United Public Employees (UPE) met with Merced County Department of Public Health on October 16, 2025, to discuss concerns raised about changes to the duties of employees in the Medical Claims Clerk classification.  During this meeting, it was reported that duties were being affected due to the implementation of an electronic software system, CureMD. The County acknowledged that the implementation of CureMD involves a structural change to how billing and related functions and

On October 16, 2024, United Public Employees (UPE) met with the Merced County Human Services Agency (HSA) to discuss updated operational directives: Directive #79 covering Work Schedules and Directive #48 covering Time and Attendance Reporting. Directive #79 outlines policies for regular work shifts, alternate work schedules (AWS), split shifts, and telework. During the meet and confer, UPE proposed several changes to protect flexibility and fairness for employees. First, UPE

United Public Employees (UPE) met with Merced County on October 7, 2025, to discuss the County’s proposed Telework Policy. During this meeting, UPE proposed several significant changes to make the policy fairer and more practical for employees. The County agreed to many of these proposals, which resulted in key improvements to the final version of the policy. UPE proposed that employees be allowed to telework in consecutive days, removing the previous restriction that prevent

On October 10, 2025, UPE met with Merced County's Department of Public Works to discuss two proposed policies that affect our members: the Animal Feeding Policy and the After-Hours Worksite Access Policy. The Animal Feeding Policy, as proposed by the County, would ban employees from feeding any animals—stray, wild, or domestic—on County property or anywhere in the public right-of-way. That includes feeding cats, dogs, birds, or leaving out food or water dishes near buildings