MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA AND
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY FIRE FIGHTERS, INC., LOCAL 2046

SECTION 18. Leave Donation

Purpose

To provide a mechanism for assisting employees who have exhausted paid leave due to a serious or catastrophic illness or injury. This section allows a regular County employee to donate the monetary value of accrued vacation, holiday or overtime hours to a specific employee who has exhausted his/her own available leave balances. Serious or catastrophic illness or injury is defined as the employee's own adverse medical condition which requires the employee to be absent from work for more than twenty (20) consecutive work days, or a similarly debilitating illness or injury of the employee's immediate family member (as defined in Section 17, Paragraph G) requiring the employee's attendance.

Conditions

A. To receive leave donations, an employee:

B. Donated leave shall be changed to its cash value at the donor's base rate of pay and then credited to the recipient in equivalent hours of vacation at the recipient's base rate of pay.

C. Donations:

D. An employee may not donate more than eighty (80) hours to any other individual employee.

E. The total donations received into his/her vacation balance by an employee shall normally not exceed 1040 hours; however, donations in excess of 1040 hours may be considered and approved by the recipient's appointing authority.

F. Upon approval of a request for donations, the appointing authority (or his/her designee) shall, at the employee's request, post a notice of the eligible employee's need for donations on departmental bulletin boards accessible to employees; confidential medical information shall not be included in the notice.

G. Donations shall be administered according to procedures established by the Auditor-Controller, and requested on a form prescribed by the Auditor-Controller. Signed approvals of the receiving and donating employees must be properly provided before a donation is processed.

Donors and hours donated shall be maintained as confidential payroll information.

H. Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify the employment relationship between the County and the receiving employee, or to restrict the County's management rights. Neither shall this policy modify existing County rules, policies or agreements regarding unpaid leave of absence or family care leave.

SECTION 19. Medical and Dental Coverage

A. For new employees, medical and dental coverage benefits under this Section shall be effective at the start of the third pay period of employment in a regular position.

B. The County shall contribute up to $105.19 biweekly toward the cost of the biweekly premium for employee-only medical plan coverage. The County shall contribute up to $12.02 biweekly toward the cost of the biweekly premium for employee-only dental plan coverage. These contributions are based on full-time employment; part-time employees shall receive a prorated contribution based on their percentage of full-time employment. Insurance plan premiums that exceed the County's biweekly contribution shall be paid by the employee through payroll deductions. During the term of this agreement, the County shall pay 100% (pro-rated for part-time employees) of the least expensive HMO employee-only premiums.

Employees may select coverage from the following options:

Medical*

Dental

C. Employees may insure their eligible dependents under the medical and dental plans listed in B above, in accordance with the rules and regulations applicable to obtaining said dependent coverage.

D. The County shall meet and confer with the Union prior to reducing the level of benefits provided by the Self-Funded dental insurance plans.

E. The Union may offer the Firefighters' Medical, Prescription Drugs and Dental Plans as an alternative to the Self-Funded Medical/Dental Plans and HMO Plans. The County may collect through payroll deduction from each employee participating in the Firefighter Plans a charge for allowing the employee access to the County's employee assistance program. These optional plans shall be made available through payroll deductions in accordance with procedures established by the Auditor-Controller. The County contributions toward medical and dental plans coverage, as provided for in Paragraph B above, may be applied to the corresponding premium schedule of the optional Firefighter medical and dental plans. The County does not agree to any additional contributions toward employee or dependent premiums in conjunction with the optional health plan.

F. The Union shall meet and confer with the County prior to increasing the number of medical and dental plans offered through the County payroll system.

G. If two regular County employees are married to each other and are both eligible for a contribution from the County toward employee-only medical and dental coverage, they may consolidate the County contributions toward the premium cost for "employee plus two or more dependents" coverage held by one of the employees. In this situation, one employee (referred to below as the "spouse") becomes a dependent on the other employee's (referred to below as the "primary employee") medical and dental coverage.

In order to be eligible under this provision, all of the following conditions must be met:

The amount of the consolidated contributions shall be that amount which would otherwise be contributed by the County toward the primary employee's and the spouse's employee premiums for the respective medical and dental plans, less the cost of participation by the spouse in the Employee Assistance Program. The appropriate contributions shall be made by the respective departments employing each employee.

SECTION 20. Health Insurance Benefits During Medical Leave of Absence

A. Employees who are absent from work due to a medical condition including injury, illness, pregnancy or childbirth shall receive the County contribution toward health plan coverage (as provided in Section 19) for a leave period up to 18 months. Premium amounts exceeding the County contribution and for dependents shall be the responsibility of the employee during the leave period.

For purposes of this section, time spent on leave of absence while on temporary disability covered by Labor Code §4850 shall not be considered as part of the 18-month period set forth above. If at the beginning of the leave period, the employee has paid leave accruals in excess of 3120 hours for staff employees or 4368 hours for shift employees, the County will continue to make its contribution toward health plan coverage while paid leave is being used on a full-time basis (i.e., 80 hours per pay period for staff employees or 112 hours per pay period for shift employees).

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of Civil Service Rule XIV, a temporarily disabled employee may request an unpaid leave of absence prior to exhausting all accumulated sick leave and compensatory time off, the granting of which shall be subject to the approval process in effect for such leaves of absence.

SECTION 21. Flexible Spending Account Plan

A. All full- and part-time employees in Union represented classifications shall be eligible to participate in the County sponsored Flexible Spending Account Plan.

The Flexible Spending Account Plan will include the following pre-tax salary reduction options:

1. Pre-Tax Health Insurance Premium Option - for employees and their dependents;
2. Pre-Tax Health Care Spending Account Option;
3. Pre-Tax Dependent Care Spending Account Option;
4. Pre-Tax Life Insurance Premium Option;
5. Pre-Tax Personal Accident Insurance Program.

These options are described in detail in the Flexible Spending Account Plan Legal Document which is available to all employee organizations. All salary reduction amounts are included in base salaries for the purpose of computing retirement earnings and are subject to appropriate Internal Revenue Service regulations.

The County shall meet and confer with the Union prior to revising the benefit options.

B. Benefits selected under this plan cannot be changed during the plan year except for a change in family status consistent with the benefit change. Enrollment in the plan shall be offered on an annual basis at the beginning of the plan year. New employees may enroll within the first thirty (30) days of employment. Continued operation of the program shall be subject to County administrative procedures.

SECTION 22. Benefit Allowance

A. The County shall contribute $155.15 per pay period per full-time employee as a benefit allowance. Regular part-time employees are eligible for this allowance based on a prorated equivalent of their employment status. The benefit allowance, which is received in cash, has a primary purpose of allowing employees to fund employee and dependent health insurance costs. Employees may also use the allowance to fund options in the Flexible Spending Account Plan and/or receive the entire amount or the remainder in cash.

B. During the term of this agreement, the benefit allowance shall be increased in accordance with the following schedule:

C. This allowance will be paid on a biweekly basis to each regular employee based on the prorated number of non-premium hours paid in a pay period.

SECTION 23. Retirement

A. The County offers the following retirement plans:

1. Employees Hired Before October 10, 1994
a. Safety Plan I

2. Employees Hired On or After October 10, 1994
a. Safety Plan III

B. The County shall pay up to seventy dollars ($70.00) per pay period of each full-time employee's contributions to the retirement system in accordance with Government Code Section 31639.85. Part-time employees shall receive a prorated equivalent.

C. The County may adjust the employee contribution rates to the retirement system when such adjustments are based on an actuary report, recommended by the Retirement Board and approved by the Board of Supervisors. Prior to implementing employee contribution rate adjustments, the County shall give notice to the Union and upon request provide an opportunity to meet. The purpose of meeting will be to discuss the implementation of the contribution rate changes. The effective dates of rate adjustments shall be in accordance with the applicable provisions of the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937.

D. Effective January 14, 2008, retirement benefits for safety member employees hired on or after October 10, 1994, and represented by the Firefighters, Local 2046 shall be modified as follows: Employee rates shall be converted from “full rates” to “half rates” and the Final Average Salary period shall be modified from one year to three years. These modifications shall apply to all past and future safety service.

SECTION 24. Educational Incentive

A. Employees who have completed their original probationary periods shall be eligible for an educational incentive benefit as provided below:

1. To be eligible for educational incentive pay, a person must receive written pre-approval from the Fire Chief. The employee's letter must list class name, course number, and location of course. The Fire Chief reserves the right to deny a course due to inappropriate course content.

2. Educational incentive shall be paid for successful completion of approved college level or equivalent courses at the rate of $100 per unit. For hourly classes without assigned units, 14 hours of class work will be equal to one unit. College level self-study courses will be evaluated in the same manner as on-campus courses.

3. All coursework must be job related, and technical or professional in nature; this will be determined by the Fire Chief.

4. Off-duty classroom attendance is required except in cases where the Fire Chief has authorized a self-study course.

5. The Fire Department will annually budget $3,000 for the educational incentive account. The Fire Chief may deny pre-approval of a course or courses if no fund balance remains.

6. During the term of this agreement, the educational incentive shall be increased in accordance with the following schedule:

B. Payment shall be made upon presentation to the Auditor-Controller of a claim for payment, together with an official final transcript giving evidence of successful completion of the course.

C. The payments provided shall only be made for courses completed through regular attendance, and such expenditure shall be the sole County payment for these courses. Payment will not be made for grade points of below 2.0 or for incomplete grades. Educational incentive will be given for a course only one time -- no repeat classes.

SECTION 25. Mileage Reimbursement

Employees who are authorized in advance to use their personal vehicles for County business, shall be reimbursed for each mile driven on County business. Said reimbursement shall be at the rate per mile exempted by the Internal Revenue Service for reporting of income and shall not exceed the mileage costs charged for County non-emergency vehicles.

SECTION 26. EMT-D Allowance

A. The County shall pay an allowance equivalent to 1.75% of base pay to all employees who possess a valid EMT-D certificate.

B. During the term of this agreement, the allowance for EMT-D certification shall be increased in accordance with the following schedule:

SECTION 27. Paramedic Allowances

Employees authorized and regularly assigned by the Fire Chief to paramedic duties shall receive an allowance of the dollar equivalent of 8.75% of the Firefighter "A" step salary biweekly separate from basic salary but payable at the same time as the regular compensation. Employees shall be certified and must maintain proper certification as paramedics to qualify for said allowance.

Effective January 14, 2008, the Paramedic Allowances shall be modified as follows:

A. 11% of FF “E” step for Core Paramedic positions
B. 8% of FF “E” step for Non-Core and Staff Paramedic positions
C. 13% of FF “E” step for Paramedic Training Officer Positions

In order to be eligible for the Core Paramedic allowance, employees must make a three year commitment to serve in Core Paramedic positions assigned by the Fire Chief or his designated representative.

Employees who are participating in the Mobile Intensive Care Paramedic Program, receiving the biweekly Paramedic premium pay and who, with the approval of the Fire Chief, complete the necessary continuing education and examination requirements to obtain recertification for the Mobile Intensive Care Paramedic Program as prescribed by the County shall receive a recertification payment of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00) provided the employee has not received the recertification payment during the past two-year period and provided the employee remains certified and active in the Paramedic Program for an additional two-year interval.

The Fire Chief shall designate in writing to the Assistant CEO/HR Director those employees authorized and assigned.

SECTION 28. Staff Incentive

Employees authorized and regularly assigned by the Fire Chief to staff positions shall be paid the dollar equivalent of 13.15% of the Firefighter "A" step salary per pay period higher than their respective basic compensation. This additional sum shall be considered as an allowance separate from basic salary, and shall be payable at the same time as the regular basic salary. Employees must annually qualify with an overall satisfactory job performance rating in order to maintain said allowance.

The Fire Chief shall designate in writing to the Assistant CEO/HR Director those employees authorized and assigned.

Effective January 14, 2008, the Staff Incentive shall be modified as follows:

A. 11.5% of Fire Engineer “E” step for Fire Engineer-Staff positions
B. 11.5% of Fire Captain “E” step for Fire Captain-Staff positions

In order to be eligible for this incentive, employees must make a three year commitment to serve in staff positions assigned by the Fire Chief or his designated representative.

SECTION 29. Uniform Allowance

A. Employees shall be provided a standard complement of shirts, slacks and other required clothing at the time of employment. Employees shall also receive a uniform allowance of $575 per year paid biweekly, which represents reimbursement for costs associated with purchase and maintenance of all elements of the uniform with the exception of those elements that the Department provides in accordance with Section 502.70 of the Department’s Policies and Procedures. During the term of this agreement, the uniform allowance shall be increased in accordance with the following schedule:

B. If an employee receiving uniforms as provided above terminates employment with the County within twelve months following date of hire, the final compensation shall be reduced by a prorated amount for the cost of the uniforms based on the number of months, or major fractions thereof, remaining between the date of termination and the end of the twelve-month period from the date of employment.

C. Employees with more than six months continuous County service shall receive the uniform allowance in equal biweekly payments.

D. During the term of this agreement, the department shall maintain washers and dryers in each fire station. Shift employees will be able to launder their own uniforms at the station.

SECTION 30. Transportation Demand Management

Employees shall be eligible to participate in the County's TDM program and receive related benefits including the Alternative Commute Incentive.

SECTION 31. Safety/Non-Safety Positions in Staff Assignments

The Fire Chief shall have the option to utilize non-safety positions in a staff assignment for any of the following reasons:
1. Recruitment for a safety member fails to produce an acceptable candidate; or
2. The open position would provide the potential for a department to bring in a non-Safety person who meets protected group status; or
3. A non-safety member candidate has technical qualifications that would improve the department's expertise in the open position.

The County and the Union acknowledge that the following positions may be staffed with
non-safety personnel:

The Fire Chief will not fill more than a total of four of the above positions with non-safety personnel, and retains the option of returning a non-safety appointment to safety member status if a non-safety member vacancy occurs.

The parties agree that the Fire Chief shall consider internal candidates as well as non-safety candidates as each of these vacancies occurs.

SECTION 32. Physical Conditioning

The County and the Union recognize that healthy, physically conditioned employees are more effective and efficient and enhance the overall safety of all personnel. To this end, the parties support and endorse individual physical conditioning and each will cooperate in the development and implementation of physical conditioning programs for all employees.

The County may require an employee to undergo a physical examination as it directly relates to the goals of the Physical Conditioning Program. The County shall bear the cost of the examination. The County Health Officer and the attending physician shall determine the scope and extent of the exam. To the extent possible, examinations shall be scheduled during the employee's regular working hours.

The results of the examination shall be provided to the employee and, upon request, the employee shall be given an opportunity to meet and discuss the examination results with the examining physician. It shall be the responsibility of the employee to take remedial measures or any treatment, including but not limited to, participation in the physical conditioning program, recommended by the examining physician.

SECTION 33. No Smoking Policy

Employees shall not, as a condition of continued employment, use in any manner tobacco products on duty. For the purposes of this Memorandum of Understanding, tobacco products shall be defined as any form of tobacco including, but not limited to, chewing or smoking products.

Employees who use tobacco products while off duty and who wish assistance to quit will be offered help through the Employee Assistance Program. If the assistance cannot be accommodated through County facilities/programs, the County will reimburse the employee for recommended care not to exceed $500. It is the parties' understanding that employee health insurance shall be utilized first as a means of paying for the recommended assistance programs.

Employees who are under a licensed physician's care to stop smoking may utilize "nico-care" chewing gum or other related nicotine products to assist them in quitting smoking. The Fire Chief, or his designee, may require evidence in the form of a physician's certificate to verify such need.

SECTION 34. Employee Personnel Files

A. All personnel files on an employee maintained by the County and the department will be open for inspection by that individual or his/her authorized representative at his/her request during business hours by appointment. He will be shown all contents of the file except those materials designated confidential by law. A copy will be provided to the individual upon his/her request.

B. No material relating to performance appraisal or disciplinary action shall be placed in the personnel file of an employee represented by the Union without the employee first being given an opportunity to read such material and attach a reply if the employee desires, which shall remain with said material.

SECTION 35. Performance Evaluations

Employees shall be given an opportunity to read and sign their performance evaluations prior to placement of the evaluations in the employees' official personnel files. That an employee has signed a performance evaluation does not mean the employee agrees with the evaluation, but such signature shall be evidence of the employees' knowledge of the completed evaluation. The employee shall receive a copy of the performance evaluation within thirty (30) working days of the date of the evaluation.

SECTION 36. Survey Jurisdictions

The County agrees that, in the future, the survey jurisdictions for fire classifications shall be Carpinteria, CDF, Kern, Lompoc City, Montecito, Orange County, Santa Barbara City, Ventura County. The County shall determine which classifications in these jurisdictions are equivalent or comparable to the County classifications for survey purposes.

SECTION 37. Labor-Management Committee

There shall be a Labor-Management Committee consisting of at least three Union members designated by the President and an equal number of County representatives designated by the Fire Chief. The committee size shall not exceed eight members. The committee shall meet at least quarterly or more frequently by mutual consent of the parties. The committee shall have the authority to make recommendations to the Union and the County.