The transition to EMPOWER has been so poorly managed and communicated by the top leadership of San Francisco Unified. It might be a headache for them but it has meant real hardship for dedicated and essential educators. We should be very clear that their decision to transition to EMPOWER, a different payroll system, is not a subject of bargaining. United Educators of San Francisco, the representative for 6700 educators in SFUSD, has the right to bargain over a set of impacts due to this decision but cannot bargain the decision itself.

In the summer, UESF was at the table with SFUSD to negotiate the impacts of their decision to move to EMPOWERSF. We signed two agreements with the district in regards to the impacts that can be found HERE and HERE. They are and have been posted on the UESF website.

There are a number of issues that members have shared with their staff reps and the UESF elected leadership in regards to the transition to EMPOWEr which we will address here:

Pay Issues 

We are aware of 100s of members who either did not receive pay at all or were not paid in full as the result of SFUSD management’s irresponsible facilitation of the transition to a new payroll system. We have taken a number of steps to ensure District management correct these grave errors that are having really disastrous effects for a significant portion of educators. UESF staff and officers have been in constant contact with district management, continually filing grievances and preparing for legal action to address the problem.

We recommend that if you are one of members who have not received pay or received partial pay that you immediately submit a help ticket to salary@sfusd.edu, payroll@sfusd.edu and cc cortezl@sfusd.edu and ask-uesf@uesf.org.

We are collecting information to support the grievance process and prepare legal action. Please also fill out this form to enable us to follow your case and establish the basis for legal action.

13th Paycheck 

The 13th paycheck has caused a headache for many members as they do their taxes. We acknowledge that the agreement we made and distributed to members (found HERE) has had a negative effect for a portion of our membership. SFUSD management is directly responsible for a lack of clear communication and proper warning to employees in regards to this impact of THEIR decision to move to EMPOWER without proper preparation for the transition.  We had raised objections at the bargaining table but the district determined this had to be changed and is a one-time problem. They held fast to an argument that this would negatively affect a very small portion of their employees. Fortunately, this situation will not occur again.

Deferred Net Pay 

When moving to EMPOWER, SFUSD decided to implement a deferred net pay option to clean up their previous, and poor, reporting to Calstrs. UESF does not have the right to negotiate this decision– it is one that rests with the employer. We did however provide input and made it clear to the district management that their initial plan to implement DNP was highly flawed. It would have resulted in wildly different paychecks for all members paid on a monthly basis. Our recommendations led the district to make adjustments to their plan for the deferred net pay option that still allows them to improve their Calstrs deduction and reporting.

The contract language guarantees certificated members 12 equal paychecks .According to the Certificated Contract, Article 11. Salaries, Increments, and Classification Changes Section 11.9 Payment policy:

“ A full-time tenure-track teacher, who is a member of the bargaining unit on an annual salary basis and who has served a complete school year as teacher, shall be paid in twelve (12) equal monthly installments.”

Accordingly, members will should receive a check in July that reflects the contractual right to have that paycheck be equal to the other 11 received. A number of very diligent members have followed the district’s calculations as presented on their website and are rightly concerned by the outcome of the district’s own calculations and lack of transparent communication on this topic.  We have asked SFUSD to formally communicate that to employees, as it is THEIR responsibility to do so. We have also requested that SFUSD anticipate the problems that could arise based on the transition well in advance of when July paychecks are issued so the transition year can be smooth for all members paid on a monthly basis at least on this issue.  We will continue to work with members to bring these concerns in all the different avenues available to us.

Change to Emergency Coverage Pay 

Emergency coverage pay was reduced by the switch to EMPOWER. UESF has filed a grievance challenging this impact as a clear violation of the contract and past practice at a time when teachers are being asked to do more emergency coverage than ever before. If the grievance is sustained and won, it will apply to all affected. We will keep members updated as to the outcome of this grievance. Members should note that after the Board of Education has approved the tentative agreement the pay for emergency coverage will then increase regardless of the outcome of the grievance.