the matter was subject to prior disciplinary action. Any prior disciplinary action may be considered in a termination or dismissal hearing.

247. Material relating to disciplinary actions in the employee's personnel file which have been in the file for more than three (3) years shall not be used. At the request of the employee, materials relating to disciplinary actions which are three (3) or more years old, shall be removed, provided there has been no recurrence of the conduct during the immediate three (3) years after the incident on which the discipline was based. Performance evaluations are excluded from this provision but employees may petition for removal of performance evaluations under rules of the Civil Service Commission.

Sample Letter to HR for Personnel File

EMPLOYEE REQUEST TO REVIEW PERSONNEL FILE

Every California employee has the right to inspect and copy personnel records pursuant to

Sections 1198.5 and 432 of the California Labor Code. I hereby request access to my complete

personnel file and exercise my right to inspect any and all materials contained therein. I reserve

the right to make copies of any and all contents and understand that there may be a charge for the actual cost to the employer of providing me with photocopies.

Further, I reserve my right to submit an explanatory statement for any document in which I

disagree with its contents and am unable to have the document removed by the Administrator

after discussing the matter. A rebuttal must be placed in the personnel file accompanying the

document which it rebuts.

I verify that the above information is correct and that I am the employee requesting the file. I

understand that I will only be allowed to review the file during a time that does not require

me to render services to my employer.

________________________________ ____________________________________

PRINT NAME SIGNATURE

________________________________ ____________________________________

DATE PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT

Cc: SEIU Local 1021 Rep

Investigatory Interview

An investigatory interview is one in which a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his/her conduct. If an employee has a reasonable belief that discipline or discharge may result from what s/he says, the employee has the right to request Union representation.

This can apply to “coaching,” “counseling,” or “friendly feedback”! If a conversation with management does not feel “friendly” to you – then it probably isn’t.

Employees always have the right to ask for a witness to be present at discussions with management. When privacy is raised as an issue, remember, it is your privacy and it is your choice if you would like a colleague or union representation there with you.

Meetings may not be called last minute in an attempt to avoid providing the employee with representation. Your employer is obligated to provide you with reasonable notification to obtain representation.

When in doubt ask someone to be with you or call in a colleague or union representation to witness the conversation over the phone.

Weingarten Rights

KNOW YOUR WEINGARTEN RIGHTS

How many times have you been asked to speak with your manager behind closed doors? Been informed in private your behavior or performance was sub-par? Been told you needed “Coaching” “Counseling” or “Friendly Feedback”? Been told you needed to sign something but weren’t able to document YOUR side of the story?

You need to know your rights when engaging with management.

Weingarten rights guarantee an employee the right to Union representation during any investigatory interview. These rights, established by the Supreme Court, in 1975 in the case of J'. Weingarten Inc,, must be claimed by the employee. The supervisor has no obligation to inform an employee that s/he is entitled to Union representation.

Skelly Rights

Know your Skelly Rights! Employees have, at times, been asked to sign documents ʻadvisingʼ them or ʻcounselingʼ them. Ask yourself if you have been provided an opportunity to tell YOUR side of the story or spoken with a steward about the situation before agreeing to any discipline or signing anything which could be kept in your personnel file.

SEIU LOCAL 1021 (STAFF NURSE & PER DIEM) Memorandum of Understanding July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2022 "Skelly Rights”

112. An employee subject to discipline or discharge, shall be entitled, prior to the imposition of that discipline or discharge, to a hearing and to the following:
113. A notice of the proposed action; and
114. The reasons for the proposed discipline; and

115. A copy of the charges and the materials upon which the action is based; and
116. The right to respond, either orally or in writing, to the authority initially imposing the discipline.