December 10, 2002 SCHOLASTIC MERIT PAY POLICY LEADS TO EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS A number of Guild members who received favorable performance reviews have questioned why they did not receive merit increases. The questions are good ones and should be directed to management. GUARANTEED ANNUAL WAGE INCREASE Under the current Agreement between Scholastic and the Guild (the ""Guild contract"), every Guild member is guaranteed an annual wage increase. The increase received is the greater of the general wage increase or the new minimum wage for the employee's classification and experience. The Guild contract ensures that no Guild employee goes without a guaranteed annual increase in his or her pay--the same cannot be said with certainty for non-Guild employees. OPPORTUNITY
FOR RAISE BEYOND THE GENERAL INCREASE MERIT INCREASE
When the Guild negotiated minimums and general wage increases, it was careful to provide that those amounts were minimums only. In other words, management is free to pay an employee more money, but cannot pay less than the guaranteed amount. The Guild contract expressly provides, in Section 5 of Article II, Minimum Wages:
Merit increases are within the sole discretion of Scholastic, are not guaranteed, and are generally not subject to challenge. Unfortunately, many Guild members were misled by an August 20, 2002, memo from Scholastic that seemed to imply that if your performance evaluation was good you would receive a merit increase somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5%. Many members received favorable reviews but not merit increases. While the memo certainly had a negative impact on the morale of some employees who expected to receive merit increases and did not, it did not violate the Guild contract or create a binding obligation on the part of Scholastic. Merit increases are, and always have been, discretionary. That being said, if you believe that you should receive a merit increase you are free to discuss it with your manager at any time.
THREE ART DIRECTORS GAIN GUILD REPRESENTATION AND RETROACTIVE WAGE INCREASE
The Guild recently sought and obtained the right to represent three art directors who were previously excluded from the bargaining unit due to their management status. The art directors' duties were changed in April so that they were no longer performing managerial tasks. Despite the fact that their duties changed, they were not included in the unit and did not receive the Guild annual wage increase in June. The Guild filed a grievance and the Company ultimately agreed to include the three in the Guild. All three were granted the annual wage increase retroactive to last June.
HAVE YOU FILED FOR OVERTIME LATELY?
The Guild contract guarantees employees in Group XI or below (essentially everyone except Group XII Art Director(s) and Group III Editor(s) and Chief Librarian(s) overtime after 35 hours in a week--that's better than what is required by law. (In the absence of an agreement, you wouldn't qualify for overtime until you worked more than 40 hours in a week.) Overtime is paid at time and one-half for hours worked after 35 (or, at your election, in compensatory time off at straight time if you didn't work more than 40 hours) and at double time for work on a seventh consecutive day (after six 7 hour days). During a week in which a named Holiday falls, overtime is paid at time and one-half). If there are two named holidays within the week, overtime is paid for hours worked after 21 (or, at your election, in compensatory time off at time and one-half). Make sure that you are compensated for the extra effort you put in. If you worked overtime, file for it and protect your rights under the Guild contract.
If you believe you are being pressured not to file for overtime, contact Peter Jones (x6265) or Jack Silbert (x6407).
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