MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA AND
SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 721

SECTION 24. HOLIDAYS

A. Holidays regularly observed by the County for employees represented by this agreement are:

New Year's Day, January 1
Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday, 3rd Monday in January
Washington's Birthday, 3rd Monday in February
Memorial Day, last Monday in May
Independence Day, July 4
Labor Day, 1st Monday in September
Veterans Day, November 11
Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday in November
Thanksgiving Day Friday, the day after Thanksgiving
Christmas Day, December 25
Two (2) Floating Holidays (See Paragraph B and K below)

B. All regular employees in a pay status (including paid leave) for any portion of pay period one each year shall be credited with eight (8) hours holiday leave. Regular part-time employees shall receive a prorated equivalent. This holiday leave must be used during the payroll year and may not be accumulated from year to year. The floating holiday credit may be used in the same pay period in which it is accrued, subject to Paragraph C below.

C. Holiday leave shall be subject to the approval and/or taken at the direction of the appointing authority or designee. An employee's request to use accrued holiday leave shall not be unreasonably denied.

D. If a paid assigned holiday falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be the holiday in lieu of the day observed. If a paid assigned holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be the holiday in lieu of the day observed. For those employees who actually work Saturday and/or Sunday, the paid assigned holiday shall be the day on which the holiday actually occurs.

E. Regular employees leaving County service shall be paid all compensatory holiday time which has accrued but has not been otherwise compensated.

F. In the following sections reference to eight (8) hours shall apply to regular full-time employees and in the case of regular part-time employees the eight (8) hours shall be a pro rated equivalent.

G. When a holiday falls on an employee's regularly scheduled work day, the employee shall be paid eight (8) hours cash payment for the holiday. When a holiday falls on an employee's regularly scheduled day off, the employee shall accrue eight (8) hours of compensatory holiday time. Employees who accrue holiday time shall take the compensatory time during the payroll year in which the holiday is accrued.

H. When an employee who is overtime exempt is required to work on a holiday which falls on the employee's regularly scheduled work day, the employee shall, in addition to eight (8) hours regular cash payment for the holiday, accrue compensatory holiday time on an hour for hour basis for all hours worked up to eight (8) hours.

I. When an employee who is eligible for overtime is required to work on a holiday the employee shall, in addition to eight (8) hours regular cash payment for the holiday, accrue compensatory holiday time at straight time and cash payment at one half time for all hours worked up to eight (8) hours.

J. In order to receive holiday compensation, an employee must be in paid status on the scheduled work day immediately prior to and/or after the holiday. Notwithstanding the above, neither the first day of employment nor the last day of employment may be a holiday.

K. In recognition of Cesar Chavez, an additional floating holiday will be credited in pay period 1, each year beginning in 2008, under the same conditions as in Paragraph B, bringing the total to two (2) floating holidays annually. Time off is granted pursuant to department head discretion. Employees may request and department heads may grant use of the floating holiday on March 31 each year, provided departmental operational needs are met.

SECTION 25. SICK LEAVE

A. Each regular full-time or regular part-time employee shall accrue sick leave at the rate of .0463 hours for each hour in a regular pay status excluding overtime, call-back and standby duty.

B. Unused sick leave shall be cumulative from year to year, with no accrual limit.

C. Sick leave usage may not exceed the employee's accrued sick leave balance reported on the Leave Report at the end of the pay period immediately preceding the pay period in which the leave is taken.

D. A department head may require evidence in the form of a physician's certificate, or otherwise, of the adequacy of the reason for any employee's absence during the time for which sick leave was requested. Under no circumstances is sick leave to be used in lieu of, in addition to, or as vacation. The Auditor may require a physician's certificate from the department in order to determine correctness of payroll records.

E. When a member of an employee’s immediate family is seriously ill or injured and requires an employee’s presence and attendance, an employee may be allowed by the employee’s appointing authority to use up to five days (40 hours) of the employee’s accumulated sick leave to attend such family member; provided, that not more than five days per year may be allowed for the illness or injury of any one member of the employee's immediate family. However, subject to department head approval, an employee may exceed the five day limit to care for an immediate family member who has a catastrophic or life threatening illness or injury as verified by a physician’s statement.

F. Up to a maximum of five days (40 hours) of an employee’s accumulated sick leave may be allowed by an employee’s appointing authority to an employee for absence from duty because of any and each death in an employee’s immediate family.

G. For the purposes of Section E and F above, "immediate family" is defined as husband, wife, domestic partner, parent, brother, sister, child, grandparent, grandchild, and mother-in-law or father-in-law of the employee.

H. An employee may, when necessary and at the discretion of the employee’s department head, be granted up to two hours leave with pay to make voluntary non-remunerated blood donations to non-profit blood banks in the County. Time off in excess of two hours and up to an additional two hours may be used for this purpose, but such additional time off shall be charged to accumulated sick leave. Leave for the purpose of donating blood shall not exceed five times in any one calendar year.

I. Each regular full-time or regular part-time employee with Accumulated Unused Sick Leave balances in excess of 240 hours as of September 17, 1978, will be eligible for sick leave pay off. Upon termination of employment from county services, 50% of the value of the eligible Accumulated Unused Sick Leave hours will be paid at the employee's hourly rate in effect as of September 17, 1978. Eligible Accumulated Sick Leave hours are defined as the Accumulated Unused Sick Leave hours between 240 hours and 960 hours reported as of September 17, 1978, or if less, then hours reported at the time of termination.

J. Any payment made under Section I above will be made only once to an employee in the employee’s work history with the County upon termination of employment. If an employee is subsequently rehired in the service of the County, incentive payment for Unused Sick Leave will not be applicable, and previous balances paid off upon termination will not be restored.

K. Except upon Layoff in accordance with Civil Service Rule XI, termination of County employment shall abrogate all sick leave accrued to the time of such termination, regardless of whether such person subsequently re-enters County employment or service. Except as provided in Section I, no payment shall be made to any employee for unused sick leave accumulated to the employee’s credit at the time of the employee’s termination from County service.

SECTION 26. LEAVE DONATION

Employees shall be eligible to participate as donors and recipients in the leave donation program, which provides a mechanism for assisting employees who have exhausted paid leave due to a serious or catastrophic illness or injury. This program allows a regular County employee to donate the monetary value of accrued vacation, holiday or overtime hours to a specific, eligible 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 25, Paragraph G) requiring the employee's attendance.

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. If the eligible employee is in his/her original probationary period, the notice will include a statement of that fact.

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 section modify existing County rules, policies or agreements regarding unpaid leave of absence or family leave.

SECTION 27. FAMILY CARE LEAVE

Family care leave benefits are set forth in the County's Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual and are provided in accordance with those benefits mandated by the provisions of Government Code Section 12945.2.

SECTION 28. OVERTIME

A. The County shall determine those classifications eligible for overtime compensation. Employees in those classifications may be required to work overtime. When properly authorized in advance by the Department Head or the Department Heads’ designated representative, employees required to work overtime shall receive overtime compensation in accordance with the following provisions.

An employee may not work overtime without the advance approval of the employee’s Department of the Department Head’s designated representative. For employees in Protective Services only and only when working in the field, if circumstances beyond the employee’s control require overtime and the acquisition of advance approval is not possible, the employee shall:

1. if practical, attempt to obtain approval by telephone to work overtime; and
2. on the next working day, inform his/her immediate supervisor in writing of: the amount of the overtime worked and the nature of the circumstance beyond the employee’s control.

B. Overtime for non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (hereafter referred to as FLSA) will be defined as any hours worked beyond forty (40) hours in a seven day work period, exclusive of standby and call-back time. For the purposes of computing overtime, all regular, scheduled work hours including paid leave time shall be considered time worked.

C. Overtime work is compensable at the rate of time and one-half the regular rate as computed in accordance with FLSA. Overtime shall accrue in increments of tenths (1/10) of an hour (6 minutes), subject to a minimum of two-tenths (2/10) of an hour (12 minutes).

D. Overtime shall be placed in a Compensatory Overtime account or paid in the pay period in which earned, at the discretion of the department head or his/her designated representative. The maximum allowable balance in the Compensatory Overtime account shall be 240 hours. A direction to take off compensatory time by the department head or his designated representative shall be given to the employee at least forty-eight (48) hours before the time off is to be taken.

E. Requests by employees to take compensatory time off shall not be denied unless the time off would unduly disrupt the operations of the department. Compensatory Overtime shall be used before any leave-without-pay is granted pursuant to Rule XIV of the Santa Barbara County Civil Service Rules.

F. Except upon termination of employment, hours in the Compensatory Overtime account as of the last pay period ending prior to June 30 and December 31 shall be paid off in cash based on the employee's regular hourly rate of pay in effect at the time of payment. Payments for compensatory overtime hours are taxable as lump sum payments in accordance with IRS and State Franchise Tax Board regulations and are subject to withholding as required by law. Overtime earned in the pay period in which a cash payoff is made shall not be included in the automatic payoff of the account balance.

G. The County shall determine and identify those classifications which are exempt from overtime compensation. The determination shall be in accordance with the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Classifications which have been designated as exempt shall not receive overtime compensation, except in an emergency as provided below.

H. Employees in classifications exempt from overtime compensation are eligible for administrative leave in accordance with the provisions of Section 29.

I. Regular employees in classifications exempt from overtime compensation and therefore not otherwise eligible for overtime pursuant to this Memorandum of Understanding shall be paid for overtime worked during an emergency as follows:

1. No overtime compensation shall be paid for overtime work during an emergency for the first twelve (12) hours of such emergency overtime work;
2. Overtime compensation shall be paid at straight time for the second twelve (12) hours of emergency overtime work; and
3. Overtime compensation shall be paid at the rate of time and one-half for all hours of overtime worked in excess of twenty-four (24) hours during any such emergency.

J. "Emergency" for the purposes of Paragraph I of this Section shall mean an emergency in the County of Santa Barbara, duly declared in writing by the Board of Supervisors, the County Administrator, or Deputy County Administrator, and shall also include emergencies in other jurisdictions in the State of California, approved in writing as an emergency by the County Administrator or Deputy County Administrator of the County of Santa Barbara.

K. Overtime eligible part-time employees who work beyond their regularly scheduled work hours but less than the maximum allowable in their work period, shall be paid at straight time.

L. Departments shall ensure that all employees covered by this Agreement are trained in county and departmental overtime policies and timesheet coding. Verification of such training for current employees shall be provided to the Union within three months of the ratification of this Agreement.

M. During the term of this Agreement, either party may reopen negotiations on the issue of the overtime-exempt status of Social Service Practitioners. If negotiations reopen on this subject, the proposed changes will not be implemented unless the parties mutually agree.