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

SECTION 9. SICK LEAVE

A. Each regular full-time or 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. Employees represented by the Association shall receive eighty (80) hours sick leave accrual upon appointment or such prorated amount for regular part-time employees. Employees entering the unit from another County classification not eligible for this advance, shall retain their current sick leave balances and shall only receive additional sick leave accrual necessary to provide a balance of eighty (80) hours sick leave.

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

D. 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.

E. 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.

F. When a member of his immediate family is seriously ill or injured and requires his presence and attendance, an employee may be allowed by his appointing authority to use up to five days (40 hours) of his 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 immediately family. 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 as verified by a physician’s statement.

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

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

I. An employee may, when necessary and at the discretion of his department head, be granted up to two hours leave with pay to make voluntary nonremunerated 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.

J. Each regular full-time or regular part-time 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 by the time of termination.

K. Any payment made under Section J above will be made only once to an employee in his 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.

L. 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 of service. Except as provided in Section J, no payment shall be made to any employee for unused sick leave accumulated to his credit at the time of his termination from County service.

M. Employees who retire from the County shall have their accumulated sick leave credit of up to 2,088 hours added to their term of service for purposes of calculating retirement benefits.

SECTION 10. VACATION

A. For each hour in a regular pay status, excluding overtime, call-back, and stand-by, each regular full-time or regular part-time employee shall accrue vacation based on continuous County service as provided in the chart below.

B. Annual vacation accrual may accumulate up to the Maximum Allowable Accrual provided for in the chart in A above.

C. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections A and B above, an employee absent due to a work-related injury, receiving Workers' Compensation Temporary Disability and unable to take vacation may accrue vacation above the Maximum Allowable Accrual. Following his/her return to work, the employee shall make every reasonable effort to promptly take vacation in excess of the Maximum Allowable Accrual.

D. Employees may, once during each calendar year and with the approval of the department head, request pay for up to eighty hours of accrued vacation in lieu of vacation time off. Such vacation conversion shall be based on the employee's hourly rate in effect at the time of payment. After the vacation conversion, an employee shall have an accrued vacation balance of at least forty hours. Any cash conversion of accrued vacation approved pursuant to this provision shall be effective no sooner than one year following any previous conversion (i.e., only one conversion is allowed in any twelve month period).

E. No payment in lieu of vacation shall be made to any employee except upon termination of employment or as provided for in Section D and upon proper certification to the Auditor by the department head or appointing authority of such accrual. Terminating employees shall be paid for accumulated vacation as of the date of termination.

F. An employee is not entitled to vacation credits or accrual unless or until they have been a regular employee for six (6) continuous months. Consequently, a person failing to complete such service receives no payment for vacation credits upon termination.

G. Vacation shall not include any regular holidays taken during a vacation period.

H. Employees may be required to take vacation with reasonable notice. In addition,
employees may request vacation use.

I. Vacation usage may not exceed the accrued vacation balance reported at the end of the prior pay period.

J. At the time of appointment in units represented by the Association, employees
appointed from outside Santa Barbara County government service from a city, county, state agency, federal agency or special district, shall receive credit for their prior years of public agency service towards their annual vacation accrual rate if that public agency experience ended within six months of the date of employment.

K. In addition to any credit provided for in Paragraph J, above, permanent employees who separate from County service and then return may recoup their past service credit for purposes of vacation accrual under the following conditions:

a. Employees may be absent from County service no more than three consecutive years; and
b. Employees must have left County service in good standing and their last two performance evaluation ratings prior to leaving County service must have been satisfactory or above.

Former service credit, in such cases, shall be combined with the new and current employment, in addition to any received in accordance with Paragraph J, above, in determining the employee’s vacation accrual rates.

SECTION 11. HOLIDAYS

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

New Year's Day, January 1
Dr. Martin Luther King'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
Floating Holiday (See paragraph B 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.

D. Each County holiday which falls on Saturday shall be observed on the preceding Friday; and, in this event, the Saturday shall not be considered as a holiday for purposes of compensation and/or time off. Each County holiday which falls on Sunday shall be observed on the following Monday; and, in this event, the Sunday shall not be considered as a holiday for purposes of compensation and/or time off.

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 employee the eight (8) hours shall be a prorated 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.

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. Employees who accrue holiday time shall take the compensatory time during the payroll year in which the holiday is accrued.

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. Neither the first day of employment nor the last day of employment may be a holiday.

K. On a one-time basis, an additional floating holiday will be credited to all employees in a pay status for any portion of Pay Period 7, 2005, under the same conditions as in Paragraph B. Time off is granted pursuant to department head discretion.

SECTION 12. 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 9, Paragraph H) 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 13. 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 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.

SECTION 14. RETIREMENT

A. The County offers the following retirement plans:

1. Employees Hired Before October 10, 1994
Contributory Retirement Plan (Plan 5A – Half Rates)

2. Employees Hired On or After October 10, 1994
Contributory Retirement Plan (Plan 5B – Full Rates)

B. The County may adjust the employee contribution rates to the Contributory Retirement Plans 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 and upon request provide an opportunity to meet. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the implementation of the contribution rate changes. The effective date of the rate adjustments shall be in accordance with the applicable provisions of the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937.

C. For each employee represented by the Association, the County shall pay up to $96.04 per pay period of the employee's normal contributions to the Retirement System in accordance with Government Code Section 31630. Part-time employees shall receive a prorated equivalent.

D. During the term of this agreement, either party may reopen negotiations on the issue of enhanced retirement plans.