The work-sharing program in our agreement from fiscal emergency negotiations covers all faculty represented by our union (not just members) unless you fit in one of the following categories:
— You work at Rutgers under a non-immigrant visa. All people with, for example, an H1B visa would be exempted. However, green card holders will participate in the work-sharing program unless otherwise ineligible. According to the experts in immigration law we have consulted, nothing about the work-sharing program will jeopardize the immigration status of green card holders. Email aaup@rutgersaaup.org if you would like to know more about this issue.
— Your salary is fully funded by external grants. Faculty whose salary is fully funded by external grants are exempted. If more than 90 percent of your salary is funded by external grants, you should contact your department chair to see if you will be considered eligible. Furloughing for 10 percent of your week might cut into work time governed under the terms of your grant.
— You are in our unit and work part-time. You are exempt.
— You have a secondary appointment at Rutgers. If you have an appointment as a co-ad, grader, overload, etc., at any time during the duration of the work-sharing program (April 19–June 25), you are exempt.
— If your sole secondary appointment at Rutgers is teaching Summer Session or getting a summer salary for externally funded research, you would participate in work-sharing from the start of the program in April until May 20 for those teaching summer session and May 28 for those doing externally funded research. You would participate for about half of the program.
— You have another job outside Rutgers (including freelance work) during the duration of the program. Any additional income during the work-sharing program would make you ineligible for unemployment payments, so you would be exempted. If you start participating in work-sharing and are ruled ineligible for unemployment for this reason, management has committed to reimbursing you for wages and benefits lost during any furlough days taken. But you should contact your department chair now to make sure they know you have secondary employment and should be removed from the list of participants.
— You are on sabbatical, competitive fellowship leave, approved family leave, or another type of paid leave absence during the work-sharing program. You are exempt.
— If someone filed a fraudulent unemployment claim in your name, we are working to make sure that both the state and the university are alert to your case and are making arrangements to expedite your application. If we aren’t satisfied with the process for dealing with these cases, we will ask that these faculty be excluded. If you know someone fraudulently filed for unemployment in your name, be sure to let us know (email aaup@rutgersaaup.org) and tell your department chair, so they can inform management of your specific case.