Contract Bonus ($3K)

Good Afternoon everyone and Happy Friday! I wanted to take a minute to send you correspondence in regards to the $3K Contract bonus expected in April as I have started getting a lot of inquiries again as of late. Please do share this information with your CSEA brothers & sisters, and of course continue to urge them to join our website at CSEALOCAL104.ORG so that they do not continue to miss important local updates.

Here is the excerpt from the tentative contract agreement we were provided when the contract was ratified, the current contract has still not been made available in print or PDF format- as soon as it is available I will make sure you're aware and informed on when we will receive the physical copies here in parks.

Here is a breakdown of that language to assist you in determining who is eligible to receive the bonus:

BUT FIRST- We do not have an ETA on the DATE/CHECK that the bonus will be paid at this time, as with all payroll releases (longevity, clothing allowance, etc.) a Payroll Bulletin will be posted by the Office Of the Comptroller and that is when we will know approximately when to expect it. I would not expect to see a payroll bulletin until late March or after April 1st since (as most of you are familiar) April is the beginning of the fiscal year and no funds are released until the budget is approved. So unfortunately, this is a question no one in CSEA or NYS is capable of giving you a different answer to. I will post on the FB and the website when the payroll bulletin is posted.

- Note that this bonus is being termed a "SIGNING BONUS" therefore only individuals who were in active state service, on the payroll, in the CSEA bargaining units (OSU/ASU) in August 2022, when the contract was ratified are eligible for the bonus. In ADDITION those individuals must remain on the payroll continuously, with NO breaks in service from the date of ratification through March 31, 2023 UNLESS they have retired from state service BETWEEN THOSE DATES.

- CSEA retiree's who have or will leave state service between those dates STILL qualify for the bonus according to this language.

- PEF employees, or employees who's operating unit changed from a CSEA title to another negotiating unit before or after ratification of the contract are not eligible for the CSEA bonus.

- Any employee who had a break in service and was off state payroll, for any period of time between August 2022 and April 2023, does not qualify for the bonus.

If your personal situation varies from the conditions covered above please reach out to one of your Union reps- we are happy to answer any questions you might have based on these eligibility requirements. Please understand that while we wish the terms of eligibility would be more encompassing of ALL our dedicated members, including those who have received promotions or who are forced to take breaks in service by no fault of their own- this is the collective bargaining agreement that the state agreed to after MUCH back and forth between the parties and much lower monetary amounts being countered by the state- CSEA refused to "give" and stuck to that $3K minimum without compromise! As in all contract negotiations, the teams responsibility is to the best deal possible that will benefit the most CSEA members.

I hope you all have a stress free and relaxed weekend, thank you for taking the time to review this correspondence and we hope that you will assist your fellow members in understanding these eligibility guidelines or direct them to me (Jamie) to answer any questions that aren't covered above.