Visiting Nurse Service of Greater Rhode Island

AGREEMENT

Visiting Nurse Service of Greater Rhode Island

and

United Nurses and Allied

Professionals

Nursing Unit

Local 5201

October 1, 2006

to

September 30, 2008

AGREEMENT

THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into this first (day) of October, 2006, by and between the VISITING NURSE SERVICE OF GREATER RHODE ISLAND (hereinafter referred to as “Employer”), a non-business Rhode Island corporation with its place of business in the Town of Lincoln, County of Providence and State of Rhode Island, and the UNITED NURSES AND ALLIED PROFESSIONALS NURSE UNIT LOCAL 5201 (hereinafter referred to as "Union"), a voluntary association with its place of business in the City of Providence, County of Providence and State of Rhode Island.

PREAMBLE

WITNESSETH

WHEREAS, the parties hereto desire to provide orderly collective bargaining relations in order to secure prompt and equitable disposition of grievances, fair salaries, hours and other working conditions; and

WHEREAS, the parties hereto desire to cooperate in maintaining proper and harmonious relations and clearly defined mutual obligations, they do hereby stipulate and agree as follows:

ARTICLE 1

RECOGNITION AND CLASSIFICATION

Section 1. The Employer recognizes the Union as the sole collective bargaining agent with respect to rates of pay, hours of work and terms of conditions of employment for employees in the following bargaining unit:

All full-time and regular part-time registered nurses and licensed practical nurses employed by the Employer at its 6 Blackstone Valley Place, Suite 515, Lincoln, Rhode Island location, but excluding all office clerical employees, occupational therapists, physical therapists, medical social workers, guards, President/CEO and all other supervisors as defined in the Act.

Section 2. For the purpose of this Agreement, regular full-time nurses include those employees who (1) are generally scheduled to work a five (5) day workweek, and (2) work a minimum of thirty-seven and one-half (37 ½) hours per scheduled workweek.

Section 3. For the purpose of this Agreement, regular part-time nurses include those employees who work a regularly scheduled workweek of less than thirty-seven and one-half (37 ½) hours per week, but greater than fifteen (15) hours per week. The greater than fifteen (15) hours per week exception shall not apply to “weekend” staff.

Section 4. A bargaining unit employee, upon a change of status from full-time to that of part-time status, will not forfeit accrued benefits and will continue to receive those benefits which are pro-rated for part-time employees.

Section 5. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, all part-time professional nurses employed by the Employer shall be eligible for all fringe benefits and salary increases on a pro-rated basis. These benefits shall be computed on the basis of the nurse’s scheduled work hours. “Weekend” staff shall not be eligible for benefits unless they are regularly scheduled to work at least fifteen (15) hours per week.

Section 6. A temporary employee is an employee hired for a period of up to six (6) months. If the Employer so desires, the temporary employee may have his/her employment extended for an additional six (6) months. If a temporary employee works for a period of greater than twelve (12) months, he/she shall be considered a regular employee. This provision, however, shall not be applicable in the case of employees who work greater than twelve (12) months to cover approved leaves of absence.

ARTICLE 2

UNION SECURITY AND CHECKOFF AUTHORIZATION AND MAINTENANCE

Section 1. It shall be a condition of employment that every bargaining unit employee who is a member in good standing of the Union as of the effective date of this Agreement, shall remain a member in good standing of the Union. Those bargaining unit employees who are not members of the Union, on the effective date of this Agreement shall, no later than one hundred eighty (180) days following the effective date of this Agreement, become and remain members in good standing of the Union. Every bargaining unit employee employed after the effective date of this Agreement shall, as a condition of employment, become a member of the Union within one hundred eighty (180) days of employment and thereafter shall remain a member in good standing.

Section 2. The Employer shall notify the Union in writing of each newly-hired registered nurse or licensed practical nurse within five (5) working days of employment with the Employer. The Union shall notify the Employer in writing of any bargaining unit employee who has failed to join the Union in accordance with Section 1, and upon demand by the Union, the Employer shall terminate the employment of said bargaining unit employee within ten (10) working days or receipt of this notification. Said notification by the Union shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested.

Section 3. The Employer will, for each employee, who by written and signed direction so authorizes same, deduct from the wages due such employee in each pay period, the proportionate dues fixed by the Union for such month. The Employer will, not later than the tenth day of the following month, remit to the Union the dues deducted by the Employer for the preceding month. The foregoing dues check-off authorization shall be irrevocable for a period of one (1) year.

Section 4. The Union agrees to notify the Employer at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of any applicable increase in the monthly dues deduction. Such notification to the employer shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested.

Section 5. The Employer shall furnish to the Union, upon execution of this Agreement, a list of all employees in the bargaining unit including the name, address, date of hire, rate of pay and job classification. Thereafter, the Employer shall advise to the Union on a quarterly basis of any changes within the bargaining unit, including, but not limited to, new hirees, terminations, address changes and job status changes.

Section 6. The Union agrees to indemnify and save harmless the Employer against all loss, cost and expense, including court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees and other legal expenses, arising out of claims resulting from action taken or not taken by the Employer in attempting to comply with its obligations set forth in this Article or arising out of any action taken or not taken by the Employer which the Union alleges to be its obligation under this Article. Where the Union can show that the Employer's losses, costs and expenses, including court costs and reasonable attorneys' and other legal expenses, were not incurred by the Employer as a result of any unlawful conduct by the Union, or as the result of any conduct or activity by the Union in contravention of, or outside the terms of, this Article, the indemnification provisions shall not apply. The parties agree that this determination of applicability, and the amount of damages, as appropriate, shall be made through, and in accordance with, the applicable arbitration provisions contained in Article 34.

ARTICLE 3

NONDISCRIMINATION

Section 1. The provisions of this Agreement shall be applied equally to all employees in the bargaining unit without discrimination as to handicap, age, sex, marital status, race, color, creed, sexual orientation, national origin, or political affiliation. The Union shall share equally with the Employer the responsibility for applying this provision of the Agreement.

Section 2. All references to employees in this Agreement designate both sexes, and wherever the female gender is used it shall be construed to include male and female employees.

Section 3. Except with regard to all provisions relating to registered nurse seniority, all references to registered nurse responsibilities for weekend staffing, and those differences between registered nurse and licensed practical nurse salaries/wages, all references to “employee”, or “registered nurse”, or “nurse” shall have equal application to licensed practical nurses (e.g., vacation accrual, sick leave accrual, etc.).

Section 4. The Employer agrees that there shall be no discrimination, interference, restraint or coercion by the Employer or its representatives against any employee because of an employee's exercise of his/her rights as defined in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

Section 5. The Union agrees that there shall be no discrimination, interference, restraint or coercion by the Association or its representatives against any employee because of an employee's exercise of his/her rights as defined in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

ARTICLE 4

ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP AND ASSOCIATION VISITATION RIGHTS

Section 1. The Employer agrees to recognize two (2) members from the bargaining unit's "Grievance Committee" for the purpose of participating in the settlement of grievances.

Section 2. Notice of original appointments and of all changes in (1) the Section 1 designated Grievance Committee members, and (2) changes in Union Leadership, including the Business Representative, shall be furnished by the Business Representative of the Union to the Employer in writing. Changes shall not become effective until the foregoing notice is received by the Employer.

Section 3. A Union representative who is employed fulltime by the Union shall be admitted to the Employer's facility during working hours when it is necessary to (a) meet with the Employer, or (b) investigate a grievance arising under the terms of this Agreement. The Union shall notify the Employer in advance when it wishes to interview an employee for these purposes during working hours, either at the facility or in the field, and the Employer shall designate a suitable place where and when in the Agency such an investigation or interview(s) with any employees (including a Grievance Committee member as defined in Section 1) shall take place. The Union agrees that the representative shall consult with the Employer as to the scheduling of an employee interview to the end that the operations of the Employer will not be hindered. Prior consent of the Employer shall be required before any such interview takes place during working hours.

Section 4. Bargaining unit members shall be prohibited from conducting union business during work hours without prior Agency approval. The prohibition shall include, among other things, telephone calls, use of photocopy equipment, etc.

ARTICLE 5

BULLETIN BOARDS

Section 1. The Employer agrees to provide one (1) bulletin board for the sole and exclusive use of the Union. The Official Union Bulletin Board shall be located in an area mutually agreed to by the parties.

Section 2. The Union Bulletin Board referred to in Section 1 shall be used only for routine Association business.

Section 3. The Union agrees that it will refrain from posting political endorsements of any kind on the bulletin board.

ARTICLE 6

WAGES

Section 1. Effective October 1, 2006 the following wage adjustments shall be made:

a. All Steps to the wage scale shall be increased by 3%. This 3% increase shall be reflected in the hourly rates of all current collective bargaining unit nurses.

c. On-call rates shall be increased by 3%.

Section 2. Effective October 1, 2007 the following wage adjustments shall be made:

a. All Steps to the wage scale shall be increased by 3%. This 3% increase shall be reflected in the hourly rates of all current collective bargaining unit nurses.

b. On-call rates shall be increased by 3%.

Section 3. Collective bargaining unit nurses shall not move to the 8-Year or 10-Year Longevity Step until the anniversary date marking the completion of the appropriate number of years of service with the Employer.

Section 4. Effective October 1, 2006 the wage scale shall be as indicated in Appendix A. With the exception of the 8-Year and 10-Year Longevity Steps, all collective bargaining unit nurses shall move to the next Step on the wage scale at anniversary date.

Section 5. A collective bargaining unit nurse will have the opportunity to change his/her salary option election each year on June 1st for implementation October 1st.

ARTICLE 7

HIRING AND PROBATION

Section 1. The first ninety (90) calendar days of employment shall be considered an introductory period for all newly-hired bargaining unit employees.

Section 2(a). The parties agree that during the abovereferenced introductory period, employees may be disciplined and/or terminated from employment by the Employer for any reason, and neither the employee nor the Union shall have recourse to the grievance procedure set forth in this Agreement for such discipline and/or termination of employment. The parties may mutually extend any introductory period by agreement in writing.

Section 2(b). Neither the newly-hired employee nor the Union shall have recourse to the grievance procedure to dispute any or all job evaluations made of the employee during the introductory period.

Section 3. Except as otherwise limited by Section 2(a) and 2(b) of this Article, newly-hired employees can utilize the grievance procedure to assert the denial of any other contractual right or benefit that otherwise applies to all other employees within the bargaining unit.

Section 4. Any employee who does not complete his/her introductory period shall not be eligible to receive his/her accrued paid time off.

Section 5. Any bargaining unit member who is rehired by the Agency within ninety (90) days of his/her effective date of termination shall be allowed to retain his/her bargaining unit seniority. The decision to rehire pursuant to this section, however, is within the President/Chief Executive Officer's sole and complete discretion.