Title
Human Resources Department and Chief Administrative Office recommending the Board:
1) Adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 036-2025, to memorialize the negotiated terms of agreement with the El Dorado County Criminal Attorneys’ Association, representing the Criminal Attorney (CA) bargaining unit to:
a) Approve the modification of established bargaining units to dissolve the CA bargaining unit and reallocate CA positions to Unrepresented Management (UM);
b) Approve and adopt the new Attorney classification series of Associate Attorney, Deputy Attorney, and Sr. Attorney; position allocations; Job Class Numbers (JCN); bargaining unit; and salary ranges for the new classifications;
c) Approve the deletion and abolishment of all existing classifications in the CA bargaining unit: Child Support Attorney I-IV (JCN 5001/5002/5003/5004), Deputy District Attorney I-IV (JCN 5201/5202/5203/5204), Deputy Public Defender I-IV (JCN 5301/5302/5303/5304), and Senior Citizens' Attorney I/II/III (JCN 5609/5610/5611);
d) Approve the upward reclassification of incumbent employees in current Level I and II classifications in the CA unit to the new Associate Attorney classification, and of incumbent employees in current Level III and IV classifications in the CA unit to the new Deputy Attorney classification; and
e) Approve exceptions to the County of El Dorado Personnel Rules Resolution No. 166-2022 regarding Status of Employees in Reclassified Positions (Rule 507), Salary on Promotion (Rule 608), and Underfill or Overfill of Full/Part Time Positions (Rule 505) to effectuate the reclassification of incumbent CA employees; and
2) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign the revised Salary and Benefits Resolution for Unrepresented Employees, Resolution 037-2025.
FUNDING: Various funds.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The CA bargaining unit (Unit) is self-represented by the El Dorado County Criminal Attorneys’ Association (Association). The Unit is comprised of approximately forty employees in four flexibly-staffed classifications across five departments: Deputy District Attorney I-IV (JCN 5201/5202/5203/5204) in the District Attorney’s Office (DA), Deputy Public Defender I-IV (JCN 5301/5302/5303/5304) in the offices of the Public Defender (PD) and Alternate Public Defender (APD), Senior Citizens' Attorney I/II/III (JCN 5609/5610/5611) in the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), and Child Support Attorney I-IV (JCN 5001/5002/5003/5004) in the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS). The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County and the Association expired June 30, 2024.
Representatives of the County and the Association met and negotiated in good faith in an effort to reach a successor agreement on a variety of terms and conditions of employment for employees in the CA bargaining unit. With concurrence of the Association, the Chief Administrative Officer, in their capacity as Employee Relations Officer, and the Director of Human Resources (collectively the Parties), recommend the Board approve the dissolution of the CA unit, and reallocate positions currently in CA to the UM unit through reclassification of incumbent employees to new classifications.
The Parties recommend the establishment of the following new classifications, which will be assigned to the UM unit: Associate Attorney, Deputy Attorney, and Sr. Attorney. The new classifications have been designed to align with the qualifications and experience required for the existing Deputy County Counsel classification series (Associate, Deputy, and Sr.) in UM, and thus it is recommended that the salary ranges be set equal for internal comparability.
Effective the first full pay period following adoption, all level I and II classifications in the current CA, and the incumbent employees holding the positions, would be reclassified to the new Associate Attorney class; all level III and IV classifications in the current CA, and the incumbent employees holding the positions, would be reclassified to the new Deputy Attorney class. Estimated cost increase for this proposed change is $855,500. In turn, the former classifications in CA unit would be abolished, and the CA unit dissolved.
To ensure all positions and their incumbents are reclassified simultaneously for timely bargaining unit modification, Human Resources recommends that the Board approve a variance on existing Personnel Rules 507 and 608, which otherwise prescribe the reclassification process, incumbent qualifications and eligibility, and other administrative terms and conditions affecting status of probationary periods, salary step, and anniversary date for future performance evaluation and salary step movement. Per the County and Association's negotiated agreement, upon adoption of the reclassification, probationary employees would retain their existing probationary status with credit served for completed time in the CA class applied to their reclassified position (no extension or resetting of probationary period due to the reclass); non-probationary employees would not have a new probationary period upon reclassification.
As the new classifications have a salary higher than the existing CA classifications, the salary placement for the new classifications would follow Personnel Rules for upward reclassification, including Rule 608, Salary on Promotion. In accordance with Rule 608, for purposes of further annual increases within the salary range, the employee's anniversary date would normally be changed to the effective date of the “promotion.” The effect of this Rule is that all of the employees would be due for performance evaluation on the same date; to prevent this negative burden on their departments, the Parties recommend the Board grant a variance, allowing in lieu of this portion of the Rule, a thirteen (13) pay period extension of the employee’s pre-reclassification anniversary date, for purposes of future performance evaluation and consideration of increase within the salary range. The employees’ anniversary dates would then be set to the normal twenty-six (26) pay periods annually thereafter. This variance would not serve to extend the probationary period, which shall remain unchanged from the date prescribed prior to the date of reclassification, or impact performance evaluations for probationary employees.
Upon adoption of the new Sr. Attorney classification, DA, PD, and APD, intend to open promotional recruitments for current eligible County employees to fill the new Sr. allocations. The recommended position allocations reflect the business needs of the departments, including the need to temporarily underfill some Sr. allocations with lower-level positions. To provide sufficient time for the departments to fill their vacant Sr. allocations through competitive recruitment, the Parties recommend a variance to Personnel Rule 505, Underfill or Overfill of Full/Part Time Positions. In accordance with Rule 505, an appointment to underfill a position may last until the next budget cycle, but in no event longer than one year unless an extension is approved by the Board of Supervisors annually upon recommendation by the Chief Administrative Officer. In order to allow the departments sufficient time for recruitment and selection of new Sr. positions, and the cascading opening of vacancies throughout the Attorney class levels enabling movement of positions to the departments' desired staffing levels, it is recommended that DA, PD, and APD receive Board approval for an appointment to underfill or overfill a Deputy or Sr. Attorney position to last for a period of up to two years unless an extension is pre-approved by the Board of Supervisors.
To effectuate the reallocation of these employees to UM, Human Resources has updated the Salary and Benefits Resolution for Unrepresented Employees as follows:
• Modify existing provision for attorney on-call to incorporate the new classifications. No change to existing on-call eligibility under CA but increases CA compensation to match the current UM on-call attorney rate. Estimated cost increase for this proposed change is $9,300.
• Delete existing salary linkage between the Deputy County Counsel classification and the Deputy District Attorney IV classification, as moot.
• Modify existing longevity provision to incorporate CA members newly transferring into the UM unit. Does not extend any new longevity eligibility.
• Add a new DA Lead Attorney Pay Differential as a transitional carry over from the CA MOU. As a Lead Attorney, employees are responsible for providing technical and functional direction to a team of attorneys, which may also include other law enforcement staff; directing, assigning, and reviewing the work of the team; providing training and direction on case strategies to the team; and planning and coordinating team activities. Under the CA MOU, the DA was limited to, and has currently assigned, three employees as a Lead. This assignment pays a 7.5% base wage differential. As part of their transition to UM, these three currently assigned individuals will be grandfathered in such that they may retain their 7.5% differential for a period of two pay periods following Board adoption. Thereafter, in anticipation that the DA will begin filling vacant Sr. allocations following adoption, the differential will be reduced to 3.0%. Furthermore, no other employees may be assigned as Lead or be eligible for the differential. Once an individual ceases to be eligible for the Lead Attorney Pay Differential, it may not be restored under any circumstances. Once eligibility ceases for all three incumbent Lead Attorneys, the Lead Attorney Pay Differential provision shall automatically terminate, and this section of the Resolution shall no longer be in force and effect. As an existing differential, there is no new cost for this modification.
Other Modifications
The existing provision for Communications and Outreach Manager - Emergency Services Differential is recommended for deletion from the Salary and Benefits Resolution for Unrepresented Employees. As a declaration of emergency does not necessarily denote an immediate crisis and/or may extend well beyond a crisis period for administrative purposes (i.e., funding considerations), the duties and conditions on which this differential was initially based have been determined to be of insufficient frequency and duration to warrant the special pay.
Additional non-economic “housekeeping” changes are included as recommended revisions, including renumbering and corrected/updated citations.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose to not approve the dissolution of CA, adoption of and reclassification of incumbent CA employees to new classifications in the UM unit, and all associated actions, and direct Human Resources to re-engage the Association in negotiations for a successor MOU. However, as the County negotiated these terms and conditions in good faith with the Association under authority and direction of the Board, there are no recommended alternatives.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
02/08/2022 Legistar file 22-0244: Board adopted the most recent MOU for this bargaining unit.
11/12/2024 Legistar file 24-1908: Board adopted the most recent Salary and Benefits Resolution for Unrepresented Employees.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
El Dorado County Criminal Attorneys’ Association
Chief Administrative Office
County Counsel
District Attorney
Public Defender
Alternate Public Defender
Department of Child Support Services
Health and Human Services Agency
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The impact for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2024-25 would be approximately $199,569 in increased costs. It is anticipated that five affected departments will be able to cover the increased costs with salary savings. Department staff will monitor the impacts of compensation changes on their budgets and return to the Board if there is not sufficient budget to cover the compensation increases.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
1) The Clerk will obtain the signature of the Chair on the two resolutions; and
2) The Clerk will return one copy of each of the executed resolutions to Misty Garcia in Human Resources.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Workforce Excellence
Priority: Enhance Employee Retention
Action Item: Attract and retain the best employees by providing competitive compensation, training, and advancement opportunities, and creating a positive and thriving culture.
CONTACT
Joseph Carruesco, Director of Human Resources