Starting April 1, 2025, CSEA members employed in the state’s Executive Branch will see a long-sought change in their longevity eligibility.
Longevity payments, a negotiated benefit, is extra money for years of service.
Currently, to receive a longevity payment in the state Executive Branch, a CSEA member must work in their title for 12 years (seven years to complete the steps and then remain for five years at the “job rate”).
If a member then stayed in that title for 17 years, they received a second longevity payment. However, if a member took a promotion, which generally caused them to receive a pay increase (salary grade increase), the longevity was lost, until they once again hit job rate and stayed there for the requisite amount of time.
For many CSEA members, this acted as a disincentive to take a promotion.
For decades, CSEA fought the state on what qualified an individual for longevity. The state always wanted it to be tied to years in title, while our union advocated that longevity should be based on years with the State Executive Branch.
Many members have worked for the state for 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years, and still have not received longevity because they received promotions along the way and were never at job rate at any position for the requisite five years.
Through hard-fought negotiating sessions over months that included long nights and weekends, the CSEA Negotiating Team in the 2021-2026 negotiations secured a major victory.
Starting this April, longevity will be based on years of CSEA state executive branch service. Longevity eligibility will no longer be tied to years in title and no longer are members going to lose their longevity if they take a promotion.
This is a tremendous victory for our union and members.
Some CSEA members employed in the Executive Branch have never once received a longevity because they may have been with the state executive branch for 22 years but may have taken three promotions during that time.
As of April, those members with 12, 17, or 22 years of CSEA state Executive Branch service will receive appropriate longevity payment based on their service time.
This is a great example of our union continuing to fight to improve wages and benefits for members.
