On October 8, the Office of the Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer sent the below communication to BruinBuy Plus Users, CAOs / CFOs, deans, department chairs, directors, Procurement (PCard) / Travel & Entertainment (T&E) cardholders and approvers, vice chancellors, and vice provosts.
Dear Colleagues:
UCLA is committed to a strong in-house workforce, as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement between the University and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Article 5. Regents Policy 5402 generally prohibits contracting for services and functions that can be performed by University staff. This applies to ALL new and existing contracts for covered services.
Regardless of the purchase / payment method (e.g., purchase order, Travel & Entertainment (T&E) Card, PCard), contracting out should be used sparingly and treated as an option of last resort to address temporary needs, not as a means to replace employees with lower-wage contractors.
Covered services are defined as work customarily performed by AFSCME Service Unit and Patient Care Technical bargaining unit employees. The Regents policy describes covered services as services for cleaning, custodial, janitorial or housekeeping services; food services; laundry services; groundskeeping; transportation and parking services; security services; billing and coding services; sterile processing; hospital or nursing assistant services; and medical imaging or other medical technician services. (Visit the Title Code Search website for information on job titles.)
Exceptions from the policy will be rarely granted. Reduced cost is not an acceptable justification. By requiring wage and benefit parity in any contract for covered services, there will be no cost advantage to using contracted services in lieu of services provided by a UCLA employee.
Compliance with Article 5 and the University's policy on contracting is a top priority. Thank you for your support in keeping UCLA compliant with this important policy.
Visit Campus Purchasing Outsourcing for Covered Services or UCLA Health Outsourcing for Covered Services for complete details.
