Committee reviews proposed AFSCME care-center memorandum of agreement: parental leave, retention payouts and a one-year extension with 2% COLA

DuPage County staff told the ad-hoc collective bargaining committee on Nov. 12 they are negotiating a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with AFSCME on behalf of a county care center and asked for informal approval to pursue terms that would extend the contract by one year and add certain benefits.

Staff summarized proposed terms: add parental-leave language, permit retention and sick-time payouts, and include a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for the one-year extension (a "me-too" clause would apply). Staff also said management requested two job-title refinements (for example, renaming a recreation supervisor to a life-enrichment supervisor) to better reflect industry terminology and potentially improve recruitment.

Staff and the executive director (Janelle Chadwick, referenced in the presentation) said they had been negotiating with AFSCME through the summer and were awaiting the unit's vote/response. The MOA would move the care-center contract expiration from Nov. 30, 2026 to Nov. 30, 2027 and implement the listed non-economic and economic items for that additional year.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about donation of PTO, internal donation systems, and how the MOA would fit alongside other bargaining units. Staff confirmed a county policy exists for donating sick time and said the donation tool is actively used. The committee gave direction to staff to continue negotiations and to await the union's response before bringing back finalized documents for authority.

No formal committee vote to adopt the MOA was recorded at the meeting; staff sought the ad-hoc committee's approval in principle to pursue the terms and to return with AFSCME's response and final language.