What You Need to Know: Our Employees’ Union and Terms of Employment
Howard Brown Health respects the rights of employees to union representation. Examples of our commitment include:
- In 2018, Howard Brown voluntarily recognized the new nursing union in three days.
- In 2022, when non-nursing employees petitioned for an election of a new bargaining unit, Howard Brown did not counter campaign against it, elevating the primacy of employees’ independent decision.
- Building a collaborative working relationship with union representatives and their members—our valued employees—is our short-term and long-term goal, which upholds our values centering individual autonomy and community advancement.
To learn more about our workforce, our commitment to our employees, and union negotiations, please visit our HBH Workforce page.
Unionized Positions
Employees in most non-management roles elected to join the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) in 2022. Howard Brown will faithfully execute its legal obligation to negotiate all working conditions that affect this bargaining unit with its elected bargaining representative, the Illinois Nurses Association.
During the negotiation process, the status quo of all working conditions for represented employees must and will be maintained. Until negotiations culminate in a contract, the following terms of employment, all of which are covered in the Howard Brown Employee Handbook, prevail (please note that the following list is not exhaustive):
Compensation
Howard Brown has competitive pay and bases compensation on verified market data for community healthcare employers in the Chicago area.
Any alterations to current wages/salary shall be bargained in good faith with the union for positions covered by the bargaining unit.
Non-exempt employees receive time and a half (1.5) of their regular hourly rate of pay for any hours worked beyond 40 in a work week or for more than 12 hours in any day.
Patient or client-facing employees scheduled to work from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. or on Saturdays or Sundays earn an additional +$2 per hour.
Patient or client-facing employees whose position requires the use of Spanish receive an additional +$.50 per hour after completing a language proficiency assessment.
Benefits
Howard Brown offers quality employer-sponsored health, dental, and vision insurance subsidized at or above market.
- Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) HMO, PPO and PPO Select Plans with premiums set based on income level.
- HMO single plan is 94% employer-paid for individuals whose annual earnings are at or below $51,000.
- BCBS Dental premium = $13.00/month
- EyeMed Vision premium = $6.52/month
BCBS short-term and long-term disability
Howard Brown offers a 401k plan through Principal and matches the first 5% of employee’s contributions toward their 401K retirement saving account.
Employees are eligible after just 90-days.
- Employer-paid life insurance valued at their annual salary
- Voluntary Life Insurance
- BCBS Voluntary Life and AD&D
- BCBS Accident and Critical Illness Coverage
- MetLife Hospitalization Coverage
- Commuter and Parking Pre-Tax Deduction
- Flex Spend Account (FSA) and FSA Dependent Care
- 10% discount at all Kindercare locations and 3 Kindercare backup days per year for every Howard Brown employee (no need to be enrolled in Kindercare to access backup days).
- $300 employer-paid YMCA Camp Fun tuition credit for direct dependents of Howard Brown Health employees.
- Tuition Reimbursement up to $5,250 per year
- Charting Your Course Program (3 free sessions with a career coach and tools to create a career development plan)
0.75 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) providers receive a Continuing Medical Education allowance:
- Medical and Psychiatric Providers: $3,000 per year
- Dental Providers: $3,000 per year
- Behavioral Health (excluding psychiatry): $1,500 per year
Paid Time Off
Full-Time Employees at Howard Brown earn 21 days (4 weeks) of vacation and personal time in their first year of employment.
Full-Time:
- 0-4 years tenure: 3 weeks per year
- 5-10 years tenure: 4 weeks per year
- 10+ years tenure: 5 weeks per year
- 0-4 years tenure: 60 hours per year
- 5-10 years tenure: 80 hours per year
- 10+ years tenure: 100 hours per year
- Full-time: 6 days per year
- Part-time: 3 days per year
Employees are able to utilize PTO Exchange to cash in accrued vacation and personal time (over 80 hours) for cash, 401k contribution, student loan payment, charitable contribution, hotel/airline reservations, or to donate time to a colleague.
- Full-Time: 12 accrued sick days per year
- Part-time: 6 accrued sick days per year
(9) paid holidays each year:
- New Year’s Day
- Martin Luther King Day
- Memorial Day
- Juneteenth
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Day after Thanksgiving
- Christmas Day
Those who have been employed full-time with HBH for over (1) year qualifies for Parental Bonding Leave where Howard Brown will pay up to 4 weeks of salary.
When a death occurs in an employee’s immediate family, the employee will be allowed a maximum of three (3) paid days off per event to arrange for and attend the funeral.
Employees reporting for jury duty will be compensated with up to ten (10) days of paid jury duty leave over any twelve-month period at their regular rate of pay for time missed.
Union membership questions should be directed to the INA. Contact info below.
Nursing Positions
Registered nurses (RNs) in non-management roles formed a bargaining unit with the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) in 2018. Nurses ratified an agreed second three-year contract in September 2022. Contract highlights:
Contract Highlights
Set for three years by contract and separate memorandum of understanding
Howard Brown offers quality employer-sponsored health, dental, vision insurance subsidized at or above market.
- BCBS HMO, PPO and PPO Select Plans with premiums set based on income level.
- HMO single plan is 94% employer-paid for individuals making up to $51k.
- BCBS Dental premium = $13.00/month
- EyeMed Vision premium = $6.52/month
Dental, vision, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance employee assistance, and optional extend accident, life, and transportation benefits
Covered by Howard Brown policy, see details above
Covered by Howard Brown policy, see details above
Covered by Howard Brown policy, see details above
Full-time: 4 hours/pay period; Part-time: 2 hours/pay period
0-4 years: 120 hours/year; 5-10 years: 160 hours/year*
Full-time: 6 days/year; Part-time: 3 days/year
Covered by HBH policy, see details above
After 40 hours per week
Covered by HBH policy, see details above
Covered by HBH policy, see details above
Covered by HBH policy, see details above
Covered by HBH policy, see details above
Evening hours: additional $2.25/hour
Weekend: additional $2.00/hour
For nurses scheduled to work from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. or on Saturdays or Sundays.
Additional $1.09/hour for employees who use a language other than English regularly for purposes of their employment.
Contacting the Illinois Nurses Association (INA)
Should any union-represented candidate or employee have questions about our employees’ union, questions should be directed to the union representatives listed below:
Morgan Toms, INA Representative: mtoms@illinoisnurses.com
Nick Reid, INA Representative: nreid@illinoisnurses.com
Ronnie Peterson, INA Representative: rpeterson@illinoisnurses.com
Rose Sawyer, INA Representative: rsawyer@illinoisnurses.com
Matthew Bartmes, INA Attorney: mbartmes@illinoisnurses.com
Tristan Bock-Hughes, INA Representative: tbockhughes@illinoisnurses.com