Trauma Intensive Roles Proposal
On April 22nd, our bargaining proposed to give workers who are regularly exposed to traumatic situations at work additional well being leave.
MOU X Trauma Intensive Roles: We have proposed that people in roles that regularly expose them to traumatic events have access to additional well-being leave. This would automatically be available to any emergency response team and a group of job classifications we identified, but any employee would be able to request access to additional time when something traumatic happens at work. This would supply an additional 12 hours every 6 months (prorated by FTE). Additional well being leave based on experiencing a traumatic event would also be given in 12 hour increments.
In today’s Town Hall, several people asked for the full list of roles that are included in the proposal, so below you’ll find the speech that bargaining team member and social worker, David Casey gave to help management understand why this was needed as well as the full text of the proposal.
If you feel your role should be included but isn’t on the list, it may be too late for us to add it but we can work together to make sure the language that allows other groups to be added makes it into the contract and that your request is ready to be sent the day the contract is ratified.
“OHSU is a demanding and taxing workplace and many of our workers devote their careers to supporting the health and wellness of others. This work often comes with unique degrees of meaning and fulfillment, and also unique degrees of mental distress and traumatization. The reality for these workers is that these heavier experiences do affect the mental health and wellness of our workers both at work and at home. The goal of this proposal is to honor the work of these employees by providing them with additional room to breathe and recover from the psychological toll of their work. Maintaining the emotional health and wellness of our workforce should be of the utmost importance, because without this, our abilities to be empathetic and caring slowly erode. Emotional strain that does not relax becomes brittle. With this proposal we ask OHSU to invest in its workers tasked with bearing the emotional burden of those served by this institution.”
MOU X Trauma-Intensive Healthcare Roles
Definition: Employees whose jobs involve exposure (including vicarious) to various forms of trauma, including physical, emotional, psychological, or social trauma. These roles may require the employee to manage, treat, and/or support individuals who have experienced significant traumatic events or conditions (e.g. accidents, violence, abuse, addictions, natural disasters, severe illnesses), or to work in environments that involve repeat trauma (e.g. animal care, intensive care).
Employees in specific classifications (listed below), employees who are members of any emergency response team (e.g. Code Blue, Rapid Response) or employees whose jobs include a disproportionate burden on mental health and well-being (and meet the above definition) will receive an additional 12 hours of well-being leave biannually (hours pro-rated by FTE or based on a 6 month look back period for relief and flex workers):
12 hours on the first full pay period after January 1.
12 hours on the first full pay period after July 1.
Employees outside of the identified classifications who experience a traumatic incident at work may request an additional 12-hours of well-being time from their manager or Administrator on Call (AOC) or escalate to Administrator on Duty (AOD) that will be available for use immediately.
The Employer will place 12 hours into the well-being bank for any newly-hired 1.0 FTE employee (hours pro-rated by FTE) on the first full period after the employee’s date of hire.
Including, but not limited to:
Hourly:
6510A - Art therapist
6600A - Bicultural Mental Health Associate
6601A - Bicultural Mental Health Professional 1
9111A - Bicultural Mental Health Professional 2
6540A - Child life specialist
6433A - Clinical Vet Tech 1
6434A - Clinical Vet Tech 2
6435A - Clinical Vet Tech 3
612A - Emergency Department Technician
6118A - ICU Technician
6880A - Lab Animal Technician 1
6881A - Lab Animal Technician 2
6882A - Lab Animal Technician 3
6533A - Mental Health Assistant
6524A - Respiratory Care Practitioner 1
6525A - Respiratory Care Practitioner 2
6631A - Social Work Specialist
6622A - Social Worker
6427A - Vet Research/Health Technician 1
6428A - Vet Research/Health Technician 2
6429A - Vet Research/Health Technician 3
9129A - Veterinary Medical Lab Technician
6430A - Veterinary Surgical Technician 1
6431A - Veterinary Surgical Technician 2
6432A - Veterinary Surgical Technician 3Salary
Salary:
6620S - Chaplain
6621S - Clinical Outreach Social Worker
6633S - Patient Financial Counselor
6622S - Social Worker
Employees of the Union, union representatives, and AFSCME representatives may request that an employee’s manager consider adding additional positions to the list of positions eligible for this additional well-being time. If the manager is in agreement, the manager will reasonably advocate for adding those positions to the list of positions eligible. If the manager denies the employee’s request, employees may escalate the request to the next level of leadership. If the employer agrees with requested additions to the list of positions eligible it will notify the union. No additional bargaining will be required for positions added to this process.