MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA AND
SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 620

SECTION 15. 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 provision 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 12, 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. 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.

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 care leave.

SECTION 16. Salaries

A. Effective November 19, 2007, employees in classifications covered by the 2007 Clerical Classification and Compensation Project Side Letter Agreement shall receive a salary increase of 3.0%.

B. Effective March 10, 2008, salaries for classifications represented by the Union that were not covered by the 2007 Clerical Classification and Compensation Project Side Letter Agreement shall receive a salary increase of 1.0%.

C. Effective October 6, 2008, salaries for classifications represented by the union shall increase by 2%.

D. Effective April 6, 2009, salaries for classifications represented by the union shall increase by 1.5%.

E. Effective October 5, 2009, salaries for classifications represented by the union shall increase by 2%.

F. Effective April 5, 2010, salaries for classifications represented by the union shall increase by 2.5%.

SECTION 17. Salary Inequity Adjustments

A. Once each year in February, the Union shall have the right to request that the County review the salary placement of up to twelve (12) classifications that meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. Significant turnover;
2. Difficulty recruiting;
3. Internal misalignment with classifications(s) with similar responsibilities or duties;
4. Range or salary compaction; and/or
5. External misalignment with classification(s) with similar responsibilities or duties within the following jurisdictions:

a.) Comparison Counties: Marin, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Monterey, Placer, Solano; and,
b.) One or more relevant local public and/or private agencies including, but not limited to:

Cities of: Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Lompoc and/or San Luis Obispo; Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools, Santa Barbara City College, Allan Hancock College, UCSB, California State Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria-Bonita School District; Vandenberg Air Force Base; Cottage Hospital, Marian Hospital, Lompoc Hospital, Valley Hospital.

B. Requests for review will including the following information:
1. Class(es) to be studied:
2. Which criteria set forth above are applicable;
3. Supporting data that justifies the request;
4. Any known or anticipated compaction or “ripple effects” created by an
adjustment;
5. Percentage increase proposed; and
6. Estimated cost of salary inequity requested (including any known benefit cost adjustments).

C. The Human Resources Department will conduct the review and provide copies of the results to the Union and the affected department(s). Following completion of the review or sixty days after the Union’s submittal of the information set forth in Paragraph B, whichever is sooner, and upon request of the Union, the parties shall meet and confer regarding the results. Costs of agreed upon salary inequity adjustments shall be in addition to any salary increases arising out of Section 16 (Salaries).

D. The County agrees to provide the Union, upon request, reports indicating the number of positions allocated and filled within represented bargaining units.

E. Effective July 14, 2008, the County will allocate a minimum of the dollar equivalent of .75% of the then current salary to fund salary equity adjustments for classifications represented by the Union.

F. Effective July 13, 2009, the County will allocate a minimum of the dollar equivalent of .75% of the then current salary to fund salary equity adjustments for classifications represented by the Union. The parties will meet and confer to determine how the money will be allocated.

SECTION 18. Overtime

Regular employees shall be eligible for overtime compensation in accordance with the following provisions.

A. Overtime shall be authorized in advance by the department head or his/her designee.

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 purpose 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. Hours worked 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 at the rate of time and one-half or paid in the pay period in which earned at the rate of time and one-half, 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 overtime 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. If an employee wishes to take compensatory time off it shall be requested at least 48 hours in advance. Denial of a request for compensatory time off is subject to a determination by the department head that it 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 periods 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, except in an emergency as provided below. The Union and the County acknowledge that the County does not claim its exemption under the FLSA for some classifications.

H. Employees in classifications exempt from overtime compensation are eligible for administrative leave in accordance with the provisions of Section 19.

I. Regular employees in classifications exempt from overtime compensation and therefore not otherwise eligible for overtime pursuant to this agreement 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 agreement 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. The County recognizes the value that many employees place on a regular work schedule. The County, however, retains the right to adjust employee work schedules for operational reasons. Employee schedules shall not be altered for arbitrary or capricious reasons.

M. The non-supervisory nursing classifications listed below shall receive overtime compensation at the rate of time and one-half for work performed beyond forty (40) hours in a seven day work period. Employees in these classifications are not eligible for administrative leave.

The County shall identify the classifications listed below as "non-exempt" on all appropriate documents. It is the intent of the parties that such classifications shall be compensated in the same manner as all other "non-exempt" classifications represented by the Union.

The non-supervisory nursing classifications affected by this provision are:

Licensed Vocational Nurse
Mental Health Nurse
Psychiatric Nurse I/II
Psychiatric Nurse, Senior
Public Health Nurse
Staff Nurse
Staff Nurse, Senior

SECTION 19. Administrative Leave

Employees in classifications exempt from overtime compensation are eligible for administrative leave in accordance with the following provisions:

A. Purpose. Salaried employees are compensated for meeting the requirements and performing the duties of their job regardless of the number or scheduling of hours worked. Such employees may be required periodically or routinely to work long or irregular hours, and to attend various meetings and functions outside of normal "business hours" to fulfill their responsibilities.

Due to standards of public accountability and the resulting need for all employees to account for all time for which they are compensated, the County has created a vehicle to record paid time off not charged to accrued leave balances when a salaried employee occasionally works less than his/her regular schedule. This paid time off is called administrative leave. The purpose of administrative leave is to provide a process for authorized leave time to record amounts to be paid to salaried employees when their pay period total regular hours plus any use of vacation, holiday or sick leave is less than their normal schedule (e.g., 80 hours for full-time employees).

B. Approval Required. Salaried employees do not have a right to administrative leave. This leave is not an entitlement, is not related to hours worked (i.e., leave is not granted on an hour-for-hour worked basis), nor is it subject to accrual or payment for unused leave. Use is completely discretionary, upon approval of the department head. Department heads may approve administrative leave in recognition of extraordinary work assignments, excessive work time beyond normal work schedules or to reward outstanding individual performance.

C. Procedure. Salaried employees, after having recorded any regular, sick leave, holiday and/or vacation taken as appropriate in a pay period, may use administrative leave with the approval of their department head. The department head may grant a salaried employee up to 108 hours of administrative leave per payroll year. The County Administrator may approve additional administrative leave upon the written request of the department head.