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

SECTION 17. HOLIDAYS

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

New Year's Day, January 1
Martin Luther King Jr'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 C 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 D below

C. Holiday leave shall be subject to the approval and/or taken at the direction of the appointing authority or designee. An employee’s request to use accrued holiday leave shall not be unreasonably denied.

D. If a paid assigned holiday falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be the holiday in lieu of the day observed. If a paid assigned holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be the holiday in lieu of the day observed. For those employees who actually work Saturday and/or Sunday, the paid assigned holiday shall be the day on which the holiday actually occurs.

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 employees the eight (8) hours shall be a pro rated 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. 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.

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

K. In order to receive holiday compensation, an employee must be in paid status on the scheduled workday 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.

L. Notwithstanding Paragraphs F through I above, employees in Juvenile Institutions Officer 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 biweekly 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 18. 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 15, 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 19. RETIREMENT

A. The County offers the following retirement plans:

1. Safety Member Employees Safety Plan 4B

2. General Member Employees (“grandfathered” employees
not electing safety membership)
General Plan 5A or Tier II

B. 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 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 rate adjustments shall be in accordance with the applicable provisions of the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937.

C. The County shall pay up to $72.33 per pay period of a full-time employee’s biweekly contributions to the Retirement System in accordance with Government Code Sections 31630 and 31639.85. Part-time employees shall receive a prorated equivalent.

D. Effective July 3, 2006, retirement benefits for safety member employees represented by PPOA 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.

SECTION 20. OVERTIME

A. The County shall determine those classifications eligible for overtime compensation. Employees in those classifications may be required to work overtime. When properly authorized in advance by the Department Head or his/her designated representative, employees required to work overtime shall receive overtime compensation in accordance with the following provisions.

B. For employees in the classifications of Juvenile Institutions Officer, Juvenile Institutions Officer, Senior and Supervising, and Deputy Probation Officer and Deputy Probation Officer, Senior whose schedules have been adopted under the provision of Section 7(k) of the FLSA, overtime shall be that time worked in excess of eight (80) hours in any fourteen (14) consecutive day work period, exclusive of standby and call-back time. For the purposes of computing overtime, all regular, scheduled work hours including paid leave shall be considered time worked.

C. 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 tenths (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 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 forty-eight (48) hours before the time off is to be taken.

E. Requests by employees to take compensatory time off shall not be denied unless the time off 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.

F. Except upon termination of employment, hours in the Compensatory Overtime account as of the last pay period 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. Payments for compensatory overtime hours are taxable as lump sum payments in accordance with IRS and State Franchise Tax board regulations and are subject to withholding as required by law. 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.

G. 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 compensation, except in an emergency as provided below.

H. Employees in classifications exempt from overtime compensation and therefore not otherwise eligible for overtime pursuant to this Memorandum of Understanding 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.

I. “Emergency” for the purposes of Paragraph H of this Section 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.

J. 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.

SECTION 21. SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL PAY

A. Employees shall receive additional compensation at the rate of $.75 per hour for all hours worked on an assigned shift when the majority of the hours worked are between 6:00 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 $1.50 per hour for all hours worked on a regularly assigned shift when the majority of the hours worked are between 12:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

SECTION 22. STANDBY PAY

A. Payment for standby duty will be made for all hours an employee is assigned to standby duty. The County shall determine the employees assigned to standby duty and the period of time assigned.

B. 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 service;
2. be readily reachable by telephone or paging device;
3. remain within a specified distance or time from their work stations;
4. refrain from activities which might impair their ability to perform their assigned duties.

C. The standby pay will be at the rate of $2.60 per hour for each hour on such standby duty.

D. No employee shall be paid for stand-by duty time and other compensable duty time simultaneously.

SECTION 23. CALLBACK

A. Overtime eligible employees shall be compensated for a minimum of two (2) hours when the employee is required to attend a staff meeting during the employee's regular day off.

B. Employees other than those exempted from overtime compensation who are called back to work shall be compensated at the appropriate overtime rate. Work time shall begin at the time of notification to promptly report to work or, if not promptly, at the time the employee is required to depart to report to work, and continue until the employee completes work and returns to home (or the location called out from), the nearest regular worksite or the county line, whichever is the shorter distance. A minimum of two (2) hours at the appropriate rate shall be paid in those cases when an employee is required to report to a job site or emergency response location, but the minimum shall not apply if the employee is not required to report to another location.

C. This provision shall not apply to schedule changes, including but not limited to, "double backs."

SECTION 24. BILINGUAL ALLOWANCE

An employee, whose duty assignments require regular and frequent use of bilingual language skills in Spanish and English shall be designated by the department head to receive a bilingual allowance. The department head shall designate the employee in writing to the Personnel Director prior to the allowance the allowance being effective. The employee shall retain such bilingual designation only until a change in assignments is reported in writing by the department head to the Personnel Director. Additional compensation for bilingual duties payable as an allowance and not as part of basic salary, but shall be payable at the same time as a regular compensation. When a full-time employee is assigned by a department head to duties requiring regular and frequent use of bilingual language skills he/she shall receive an allowance of $46.15 per pay period. When a part-time employee is assigned regular and frequent bilingual duties, the bilingual allowance shall be prorated and paid on the same basis that the part-time position is filled and compensated.

As used in this section, the phrase "regular and frequent" means on an annual average of at least once each working day or five times each workweek. Payment for the bilingual language skill is restricted to the actual needs of the position. An employee’s ability to read, write or speak Spanish, occasional or incidental use of language skills in Spanish or the use of bilingual language skills other than for the purpose of meeting the requirements of the job shall not warrant a bilingual allowance.

SECTION 25. CANINE HANDLER DUTY

Employees assigned Canine Handler Duty shall receive an allowance of 86.07 biweekly. This allowance recognizes that time spent by a canine handler at home in the care, grooming and feeding of his/her assigned canine shall be considered hours worked payable at a rate of $6.75 per hour, and it is understood that canine handlers normally spend 8.5 hours per pay period performing such work. Written authorization from the Chief Probation Officer or his/her designee must be obtained to perform such work more than 8.5 hours per pay period. Such hours worked shall not be interpreted to be (1) shift extension, (2) callback to work, or (3) scheduled work performed in excess of the regular shift for overtime purposes.

SECTION 26. CLOTHING ALLOWANCE

A. The County shall initially provide Juvenile Institutional Officers with five shirts, one sweatshirt and one jacket to be worn when on duty. In addition, a clothing maintenance allowance of $5.00 shall be paid each pay period to these individuals.

B. The County shall provide and replace khaki pants and boots for Camp employees as necessary.

SECTION 27. SAFETY EQUIPMENT

During the term of this agreement, the County may reopen negotiations on the issue of bullet-proof vests.

SECTION 28. MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT AND TRAVEL TIME

A. 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. If there are any changes I.R.S. exemptions, the County shall notify the Association.

B. If a non-exempt employee is required to travel to a work location other than the regularly assigned work location, the employee shall be compensated for the normal travel time required from the regularly assigned location to the alternate work location, or the travel time from the employee’s home to the alternate work location, whichever is less.

SECTION 29. TUITION AND TEXTBOOK REIMBURSEMENT

A. To the extent funding is available, the County shall provide for textbook and tuition reimbursement for regular full-time employees up to a maximum of $500 per fiscal year and in accordance with administrative regulations governing this program. Tuition reimbursement for regular part-time employees shall be prorated based on their part-time percentage.

B. Only costs for textbooks required for approved courses shall be deemed reimbursable through this program.

SECTION 30. TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT (TDM)

Employees shall be eligible to participate in the County's TDM program and receive related benefits including the Alternative Commute Incentive.

SECTION 31. THE 9/80 WORK WEEK

The County and the Association agree to maintain the 9/80 work week option during the term of this Memorandum of Understanding. The 9/80 work schedule is limited by the following:

A. County management shall reserve the right to remove an individual employee from his/her 9/80 schedule due to operating requirements. To the extent practicable, advanced notice will be provided the individual employee. If it is anticipated that the assignment will exceed two weeks, notice will be in writing and shall include the reasons for the change, and when applicable, the length of time that schedule will be changed.

B. The County may standardize 9/80 work schedules. However, prior to the implementation of such standardization, the County shall notify the Association of its plans.

C. The County shall reserve the right to withhold approval of the 9/80 work week schedule, based on staffing needs, in those work locations where the 9/80 work week option is not currently in effect as of the adoption of this Memorandum of Understanding.

D. Subject to the same provisions as set forth in Paragraphs A through C above, employees may apply for alternative work schedules in addition to the 9/80, including the modified 9/80, consisting of four 9-hour days and one 4-hour day each week.