NAPE/AFSCME member Monica Zamarripa, an Unemployment Insurance Claims Specialist for the Nebraska Department of Labor in Scottsbluff, defended her rights after her request to flex her schedule was unreasonably denied.
“I’ve always known that the contract has language protecting our right to reasonably flex our schedule, so when my request was denied, I reached out to my union representative to make sure I had a clear understanding of the contract language and guidance on how to approach the situation.”
Monica said that enforcing the contract is not only important to our members, but it’s also a good opportunity to educate some of the supervisors and managers who don’t fully understand how things are supposed to work.
“Sometimes there’s confusion between a request to flex and a request for a schedule change. After we filed the grievance and showed them that denying my request violated our contract, they made it right and asked us to withdraw the grievance,” she said “I think it could have been handled more quickly and proactively by management when I first raised the issue, but ultimately I had no problem escalating it through my union representative and our grievance process.”
Our union contract guarantees that an employee’s request to flex their schedule can not be unreasonably denied. Monica said it’s important to enforce our union contract every time it’s violated, and members should not hesitate to reach out with questions about their rights.
“It would’ve been easy to let this go, but this happens too often, and it’s not something that we can just let slide,” Monica said. “I hope other people see this story and learn about their rights so that they can stand up for themselves as well.”
If you believe that your request to flex your schedule has been unreasonably denied, contact us right away. Strict time limits apply to enforce your rights.
