Details about the Bonus for SHARE Members at Max

Human Resources says that the bonus for SHARE members at or above their grade maximum will be delivered the same day as the raise to SHARE members' hourly rate. The bonus will be in a separate check, and direct deposited.

Payroll says that the bonus is taxed at the federal "supplemental" flat rate of 25%. That may be higher than your usual federal tax rate. When you add state and other taxes, the total tax rate on the bonus may be around 40%. If that's more than you should owe, it will get adjusted when you file your taxes for the year.

Because of the Columbus Day holiday that week, the raises and bonuses will come on Friday the 18th instead of Thursday the 17th.

For more information about the raise or bonus amount, look here.

October Raise for SHARE Members

SHARE members will receive their second raise of our current 4-year contract with UMass Memorial on Sunday, October 6th. The raise averages 3%. You will first see your new rate in the October 17th paycheck.

The raise is $.23 + 2% per hour. The $.23 is an average of 1% for SHARE members and is added to every SHARE member's base pay. The 2% is added to your base rate if you are below your grade maximum. If you are at or above your grade maximum, you get the 2% as a one-time bonus. The grade minimums and maximums will go up by $.23, to keep up with inflation. The additional 2% moves you up within your grade toward your grade maximum, unless you are already at max.

You can calculate your raise (or raise and bonus) following the steps listed here.  (Or, for "increment based" SHARE job titles, you can find your new rate in the pay grids here. The grade minimums and maximums for peer-slotted jobs, such as Radiology Tech and LPN, are posted here.) To read the contract language that describes the raises, look here.

There are two more raises in this contract, October 5, 2014, and October 4, 2015. They are both the same amount as this raise.

Any questions? Call SHARE at 508-929-4020 and leave a message on the general voicemail. One of the SHARE staff will call you back to answer your questions.

SHARE 401(k) Info Meetings -- Off to a Good Start

The SHARE 401(k) Info Meetings are off to a good start. SHARE members are taking advantage of this opportunity to meet with SHARE Organizers, HR Benefits representatives, and Fidelity representatives for help with saving for retirement. So far people who come to the meetings fall into these categories:

• Sign me up: Some folks come ready to sign up to start saving for retirement in the UMass Memorial 401(k) plan. They sit with a Fidelity rep and sign up on the spot with Fidelity's iPads.
• Tell me about it: Some come to learn about the 401(k) -- how it works, how the match from management works, and how taking out an amount like 1% or 4% would affect their take-home pay. These folks sit together for a short information session with SHARE, Fidelity or someone from HR Benefits.
• I've got a question: Some people come just to get an answer to a specific question.
• I want to increase my deduction: With a SHARE raise coming on October 1st, some folks have decided that this is the perfect time to increase the amount they are having deducted from their check. If you start deductions or increase your deductions at the same time as the raise, you won't notice the difference as much.

It's a relaxed meeting. Feel free to bring your lunch. For the schedule of meetings, see below.

Saving for Retirement: The UMass Memorial 401(k)

SHARE Lunch-time Information Meetings

  

SHARE is partnering with HR Benefits and Fidelity for these 401K Information Meetings because we believe planning for retirement is important for SHARE members.

Location                                                Date         Time

Barre              Conference Room          Sept 5        11:30-1:00

University      S2-351                            Sept 6        11:30-1:30

Tri River        Community Room         Sept 10      11:30-1:00

Hahnemann   Anne Nemitz Room      Sept 11       11:30-1:30

Biotech 3        Seminar Room 227       Sept 13       12-1:00

PTC                 1st floor classroom       Sept 16       2:30-3:30

CBO                 4^th floor Conf Room     Sept 17       12-1:30

WBC                Ford Room                     Sept 18      11:30-1:30

CBO                 4^th floor Conf Room      Sept 19      11:30-1:00

University      S2-351                              Sept 20      11:30-1:30

Memorial       Memorial 1 (near caf.)   Sept 23      11:30-1:30

Memorial       Memorial 1 (near caf.)   Sept 26      11:30-1:30

Stop in during your lunch. It will be a “rolling” meeting so you won’t miss anything if you’re only there for part of it. Bring your lunch and a friend! Questions? Leave a message at SHARE, 508-929-4020 extension 0, and someone will call you back.

• All Welcome •

(Feel free to invite co-workers who aren't in SHARE.) 

______________________________________________ 

How do I enroll in the 401(k)?

It’s easy! You can enroll at the meeting if you want to.

I’m young, I don’t need that yet!

The earlier you start saving, the less you need to save every week.

I’m retiring in a few years, is it too late for me to start?

Better late than never – you can still save, and take advantage of the UMass Memorial match.

Can I change my mind? Can I increase the amount of money I contribute? Can I stop my deductions if I need to? What if I leave UMass Memorial?

All of these questions will be answered at the Information Meetings.

SHARE Biomed Techs' Proposal Would Save $1 Million per Year and Keep the Service In-House

The Biomed team after they presented their proposal.
(Will Erickson is missing because he took the picture.)

On Tuesday, July 9, the team of five SHARE Biomed Techs, SHARE Organizers and a process improvement consultant made their proposal to George Brenckle, Senior VP/Chief Information Officer. The proposal is the result of two months of intensive work, and contains six major ideas to make the Techs’ work more efficient and to add value to our hospital system. The proposed savings total over $1 million per year, after the first start-up year.

In April, UMass Memorial told SHARE about their plan to contract out Biomed Services. (See full article here.) The Techs' proposal is the result of SHARE’s new contract language that allows us to present an alternative to contracting out.

In the proposal, the vendor contracts (work that the in-house Biomed Techs don’t do) would be “bundled” and put out for bid, saving the hospital an amount cautiously estimated at $600,000. The five cost-saving and value-adding initiatives areas are:

• Service Parts and Vendor Services
• Work Order and Documentation
• Preventive Maintenance Schedule
• Continuous Improvement and User Education
• New Work

These initiatives will lay the groundwork for future improvements in areas like up-time, response time, and delaying of capital expenditures for departments.

“Figuring out how to do our work in a way that was more efficient, but that didn’t sacrifice the quality our users have come to expect from us, took a lot of work.  Even though we knew a lot about what we did, we still had a lot to learn. But it ended up being a really rewarding experience, and it feels good to be taking on a new level of responsibility for our work.  I think all the time now about how we can get the work done better, and am hopeful that the hospital will give us a chance to do that.”   -- Rob Beatty, Biomed Tech

The team worked with Scott Camlin, a process improvement expert from Restructuring Associates that SHARE brought in, to analyze their work flow and come up with ways to streamline their work. 

Results from the SHARE Biomed User survey proved very helpful. (If you filled it out – thank you very much! See results here.)

“I’ve worked for both types of Clinical Engineering service groups -- third party and in-house programs -- and I believe a well-run in-house CE program works out better both financially and logistically for the Hospital. We can provide higher quality service than an outside vendor while controlling all decisions regarding staffing, cost and approach to all the Clinical Engineering service needs of the UMass Memorial Healthcare system." -- Paul Doherty, Biomed Tech

“In the recent past, UMass Memorial has sold Home Health and the outreach labs. SHARE members worry what services are next to be sold or contracted out. The Biomed techs do a great job in our department, and we know we can count on them – we hope they stay in-house!” -- Denise Page, PCA II, University Campus Emergency Dept

SHARE believes that the best way to streamline work and improve quality is to fully involve the employees. “We hope that the Biomed project is just the beginning for SHARE members helping to improve patient care throughout our hospitals,” said Will Erickson, SHARE Organizer. “True engagement in fixing problems together is the best way to change the culture at UMass Memorial.”

To see the full SHARE Biomed proposal, click here.

Bill Walker, SHARE Biomed Tech, Talks about Contracting out Biomed

Bill Walker is one of the SHARE Biomed Techs who helped with the proposal to UMass Memorial to save money and keep the Biomed service in-house. He works on the University Campus. Here's what Bill has to say about the idea of contracting out Biomed:

"We all know that costs have to be reduced as healthcare changes, and we do not argue that point. We do, however, argue that in many cases, after a few years of a hospital not having control over the quality of service, and actually finding that the savings are not really there, that the service is once again brought back in house, with great expense to re-hire, re-train, and re-tool. 

Some of the current techs MAY be asked to join the new company. The problem there is that the new company will sign the paychecks, and you can't work for two masters. The "buy in" you get from people who care about our patients and the quality of the service we provide will no longer be the priority.  Profit for the new company will.

Here in the Biomed shop at University, we have over 250 combined years of experience in our field. The Memorial and Hahnemann shops are equally well-experienced.  I love coming to work every day -- I work with the best team of professionals that I have worked with in the 35 years I have been repairing medical equipment. I always try to make our patients' stay here as wonderful as possible, in any way I can. 

 I love this place, and I bring my family here for care. My name is among the many donors to the Emergency Fund on the plaque in the Atrium because of the care my family has received, particularly my autistic son Josh, who is a frequent flyer in our ED. 

My teammates and I want to remain hospital employees, as we strive to make our services even better."

Clinical Engineering: Contract Them Out?

UMass Memorial management is considering contracting out Biomed Engineering (also known as Clinical Engineering) to save the hospital money. If the hospital decides to accept the outsourcing bid, an outside company would take over the maintenance of UMass Memorial Healthcare machines and devices.

The SHARE Biomed Technicians are quite concerned, as you can imagine. If their work is contracted out, some of them might be offered jobs by the outside company and continue to work here at UMass Memorial, but that would be up to the new company. We don't know what the wages or benefits might be. We have been told that the outside vendor would have fewer technicians permanently located on site, and use floats as needed. A number of the Biomed Techs are within a few years of retirement, and are concerned that the new company might not want to hire them. 

The SHARE Biomed Technicians are also quite worried about the quality of work that a third party company would deliver at UMass Memorial. Some of them have worked for third party companies before, and know that the level of commitment to the patients, to the hospital, and to the community is just not the same. Many of them have chosen to work at UMass Memorial because Clinical Engineering here is an in-house operation where they can do their best quality work. Others have seen Clinical Engineering departments elsewhere be contracted out, only to be brought back in-house within a few years because the hospitals’ control over quality was lower and the costs ended up being higher with the third party vendor. 

Trying to Keep the Jobs In-House

SHARE proposed to UMass Memorial that we explore alternatives together before deciding whether to contract out Clinical Engineering. SHARE believes that front-line employees can be deeply involved in solving problems: They are experienced and knowledgeable about the work, and committed to quality patient care and to their hospitals. We believe that if SHARE members and Clinical Engineering managers engage in process improvement together – analyzing the data and the contracts, studying the work flow in a deliberate and thorough way – we may be able to find enough savings to keep the work in-house.

UMass Memorial agreed to give the Biomed Technicians and SHARE the time and the data needed to work on an alternative that saves the hospital money while continuing to provide high quality services. Five SHARE Biomed Techs and several SHARE organizers are meeting with managers from Clinical Engineering and Human Resources to look at how to make their work more efficient and how to use that time to do work that saves the hospital money. Soon the SHARE team will present their proposal. Stay tuned.

A New Direction for the Future

Working together to prevent outsourcing is a positive new challenge for SHARE and UMass Memorial. If we can figure out how to do this work together, many more SHARE employees can have a say about solving problems in their work areas, and UMass Memorial will be better able to deal with all the changes we face in healthcare today and tomorrow.

Please Take Our Survey

The Biomed Techs and SHARE organizers would like to hear from anyone at UMass Memorial who has thoughts – ideas or concerns –  about this. We welcome all ideas, and would very much like to involve end-users in the conversation. Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SHARE-Biomed