Dear Sisters and Brothers

In response to questions that have come up, here is some additional information about the ORCA cards for City workers:

«  Once you’ve started work with the City, you won’t go into “S” status unless you go six pay periods (three months) without City work.

«  If you’ve gone into “S” status, you will return to active status as soon as you start work again in a City job.  If you’re working for the City, or have worked for the city within the past three months, but are told that you’re in “S” status, you may have to call your supervisor to have him or her verify your work.

«  Going into “S” status will not affect credits that you have in your E-purse. 

«  You cannot accumulate more than $300 in your E-purse.  If you have $300 credit, no more credit will be made until you’ve spent some of that $300.

«  If you think you may be in the City computer as “S” status (“pending separation”) when you’re actually active, you should ask your supervisor to verify your status, or contact City HR.            

«  Some of our members may have concerns about the privacy of your use of an ORCA pass, given that it’s theoretically possible to track individual use.  The Legislature is considering legislation (SSB 5295) which would ensure that only aggregate information – information about total usage by all card-holders – would be available, with two exceptions.  The only exceptions would be for law enforcement agencies, which would be able to obtain individual usage information only by getting a court order; or for the employer providing the subsidy, only for the purpose of preventing fraud.  This legislation was passed by the Senate by a vote of 47-0, and should be voted on shortly by the House.

«  If you have not used your ORCA card within 30 days of adding value, please contact ORCA Customer Service. E-purse value does not expire and will be restored to your ORCA card. A current monthly pass will be restored; however an expired monthly pass will not be restored or refunded. For more information about ORCA cards generally, please go to www.orcacard.com; or call ORCA at 1-888-988-6722.

If you have additional questions, please contact Business Representative Paul Bigman: stagerep@ia15.org, or 206-441-1515, ext. 225.