At ABHS, WFSE Member Wins Back Missing Sick Pay

When American Behavioral Health Systems (ABHS) van driver and WFSE Local 2824 member Kayla Roundtree realized a discrepancy in sick time accrual was shorting her and her coworkers of their earned hours, she took action with her union and made it right.

Roundtree has worked at ABHS in Chehalis for just over a year.

“We’re a residential substance use disorder treatment facility,” Roundtree said. “We help clients who have issues with drugs or alcohol find new ways to cope with the stressors that might trigger them to use again, and hopefully set them up for a better future.”

Giving Back

Roundtree’s role at ABHS is to help transport clients to and from the facility upon admission and graduation, as well as to medical appointments. After a career in the military, she felt public service would offer her the chance to help others in a new way.

“I wanted to give back to my community and I thought this would be a good way to do it,” she said.

“This is my first civilian job that I've had long term. So I periodically just read through our CBA to figure out how it works,” Roundtree said. 

The collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, is the contract our union negotiates with employers, determining wages and other important factors.

A Discrepancy That Added Up

While reviewing the contract, Roundtree noticed that the sick time accrual rate stated there did not match her accrual rate.

“I realized that I was missing— not much, I think 0.3 something hours. It was like 15 minutes,” she said.

The discrepancy was small when considering an individual pay period. But across months of employment, it added up. Roundtree spoke to a coworker who confirmed his accrual rate showed the same issue.

“I sent an email to payroll to figure out how we could go about getting it corrected,” she said. “And unfortunately their response was very unsatisfactory, basically telling me that, no, I'm wrong.”

Roundtree realized her inquiries were not being taken seriously—but after connecting with more coworkers, she saw that the issue was more widespread than she’d initially thought. That’s when she decided to reach out to her council representative (CR).

The Power of Our Union

With the power of her union behind her, Roundtree’s voice was heard. Her CR requested sick time accrual data for employees at all the ABHS facilities under the same contract. All told, the agency had shorted its employees approximately 2000 hours of earned sick time.

“Every union employee got eight hours given them to them on June 1st,” Roundtree said.

Asked why union membership matters, Roundtree said, “If you do have any problems, it's not just you against your employer. There's a lot of people that have your back—and you never know, you might find out that more people than just you are having the same issue. And you can combat it as one big force.”

Roundtree’s proactive approach to solving problems at work didn’t just help her. It helped fellow public employees across her agency. By knowing her rights, reading her contract, and getting active with her union, she made lasting change at work.

Want to solve problems and make a positive difference at your agency? Union membership is the first step on your journey. Join your union today!