Public Employee Press

Local 1549 member wins back pay in sick leave dispute

Tunisia Gittins had exhausted her sick days and annual leave when she left on medical leave in November 2013. During her recovery, she struggled to get by because she had to rely on her savings.

When she returned to work two months later, Gittens - a member of Local 1549 working as a Clerical Associate at Coler Hospital - explored the possibility of getting retroactive coverage for her time out through the Health and Security's Corp.'s dedicated sick leave program. Under the program, workers who have exhausted their sick leave and annual leave can continue to receive their pay. Unfortunately, Gittens' request was turned down.

Not giving up, Gittins worked with DC 37 Grievance Rep Nina Perez to appeal the denial. The grievance noted that the hospital had not informed her about the dedicated sick leave program.

With the assistance of Associate General Counsel Steven Sykes of the DC 37 Legal Department, Perez resolved the dispute with the hospital. Under the settlement, the hospital agreed to cover Gittins' pay during the period of Nov. 21, 2013, to Jan. 7, 2014, the time she was out of work.

"The employer is supposed to make its employees aware of the dedicated sick leave benefit," Perez said.

"Tunisia's persistence paid off," said Renee Gainer, director of the DC 37 Clerical-Administrative Division.

The dedicated sick leave program covers participants for up to 180 days a year. The illness must be non-work related. Employees are required to submit an application to the human relations department with a physician's note about the nature of the illness or injury, the treatment and estimated minimum number of days the employee will need. An employee who wishes to donate time to a coworker needs to complete an application and return it to human resources. The donor's name is confidential.