Employment and Income Security Agreement

该协议于1999年达成，为因新技术或劳动力变化而失业的工人提供再培训和重新部署。

Download a 6-page PDF of this agreement.

• Summary
• Introduction to the Agreement
• The Commitment to Employment and Income Security
• Workforce Planning
• Employment Security
• Redeployment and Transition Status
• Process

Summary of the 1999 Employment Security Agreement

1998年，Kaiser Permanente和工党合作伙伴承认了他们的共同义务和意图，即通过避免Kaiser Permanente员工被解雇来最大化Kaiser Permanente员工的就业和收入保障。就业保障和劳动力参与对于实现市场领先业绩的共同伙伴关系目标至关重要。

Accomplishing employment and income security requires increased union flexibility through locating alternatives for displaced employees and adjusting contracts to maximize opportunities during transition times. The parties must also focus on managing "people" resources through proactive problem solving and allowing necessary time to process solutions.

双方将制定由高级伙伴关系委员会管理的劳动力规划战略和实施计划。

If a displaced employee cannot secure a position in the same classification previously held, he/she will be placed into a position in the most comparable classification possible, maintaining current rate of pay, for a transition period.

To instill a culture of workforce engagement and joint problem solving, all parties will engage in defining and resolving issues: management will be inclusive in the solution finding process, and unions/employees will help find solutions.

Each Region will develop and utilize a Partnership appeal mechanism and adhere to an impasse resolution mechanism to review difficulties achieving employment security goals or failure to adhere to mutual agreements.

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Labor Management Partnership Agreement

Clarification of Employment Security Principles and Application October 20, 1999

Labor Management Partnership Equation Performance = Security + Governance + Rewards

Language from Partnership Agreement signed June 1997

Partnership Agreement Goal:

"Provide Kaiser Permanente employees with the maximum possible employment and income security within Kaiser Permanente and/or the health care field."

Partnership Agreement Language

"The parties acknowledge a mutual obligation and intention to maximize employment security for Kaiser Permanente employees. As such, it is the intent of the parties of the Partnership to avoid the displacement of any Kaiser Permanente employee. We recognize that there could be circumstances when such a commitment cannot be achieved. In such cases, the Partnership will make use of attrition, growth of the business, aggressive job matching, short-term training efforts and other mechanisms agreed upon by the Partnership participants. There will be no loss of employment to any employee because of participation in a Partnership program at the worksite."

《全国劳资合作协议》将Kaiser Permanente和签约劳工组织联合在一起，达成一个共同目标，使Kaiser Permanente成为美国医疗保健的卓越提供者。我们共同致力于证明劳资合作为Kaiser Permanente员工带来卓越的医疗保健成果、市场领先的竞争表现和卓越的工作场所。

Employment Security is a goal of the Partnership and one of the cornerstones of workforce engagement and, as such, is an integral part of the Partnership commitment to market leading performance. It represents an expression of the vision of Kaiser Permanente and the Unions to provide a new level of commitment to employment and income security for Kaiser Permanente employees covered by the Partnership, with a goal of doing everything reasonably possible to avoid the permanent displacement of personnel.

It is our belief that workforce engagement is critical to the success of changing the way we do work, resulting in better quality, greater efficiencies and increased growth. It is unrealistic, however, to expect employees to participate in process improvements if as a result they redesign themselves out of a job or if the result is their co-workers lose their jobs.

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The Commitment to Employment and Income Security

Our commitment is to re-deploy, not lay-off, employees who are displaced. Accomplishing our Employment Security goal will require new behaviors and approaches from both Kaiser Permanente and the Unions, including:

1. Increased planning and flexibility -- It is not the intent of the parties to discard or ignore existing contract provisions such as seniority, job posting, or displacement. However, the Employer's ability to honor its commitment to maximize employment security and locate economically feasible alternatives for displaced employees may be directly proportional to union flexibility with regard to such provisions. Accordingly, it is expected that unions will develop a process to achieve flexibility in contract provisions when necessary to maximize employee opportunities during periods of transition.
2. Resources, time and new processes -- Maximizing employment security requires a mutual commitment to engage in proactive problem solving at the onset of a problem and to allow sufficient time to process solutions. It also requires a commitment to provide reasonable transitions for those affected and to consider solutions in light of current business and operational goals and realities. And, it assumes establishment of an aggressive workforce planning process--a formal long-term approach to managing the "people" resources of Kaiser Permanente.

Turnover will provide opportunities to allow displaced persons to return to their former classification. However, the parties recognize that an employee's ability to return to his/her former classification may not always be possible due to rapid changes in technology and the health care environment.

The following is what it will minimally require to achieve the employment and income security in all situations other than those defined as extraordinary circumstances, and is intended to assist the parties in implementing the Employment and Income Security provision. The parties are encouraged to use creativity in adapting these principles to respond to local situations.

The Partnership Agreement recognizes that extraordinary circumstances, as deemed by Program level Health Plan/Hospitals leadership and Permanente Medical Group leadership, could present situations which would require the parties to come together for a high level joint review to examine what is appropriate for that situation. Examples of extraordinary circumstances are those which impact a significant number of employees and could include closure or divestiture of KP operations, severe KP membership or financial losses, technological changes which impact job classifications, legislative or regulatory changes which broadly affect operations, etc.

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Workforce Planning

Collectively, the parties will develop and oversee a comprehensive workforce planning strategy and implementation plan. Oversight responsibility for the plan elements and results relating to Employment Security will reside with the Senior Partnership Committee (SPC). Regions, together with their union partners and with Human Resources and Labor Relations, will have accountability in their areas of responsibility for developing and implementing plans which are integrated with the overall strategic business plans and consistent with Employment Security goals.

Workforce planning includes:

1. Identification of existing and anticipated shortages
2. Identification of both emerging and obsolete skills or job classifications
3. Analysis of workforce demographics, e.g., age, skill, education
4. Projections of changes in the health care field and implications for Kaiser Permanente
5. Impact of Kaiser Permanente business plans on the workforce
6. Mechanisms and action plans for:
   1. Retraining opportunities
   2. Harvesting vacancies for placing displaced employees
   3. Creating positive incentives for managers to accept displaced employees and to provide retraining
   4. Formal redeployment plans
   5. Union and management flexibility in terms of policies, practices or contract language barriers
   6. Changing hiring policies to compensate for redeployment efforts and reflect practices necessary to support a strong employment security commitment
   7. Reviewing the feasibility of internalizing services or functions which are performed by external providers

工作人员计划策略被期望定义角色和责任，包括任务和需要的意识层次的变化。无论是管理层还是工会，每个人都必须把潜在的职位空缺视为重新部署的机会，并对实现就业和收入保障目标负责。

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Employment Security

Employment security for re-deployment purposes is defined as:

1. Comparable number of hours of previously scheduled weekly hours
2. Comparable classification, if possible
3. Placement at a facility within a reasonable geographic area of the previous facility or an employee's residence
4. Comparable rate of pay (Same)
5. Comparable shift (Day, Evening, or Night. Specific shift hours may vary.)

In situations where a comparable classification is not available, work as nearly comparable as possible will be provided, with the intent of re-assigning the employee to his/her former classification when and if such work becomes available.

在某些情况下，可能无法提供上述所有方面的可比性。区域内的经理和工会被建议制定一个处理这种情况的程序。一个有效的过程将包括一种方法，使雇员能够优先考虑对他们最关键的方面，并确保在确定可用职位的选择时使用离职雇员的资历。

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Redeployment and Transition Status

A displaced employee who cannot secure a position in the same classification previously held will be placed into an available position in the most comparable classification for which he/she qualifies. The employee's current rate of pay will be maintained during a transition period of one year or longer, if mutually agreed to. (Individuals placed in a higher classification will be paid the higher wage rate.) The purpose of transition status is to maintain employment and income for an affected employee for a temporary period of time with the intent of returning to the previous classification when an appropriate vacancy becomes available. While in transition status, an employee will maintain the benefits status he/she held prior to transition.

During transition status, the Employer and the employee have a mutual accountability to monitor vacancies for potential placement back into the previously held position. Whenever possible, employees on transition status should have preference for such vacancies. Employees are expected to accept opportunities for a comparable position, or the privileges of the transition status will be forfeited. In the event there is a strong likelihood that the previous classification will no longer be available, the employee is expected to actively seek education and training to qualify for a different position. It is the intent of the parties to provide reasonable education and training opportunities for employees to pursue.

为了有效地将员工置于“过渡状态”之外，必须采用劳动力计划战略来计划和捕捉潜在的空缺。建议采用一个联合程序来审查员工在过渡状态下的情况。雇主、工会和雇员有一个相互和持续的责任，积极利用过渡时期，以实现回到以前的分类或探索其他途径，以帮助实现就业保障目标。

At the end of one year, employees who have not returned to their prior classification will be paid in accordance with the wage scale of the position they occupy. Management and the unions in each Region are also encouraged to consider other options which may be mutually agreeable and which provide a reasonable transition. Examples include "red circle" formulas, "grandfathering", or other solutions. However, to assure appropriate consistency and fairness, the parties are encouraged to select a single option to apply to the current situation, or at a minimum, to clarify up front which option will apply in given circumstances. Existing contract language may also provide or define appropriate solutions.

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Process

合作协议概述了Kaiser Permanente和签约工会的意图，以灌输员工参与和共同解决问题的文化。这意味着，当一个问题或问题被发现时，无论是由管理层、工会或劳动力，所有各方都将参与确定问题及其解决方案。这种参与意味着，在寻找解决方案的过程中，管理层将需要更加包容，工会和员工将需要更加积极地帮助找到解决方案。这些就业保障原则旨在确保当事人自由和创造性地解决问题。

It is hoped that these principles will assist the parties in exploring all reasonable efforts for redeployment and transition for employees impacted by changes. It is expected that each Region will develop and utilize a Partnership appeal mechanism to review any situations in which achieving employment security goals is particularly challenging or in which either party feels there is a failure to adhere to the mutual commitments regarding employment security. The following are suggested for inclusion in such a review:

1. Redeployment opportunities explored
2. Retraining opportunities explored
3. Transition options explored
4. Other avenues considered
5. Alternatives such as voluntary severance, leaves of absence, etc.
6. Options for resolving the situation

双方将提前确定僵局解决机制，以解决双方无法就上述事项达成一致的情况。建议包括使用一个中立的第三方或一个被授权达成决定的小小组。该委员会可以由当地代表、最高法院或劳资伙伴关系办公室(OLMP)的代表或任何其他双方都能接受的合格代表组成。

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