MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA AND
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFFS' ASSOCIATION

SECTION 11. 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 charts below. Except for the Classifications of Communications Dispatcher I/II/Supervising, Sheriff's Correction Officer and Sheriff's Correction Sergeant those classifications represented by the Association shall accrue vacation as provided below:

Employees in classifications of Communications Dispatcher I/II/Supervising, Sheriff's Correction Officer and Sheriff's Correction Sergeant shall accrue vacation as provided 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 Paragraph 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 with more than five years of continuous county service may -- once during each calendar year and with the approval of the department head -- request pay for up to forty 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 Paragraph D and upon proper certification to the Auditor by the department head or appointing authority of such accrual. Then such employee shall be paid for his/her accumulated vacation based upon his/her accrual 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. Absent unusual circumstances, the County will provide 96 hours notice to an employee being required to take vacation.

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 either a city, county, state agency, federal agency or special district, shall receive credit for their prior years’ of public agency service toward their annual vacation accrual rate if that public agency service ended within six months of the date of County 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 part 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.

SECTION 12. Holidays

A. Except as provided below, holidays regularly observed by the County for employees represented by the Association are:

New Year's Day, January 1
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, 3rd Monday in January
*Lincoln's Birthday, February 12
Washington's Birthday, 3rd Monday in February
Memorial Day, last Monday in May
Independence Day, July 4
Labor Day, 1st Monday in September
*Columbus Day, 2nd Monday in October
Veteran's Day, November 11
Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday in November
Thanksgiving Day Friday, the day after Thanksgiving
Christmas Day, December 25

Those holidays above identified by an asterisk (*) shall not be observed by this County for employees in the classifications of Communications Dispatcher I/II/Supervising, Sheriff's Correction Officer and Sheriff's Correction Sergeant.

B. Holiday leave shall be subject to the approval and/or taken at the direction of the appointing authority or designee.

C. 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.

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

E. 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 prorated equivalent.

F. 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.

G. 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.

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

I. 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.

J. Notwithstanding Paragraphs E through G above, employees in shift assignments and in Communication Dispatcher classifications, shall, in each pay period during which a holiday occurs, receive additional compensation at the rate of one-tenth of the employee's basic bi-weekly salary for each holiday included in that pay period, irrespective of whether or not the employee actually works on any such holiday, unless the employee is excused from working a regularly scheduled shift on such holiday. Time off on a holiday must be in a whole day increment and shall be full compensation for that holiday.

SECTION 13. 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 10, 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 14. Shift Differential Pay

Employees in Communications Dispatcher classifications shall be eligible for shift differential pay as follows:

A. An employee shall receive additional compensation at the rate of seventy five cents (75¢) per hour for all hours worked on a shift when the majority of hours worked on the shift are between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.

B. In lieu of compensation set forth in paragraph A above, employees shall receive additional compensation at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per hour for all hours worked on a shift when the majority of hours worked on the shift are between 12:00 midnight and 7:00 a.m.

SECTION 15. Overtime

A. The County shall determine those classifications eligible for overtime compensation. Regular full-time employees in those classifications when properly authorized in advance by the Department Head or his/her designated representative shall receive overtime compensation in accordance with the following provisions.

B. Except as provided below, overtime for eligible employees shall be defined as follows:

1. For law enforcement employees who are assigned to a compressed work schedule (e.g., 9/80, 10- or 12-plan), work in excess of eighty (80) hours in a fourteen (14) day work period, exclusive of stand-by and stand-by call-back.

2. For all other employees represented by the Association, that time worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a seven day work period, exclusive of stand-by, and stand-by call-back, provided, however, such law enforcement personnel in attendance at the P.O.S.T. or F.B.I. academies shall accrue overtime for hours worked in excess of 240 hours in a 28-day cycle. Such cycle shall be established by the County.

For the purpose of computing overtime, all regular, scheduled work hours including paid leave time shall be considered time worked.

C. Overtime 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 one tenth (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 compensation overtime account shall be 240 hours which represents 160 hours of actual overtime worked.

E. When an employee wishes to take compensatory time off and requests time off at least ninety-six (96) hours prior to the time such hours would be taken off, the Department shall make every effort to comply with the employee's request. Approval of this request is subject to a determination by the department head of whether or not it would unduly disrupt the operations of the department. Compensatory time off shall be used before any leaves-of-absence-without-pay are granted pursuant to Rule XIV of Santa Barbara County Civil Service Rules.

F. An employee may request cash payment of all hours in the compensatory overtime account during any pay period. Cash payment must be authorized by the department head or his/her designated representative. When cash payment is authorized by the department head, it shall be made based on the employee's regular hourly rate of pay in effect at the time of payment and shall be subject to the employee withholding exemptions on file with the Auditor-Controller at the time payment is made. All hours in the compensatory overtime account as of the last pay period ending prior to September 30 shall be paid off in cash based on the employee's regular hourly rate of pay in effect at the time of payment. 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. Payments for compensatory overtime hours are taxable as lump sum payments in accordance with I.R.S. and State Franchise Tax Board regulations and are subject to withholding as required by law.

G. Computation of probationary periods, retirement benefits, sick leave, vacation time, merit increase periods, or other similarly computed periods of benefits shall be based only on regularly scheduled hours of work, and shall not include overtime hours worked.

H. When an employee is off duty, not on stand by, and called back to work, said employee shall be given credit for at least two (2) hours of work time.

I. Time spent in court appearances by employees of the Sheriff's Department, pursuant to Sections 68097.1 and 68097.2 of the Government Code, is time worked. Employees reporting to court will receive up to one hour of overtime compensation for travel time.

J. Regular full-time employees who are authorized to work as Sheriff's Deputy and/or Sheriff's Sergeant in "outside employment/voluntary duty" assignments in addition to their regular designated work period shall be compensated at one and one half times the employee's regular FLSA rate of pay. Overtime hours earned shall not be banked for compensation at any later date in either pay or time off.

Hours worked in this authorized employment shall not accrue toward "hours worked" in determining an employee's eligibility for overtime in accordance with Paragraph B above.

K. 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. In no event shall a legal suit or action for overtime compensation by any employee be commenced or maintained unless a claim relating to the cause of action for payment is properly and timely presented to the Board of Supervisors by the claimant not later than one (1) year after accrual of the cause of action and unless the suit or the cause of action for payment is commenced within one (1) year from the date the claim is filed. For the purposes of this paragraph, a cause of action for compensation shall be deemed to have accrued on the pay date on which cash payment for such compensation would have been made.

SECTION 16. Stand-by Duty

Stand-by procedures may be established by the Department Head in accordance with the provisions of the salary resolution. Employees assigned to stand-by duty by their Department Heads shall be compensated and governed by the following:

A. Stand-by duty requires that employees so assigned:
1. Be ready and take steps immediately to respond within a reasonable time to calls for their services;
2. Be readily reachable by telephone or paging device;
3. Remain within a specified distance or time from their work stations; and
4. Refrain from activities which might impair their ability to perform their assigned duties.

B. Compensation shall be at the rate of $2.75 per hour for each hour on such stand-by duty and shall be paid at the same time as scheduled for the pay period in which the stand-by duty was performed.

C. Stand-by pay, when properly authorized, shall be paid for a minimum of one hour.

D. Employees other than those exempted from overtime compensation shall, when called to active duty while on standby duty status, be compensated for such active duty at the applicable overtime rate. Work time for employee called to active duty while on stand-by status shall begin at the time of notification to report to a job site and shall continue until the employee completes work and returns to home (or the location called out from), the nearest regular work site or the county line, whichever is the shortest distance. A minimum of one hour at the appropriate rate shall be paid in those cases when an employee on stand-by status is required to report to a job site, but the minimum shall not apply for work performed at another location.

E. No employee or other qualified person shall be paid for stand-by duty time and other compensable duty time simultaneously.

F. In lieu of the compensation provided in Paragraph D, above, Custody Operations employees shall be compensated in accordance with the agreement between the parties regarding the Custody Operations Stand-By Staffing Program. If management at its discretion discontinues the Custody Operations Stand-By Staffing Program, callback compensation for Custody Operations employees shall be governed by Paragraph D, above.

SECTION 17. Retirement

A. The County offers the following retirement plans:

1. General Member Employees Hired Before October 10, 1994
Contributory Retirement Plan/2% at age 57 formula/Half-Rates

2. General Member Employees Hired On or After October 10, 1994
Contributory Retirement Plan/2% at age 57 formula/Full-Rates

3. Safety Member Employees Hired Before October 10, 1994
Safety Plan 4A

4. Safety Member Employees Hired On or After October 10, 1994
Safety Plan 4B

B. For full-time employees in the classifications listed below, the County shall pay up to the amounts specified of the employee's normal biweekly contributions to the Retirement System in accordance with Government Code Sections 31630, and 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 deciding whether or not to implement employee contribution rate adjustments, the County shall give notice and upon request meet with the association. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the implementation of the contribution rate changes. The effective date of rate adjustments shall be in accordance with the applicable provisions of the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937.

D. Effective July 3, 2006, retirement benefits for safety member employees hired on or after October 10, 1994, and represented by the DSA 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.

E. Effective February 25, 2008, and contingent on enacted legislation authorizing that different retirement benefits may be adopted for some safety member bargaining units within the safety member classification of the County’s retirement system, safety member employees represented by the DSA shall be converted to a 3% at age 50 benefit formula. This formula shall apply to all past and future safety service.

F. During the term of this agreement, either party may reopen negotiations on the issue of retirement benefits for general member employees represented by the DSA.