MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA AND
THE DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION

Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Sections 3500-3510 and Santa Barbara County Resolution 75-743, agreement has been reached between the County of Santa Barbara (Hereinafter referred to as "COUNTY") and the Deputy District Attorneys Association (Hereinafter referred to as "ASSOCIATION") recognized as the majority bargaining representative for the Deputy District Attorneys representation unit.

It is the general purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding to promote the mutual interest of the County and its employees and to establish rates of pay, and certain other terms and conditions of employment.

This Memorandum of Understanding constitutes a mutual recommendation to be jointly submitted to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and the members of the Association. It is agreed that this Memorandum of Understanding shall not be binding upon the parties - either in whole or in part - unless and until approved by the Association and unless and until approved by the Board of Supervisors.

The County agrees to maintain any and all benefits described herein during the term of this agreement.

SECTION 1. RECOGNITION

Pursuant to the provisions of the County Employee Relations Resolution 75-743 and applicable State law, the County of Santa Barbara hereby recognizes the Association as the certified majority representative of the employees in the above representation unit.

The Association agrees to provide the County's Personnel Director/Employee Relations Officer with a list of Association officers and representatives who are authorized to meet and confer in good faith. The Association shall also provide the above officials with a list of all authorized staff representatives. The County shall notify the Association of the duly authorized Management Representatives who are authorized to meet and confer in good faith.

All lists shall be kept current by the parties.

SECTION 2. NON-DISCRIMINATION

The provisions of this agreement shall be applied equally to all employees covered hereby without discrimination because of race, color, sex, age, disability, national origin, religious affiliation, or Association membership.

SECTION 3. RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES

A. County Rights

1. The County retains, consistent with applicable laws, certain management rights which include the exclusive right to determine the methods, means, and personnel by which County Government operations are to be conducted, as well as to exercise complete control and discretion over its organization, operations, and technology of performing its work; to determine the mission, function and necessity of all or part of each of its constituent departments, boards and commissions and take all necessary actions to carry out their mission, functions and necessity, or any part thereof, as well as set standards of service to the public.

2. It also retains the sole right to administer the Civil Service system and, consistent with Civil Service rules and procedures, to classify or reclassify positions, add or delete positions or classes to or from the Salary Ordinance; to establish standards for employment, promotion, and transfer of employees; to direct its employees, establish rules and regulations, take disciplinary action for proper cause, to establish work schedules and work assignments, and to relieve its employees from duty for lack of work or other legitimate reasons. The County retains the right to be the sole judge, subject to its Civil Service Rules and Procedures, of the qualification and competence of its officers and employees.

3. The County reserves the right to take whatever action may be necessary in an emergency situation; however, a Recognized Employee Organization affected by the action shall be notified promptly of any such emergency action which affects matters within the scope of representation.

4. This section is not intended to restrict consultation with employees or employee representatives regarding matters within the right of the County to determine.

B. Employee Rights

1. Subject to the provisions of this agreement as well as other applicable law, employees of this unit shall have the right to form, join and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation of all matters of employee relations. Employees shall also have the right to represent themselves individually in their employment relations with the County. No employee shall be interfered with, intimidated, restrained, coerced or discriminated against because of his exercise of these rights.

C. Association Rights

1. The County shall deduct membership dues from employees in the Deputy District Attorneys representation unit when such deductions have been authorized in writing by the individual employee on a form acceptable to the Auditor-Controller and shall transmit such deductions to the Association.

2. Each pay period the County shall provide the Association with a membership dues checkoff list. Said list shall be without cost to the Association.

3. The Association agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold the County harmless against any claims made of any nature and against any suit instituted against the County arising from its checkoff for dues of the Association, or its failure to do so.

4. Reasonable time off with pay will be granted to Association officers and negotiators for the purpose of meeting and conferring or consulting with the County subject to the approval of the department head as to specific times.

SECTION 4. MEET AND CONFER OBLIGATIONS

Both the County and the Association agree to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other such terms and conditions of employment as are germane to the meet and confer process and shall fully consider such presentations as are made during those proceedings prior to arriving at a determination of position or policy.

"Meet and Confer in good faith" means that both the Board and the Association agree to comply with Government Code section 3500 et seq. in the meet and confer process.

SECTION 5. SALARY

A. Effective October 10, 2005, salaries for classifications represented by the Association shall be increased by 2.0%.

B. Effective October 9, 2006, salaries for classifications represented by the Association shall be increased by 3.5%.

C. Effective January 1, 2007, classifications represented by the Association shall receive a salary equity increase of 1.5%.

D. The Association may request to reopen on salaries if the County’s 2005-06 General Fund Discretionary Revenue growth exceeds 7%, based on the 2006-07 first quarter budget update. For purposes of this agreement, discretionary revenue growth does not include Vehicle License Fee (VLF) one-time loan repayment or any paybacks of mandate claims for prior years.

E. If (1) any bargaining unit in negotiations as of December 2, 2004 (excludes DSA, Sheriff’s Managers and Fire Union) receives an across-the-board compensation increase between October 2004 and September 2005 exceeding the value (measured as flat dollars for the Benefit Allowance and as a percent of payroll for other compensation) of the first year of the MOU between the County and this Association; or (2) any unrepresented unit receives an economic increase between October 2004 and September 2005 exceeding the value (measured as a percent of payroll) of the first year of the MOU between the County and this Association; then employees represented by the Deputy District Attorneys Association shall receive an equivalent increase.

SECTION 6. MEDICAL AND DENTAL COVERAGE

A. For new employees, medical and dental coverage benefits under this Section shall be effective at the beginning of the month that immediately follows the employee’s first pay period of employment in a regular position. Part-time employees must be employed a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of full-time in order to be eligible for insurance benefits.

B. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Point of Service (POS) medical plans, and PPO and Dental Maintenance Organization (DMO) dental plans shall be available to employees.

C. 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 contribution shall be paid by the employee through payroll deductions. Notwithstanding the above, during the term of this agreement the County shall pay 100% (prorated for part-time employees) of the least-expensive medical and dental HMO employee-only premiums.

Employees may select coverage from the following options:

Medical*

Dental

D. Employees may ensure their eligible dependents (including registered domestic partners as defined below) under the medical and dental plans listed in C above, in accordance with the rules and regulations applicable to obtaining said dependent coverage.

E. Employees who are placed on a leave of absence resulting from a medical condition including injury, illness, pregnancy and childbirth shall receive the County contribution toward health plan coverage for a leave period up to eighteen months. Premium amounts exceeding the County contribution and for dependents shall be the responsibility of the employee during the leave period. If an employee has paid leave accruals in excess of eighteen (18) months at the start of the leave, the County will continue to make its contribution toward health coverage while paid leave is being used and until such time as the paid leave is exhausted.

F. If two regular County employees are either a) married to each other or b) registered as domestic partners as defined below, 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 dependents” coverage held by one of the employees. In this situation, one employee (referred to below as the “spouse” or “partner”) 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 employee’s and the spouse’s or partner’s employee-only premiums for the respective medical and dental plans less the cost for participation by the spouse or partner in the Employee Assistance Program and the County’s healthcare advocacy program. The appropriate contributions shall be made by the respective departments employing each employee.

SECTION 7. FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT PLAN

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

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

The options are described in detail in the Flexible Spending Plan brochure and in the Legal Plan Document which is available to all employee organizations. Compensation received in accordance with Section 8 (Benefit Allowance) may be used by employees to fund the options described above. 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 Association prior to revising the benefit options. The County agrees not to implement plan revisions unless a majority of recognized employee organizations agree to the proposed changes.

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 8. BENEFIT ALLOWANCE

A. The County shall contribute $143.58 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 remainder in cash.

B. During the term of this agreement, the benefit allowance may 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.