MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA AND
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY PROBATION PEACE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

OCTOBER 24, 2005 TO OCTOBER 4, 2009

SECTION 1. PURPOSE

This Memorandum of Understanding is hereby entered into by and between the County of Santa Barbara, hereinafter referred to as the County, and the Santa Barbara County Probation Peace Officers Association, hereinafter referred to as the Association. It is the general purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding to promote the mutual interest of the County and its employees, provide for an equitable procedure for resolving disputes and to establish rates of pay, hours of work and certain other terms and conditions of employment.

SECTION 2. RECOGNITION

The County hereby recognizes the Association as the majority bargaining representative for the employees in the following representation units:

Unit 18 -- Probation Peace Officers, Non-Supervisory
Unit 19 -- Probation Peace Officers, Supervisory

The term "Employee" or "Employees" as used herein shall refer to individuals employed by the County in regular positions (excluding extra-help employees) as well as such employees in classifications that are added to the above representation units hereafter through the provisions of the County’s Employer-Employee Policy or applicable State law.

SECTION 3. NON-DISCRIMINATION

A. The provisions of this Memorandum of Understanding shall be applied equally to all employees covered thereby without discrimination because of race, color, sex, age, religion, marital status, national origin, political affiliation, non-disqualifying disability, sexual orientation, or Association membership.

B. Nothing in this Memorandum of Understanding shall prohibit lawful discrimination in employment practices based on a bonafide occupational qualification, applicable security or health or safety regulations of the United States or the State of California, or any other basis now or hereafter set out in laws of the United States or the State of California and/or any regulations adopted pursuant to such laws defining lawful discrimination in employment practices.

SECTION 4. MANAGEMENT RIGHTS

Except as otherwise specified in this Agreement, the County retains, among other management rights, 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.

It also retains the sole right to administer the Civil Service system, 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, contract out work, transfer work out of the unit, 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.

Before implementing any decisions to contract out work, the County shall notify the Association and upon request, negotiate the impact of such decision on terms and conditions of employment. For purposes of this Agreement, "contracting out work" shall refer to situations in which the County decides to contract out work which was provided by Association-represented employees in April 1997 and which results in layoff, reduction in hours or otherwise directly impacts the wages, hours or other terms and conditions of employment.

This section is not intended to restrict consultation with employees or employee representatives about the practical consequences that decisions on these matters may have on wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.

SECTION 5. ASSOCIATION RIGHTS

A. Dues Deductions

1. The County agrees to deduct and transmit, to the Treasurer of the Association, dues from all Association members who have signed an authorization card for such deduction in a form approved by the County. The written authorization for the Association dues deduction shall remain in full force and effect unless canceled in writing, as provided in such authorization form.

2. The Association agrees to indemnify, defend and hold the County harmless against any claims made of any nature whatsoever, and against any suit instituted against the County arising from its actions under this Section.

B. Association Notices and Meetings

1. The County shall provide designated bulletin board space on existing bulletin boards for the Association, the size and location to be determined jointly by departmental management and the Association. All materials to be posted shall be nondefamatory in nature, must be approved and signed by an Association official and shall be used for the following subjects:

Material listed above shall be posted only on those areas designated as official bulletin boards.

2. The Association may request to use County conference rooms and similar building facilities for purposes of conducting lawful Association business. Use of such rooms shall be granted under the same conditions provided to other outside (non-County) groups.

C. Association Representation

1. A written list of the officers of the Association and the representatives serving each work area or County organizational unit, broken down by location, shall be furnished to the County by the Association. The list shall be updated as changes occur.

2. Access by employee representatives shall be provided under the terms and conditions set forth in the County's Employer-Employee Relations Policy. Access to employees shall not interrupt or otherwise interfere with employees' work.

SECTION 6. AGENCY SHOP

A. Election -- This agency shop provision shall go into effect for affected non-supervisory unit members only if a majority of those unit employees actually voting in the agency shop election so vote.

Upon adoption by the Board of Supervisors of this MOU the parties shall jointly participate in scheduling a secret ballot agency shop election. The election shall be by mail ballot, conducted by the State Mediation and Conciliation Service. There shall be only one such election during the term of this Agreement.

B. Agency Fees -- Agency shop as used in this section means an organizational security agreement as defined in Government Code Section 3502.5 and applicable law.

Commencing thirty days after a final certification of approval of the agency shop election results and continuing throughout the term of this agreement, each employee hired into a non-supervisory position subsequent to the conduct of the election shall be required within thirty (30) days of his/her first day of employment with the County to choose to: a) become a member in good standing of the Association; or, b) satisfy the agency fee financial obligations set forth below, unless he/she qualifies for the religious exemption set forth in subsection C below.

Unless the employee has: a) voluntarily submitted to the County an effective dues deduction request; b) individually made direct financial arrangements satisfactory to the Association as evidenced by notice of the same by the Association to the County; or, c) qualified for exemption upon religious grounds as provided below, the County shall upon receipt of notice from the Association process a mandatory agency fee payroll deduction in the appropriate amount and forward that amount to the Association.

Non-supervisory employees who are Association members as of thirty (30) days following the Agency Shop election or who later become members, shall be required to pay the agency fee or charitable donation if they cancel membership.

The amount of the fee to be charged shall be determined by the Association subject to applicable law, and shall be an amount not to exceed the normal membership dues and general assessments applicable to Association members. The amount of the agency fee charged shall not include expenditures prohibited by law.

The Association shall comply with applicable law regarding disclosure and allocation of its expenses, notice to employees of their right to object, provision for agency fee payers to challenge the Association's determinations of amounts chargeable and appropriate escrow provisions to hold contested amounts while the challenges are underway.

The Association shall make available, at its expense, an expeditious administrative appeals procedure to unit employees who object to the payment of any portion of the representation service fee. Such procedure shall provide for a decision to be made by an impartial decision-maker. A copy of such procedure shall be made available by the Association to non-Association-member unit employees and the County. The County shall be provided this copy for informational purposes only.

The foregoing description of permissible agency fee charges and related procedures is included herein for informational purposes and is not intended to change applicable law. The County will promptly remit to the Association all moneys deducted, accompanied by a list of employees for whom such deductions have been made.

C. Religious Exemption from Agency Fee Obligations

1. Any employee who is a member of a religious body whose traditional tenets or teachings include objections to joining or financially supporting employee organizations shall not be required to pay an agency fee, but shall pay by means of mandatory payroll deduction an amount equal to the agency fee to a non-religious, non-labor charitable organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and serving residents of Santa Barbara County, as designated by the employee from a list provided by the County Auditor-Controller.

2. To qualify for the religious exemption the employee must provide to the Association, with a copy to the County, a written statement of objection, along with verifiable evidence of membership in a religious body as described above. The County will implement the change in status within thirty days unless notified by the Association that the requested exemption is not valid. The County shall not be made a party to any dispute arising relative to the determination of religious exemptions.

3. Any of the above-described payment obligations shall be processed by the County in the usual and customary manner and time frames.

D. Leave Without Pay/Temporary Assignment Out of Unit - Employees on an unpaid leave of absence or temporarily assigned out of the unit shall be excused from paying agency shop fees or charitable contributions.

E. Rescission of Agency Shop -- The agency shop provision may be rescinded pursuant to the procedures contained in Government Code Section 3502.5(b).

F. Indemnification/Hold Harmless Clause - The Association agrees to fully indemnify and defend the County and its officers, employees and agents against any and all claims, proceedings and liability arising, directly or indirectly out of any action taken or not taken by or on behalf of the County under this Section.

SECTION 7. SALARIES

A. Effective October 24, 2005, salaries for classifications represented by the Association shall be increased by 2%.

B. Effective October 9, 2006, the salary reduction associated with safety retirement shall be eliminated and, accordingly, salaries for safety member classifications shall be increased by 1.5%.

C. Effective October 8, 2007, salaries for classifications represented by the Association shall be increased by 2.7%.

D. Effective October 6, 2008, salaries for classifications represented by the Association shall be increased by 2.7%.

E. In addition to the increases provided above, salaries for the classifications of Deputy Probation Officer, Senior Deputy Probation Officer, and Supervising Probation Officer shall receive equity adjustments according to the schedule shown below:

1. Effective October 24, 2005, increase by 3%
2. Effective October 8, 2007, increase by 3%
3. Effective October 6, 2008, increase by 3%.

F. Either party may request to reopen salary negotiations in January 2008 for the purpose of evaluating the position of salaries for classifications represented by PPOA in relation to the relevant external market and to consider the need for adjustment.