MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA AND
THE ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS ASSOCIATION

ARTICLE 13. ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE

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

Section 13.1
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 then 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).

Section 13.2
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 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. The department head shall exercise his/her discretion to grant administrative leave in a reasonable fashion.

Section 13.3
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.

ARTICLE 14. LEAVE DONATION

The purpose of this program is to provide a mechanism for assisting employees who have exhausted paid leave due to a serious or catastrophic illness or injury. This section 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 11.7) requiring the employee's attendance.

Conditions

Section 14.1
To receive leave donations, an employee:

Section 14.2
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.

Section 14.3
Donations:

Section 14.4
An employee may not donate more than eighty (80) hours to any other individual employee.

Section 14.5
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 department head.

Section 14.6
Upon approval of a request for donations, the department head (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.

Section 14.7
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.

Section 14.8
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 policy modify existing County rules, policies or agreements regarding unpaid leave of absence or family care leave.

ARTICLE 15. SALARIES

Section 15.1
Effective October 6, 2008, salaries for classifications represented by the union shall increase by 2%.

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

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

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

Section 15.2
During the term of this agreement but no earlier than July 2005, the County and E.T.A. agree, in collaboration, to review the County’s current classification and compensation system. The review will include examination of public/private best practices as well as creative compensation strategies including incentives and skill- based pay. The intent of the review is to ensure that the County’s classification and
compensation system is contemporary and flexible enough to address the County’s and the workforce’s needs.

E.T.A. and the County will determine the methodology of the review. Upon completion, the parties will make recommendations for potential improvements to the system. Any changes as a result of this review will not be implemented unless the parties mutually agree.

ARTICLE 16. OVERTIME

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

Section 16.1
Overtime shall be authorized in advance by the department head or his/her designee.

Section 16.2
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.

Section 16.3
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 one-tenth (1/10) of an hour (6 minutes) subject to a minimum of two-tenths (2/10) of an hour (12 minutes).

Section 16.4
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 overtime by the department head or his designated representative shall be given to the employee at least seventy-two (72) hours before the time off is to be taken.

Section 16.5
If an employee wishes to take compensatory time off it shall be requested at least 48 hours in advance. 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 Overtime shall be used before any leave-without-pay is granted pursuant to Rule XIV of the Santa Barbara County Civil Service Rules.

Section 16.6
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. 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 IRS and State Franchise Board regulations and are subject to withholding as required by law.

Section 16.7
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.

Section 16.8
Employees in classifications exempt from overtime compensation are eligible for administrative leave in accordance with the provisions of Article 13.

Section 16.9
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.

Section 16.10
"Emergency" for the purposes of Section 16.9 of this memorandum 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.

Section 16.11
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.

ARTICLE 17. MILEAGE

Employees who, when authorized by their department, use their personal vehicle for County business shall be reimbursed for each mile driven on County business. Said reimbursement shall be at the amount per mile exempted by the Internal Revenue Service for reporting of income.

ARTICLE 18. CALL-IN PAY

An employee who is eligible to receive overtime pay, but who is not assigned to or restricted by "Stand-By Duty" per Article 19 of this memorandum, shall receive a minimum credit of two hours of work time if the employee reports to a job site in response to a call from the departmental supervisor or other authorized official. Such employee shall not be considered to be in a stand-by status or eligible for stand-by pay.

ARTICLE 19. STAND-BY DUTY

Employees assigned to stand-by duty by their Department Heads shall be compensated and governed by the following:

Section 19.1
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.

Section 19.2
Compensation shall be at the rate of $3.00 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.

Section 19.3
Stand-by pay, when properly authorized, shall be paid for a minimum of one hour.

Section 19.4
Employees other than those exempted from overtime compensation shall, when called to active duty while on stand-by duty status, be compensated for such active duty at the applicable overtime rate. Work time for an 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 affected employee’s 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.

Section 19.5
No employee or other qualified person shall be paid for stand-by duty time and other compensable duty time simultaneously.