Membership Advantages
It is imperative that you know your employee rights in order to ensure equal treatment and fairness in the workplace. As a public employee and dues paying member, you have rights that are granted through your union contract, state and federal law, and work place policies. UPE's staff and member-leaders have fought tirelessly throughout the years to expand and protect these rights.
Some of these rights include proper representation during an investigatory meeting pertaining to a disciplinary matter. Your rights to Family Medical Leave Act, American Disabilities Act, and sick/vacation leave request/usage. A change of policy that impacts your current working conditions prescribed under the MOU and or government code. All of this matters and we will educate you through this process.
To that end, we are developing a series of short, easy to-read summaries of many of your employment rights. More summaries will be added to this website over the coming months. As a union member, always feel free to ask your Steward and or your Business Representative about your employment rights and how they apply to your specific circumstances. In most cases, your employer is not required to inform you of your rights.
Writing a Rebuttal
Many members are not aware that you have a right to file a rebuttal to anything that is being put in your file. If you believe that a claim by your supervisor or manager is untrue, you can and should file a written counter-argument to that claim. Such written rebuttals can be to any of the following personnel materials:
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Counseling memos
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Corrective Performance memos
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All materials or memos related to performance
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Annual written performance appraisals
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Letter of Reprimands
When writing a rebuttal, you are countering the specific statements in the supervisor’s memo that you believe are not true. It is always important to leave your opinions out of the rebuttal and stick to just the facts. It is always important to supply a rebuttal to allow your side of the story to be read. If you transfer or get a new supervisor and your file is looked at by that new supervisor, the only thing they see is what the previous supervisor wrote. Unless you write a rebuttal, your side is not available.
In addition to supplying a rebuttal to the document of disagreement, you should always sign the memo. Sign it under duress. Write “See attached rebuttal”. If you like, you can ask a Job Steward or your Business Agent to review the rebuttal prior to its submission. Your rebuttal must stay attached to the document that you are rebutting for as long as that document stays in your file. After turning the rebuttal in, it is important to do a file review after a few weeks or month to ensure that the rebuttal is in the file. In addressing each subject in the document for your rebuttal, you should focus your points of the rebuttal in chronological order as it relates to the document you are rebutting. Include your points of disagreement and conclude in a summary why you believe that the memo should not be in your file. Remember that if you do not write a rebuttal, it may be viewed as an admission of guilt.