MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
UNION OF AMERICAN PHYSICIANS AND DENTISTS
AND COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA

Section 1. Purpose

This Memorandum of Understanding is hereby entered into between the County of Santa Barbara, hereinafter referred to as the "COUNTY" and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, hereinafter referred to as the "UNION." It is the general purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding to promote the mutual interest of the County and its employees and to establish and summarize rates of pay, and certain other terms and conditions of employment.

Section 2. Recognition

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

PHYSICIANS AND PSYCHIATRISTS--Non-Supervisory
PHYSICIANS AND PSYCHIATRISTS--Supervisory

The term "Employee" or "Employees" as used herein shall refer to individuals employed by the County in regular positions (excluding temporary, 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 Employer-Employee Relations Resolution or applicable State Law.

Section 3. Non-Discrimination

The provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding shall be applied equally to all employees covered hereby without discrimination because of race, color, sex, age, religion, marital status, national origin, political affiliation, disability or Union membership.

Section 4. Union Security

A. The County agrees to deduct Union dues when such have been authorized in writing by the individual employee on a form acceptable to the Auditor-Controller for such deductions.

B. Each pay period the County agrees to supply the Union with a dues checkoff list for employees in units represented by the Union. Said lists shall be without cost to the Union.

Section 5. Agency Shop

A. 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. This Agency Shop provision shall be in full force and effect for the first three years of this agreement only.

Each employee in the non-supervisory unit hired as a regular employee after July 19, 1995, shall be required within 30 days of his/her first day of employment in the bargaining unit to choose to: a) become a member in good standing of the Union; or, b) satisfy the agency fee financial obligations set forth below, unless he/she qualifies for the religious exemption set forth in subsection B 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 Union as evidenced by notice of the same by the Union to the County; or, c) qualified for exemption upon religious grounds as provided below, the County shall upon receipt of notice from the Union process a mandatory agency fee payroll deduction in the appropriate amount and forward that amount to the Union.

Non-supervisory employees who are Union 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 Union subject to applicable law, and shall be an amount not to exceed the normal membership dues and general assessments applicable to Union members. The amount of the agency fee charged shall not include expenditures prohibited by law.

The Union 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 Union's determinations of the amounts chargeable and appropriate escrow provisions to hold contested amounts while the challenges are underway.

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 Union all monies deducted, accompanied by a list of employees for whom such deductions have been made.

B. 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 Union, 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 Union 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.

C. 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.

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

E. Indemnification/Hold Harmless Clause - The Union 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.

F. Upon request of the Union, the parties shall meet and confer on the issue of the terms and conditions of a successor Agency Shop provision.

Section 6. County Rights

A. 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.

B. 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 Resolution; 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, 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.

C. The County reserves the right to take whatever action may be necessary in an emergency situation; however, the Union shall be notified promptly of any such emergency action which affects matters within the scope of representation.

D. Except as otherwise indicated in this Agreement, the County may exercise its management rights unilaterally without obligation to meet and confer on the decision or impact of exercising such rights. However, this section is not intended to restrict consultation with the Union regarding matters within the right of the County to determine. Any of the management rights currently enumerated in this section and the impact or consequences of the exercise of said rights shall be excluded as a proper subject of the Grievance Procedure.

Section 7. Salaries

A. Effective September 10, 2007, employees in Staff Physician and Psychiatrist classifications represented by the Union will receive a 3.75% salary increase and be placed on Step “A” of a five-step range for their classifications. The following lists approximate monthly salaries for each classification.

B. Movement on the pay range is based solely on performance.

C. Effective October 8, 2007 and at the beginning of the first full pay period each October thereafter, employees in the above classifications will be eligible for step increases based on satisfactory or better performance on their most recent Employee Performance Review (EPR). Each year EPRs will be completed in employees’ anniversary month, but any step increases will be effective at the beginning of the first full pay period the following October.

D. Effective October 6, 2008, employees in the above classifications who meet or exceed specific performance objectives tied to service delivery and established by their departments are eligible for non-base-building, re-earnable lump-sum payments of $1,500 to $4,500 annually.

E. There are no COLA adjustments for the term of this agreement.

F. By mutual agreement but no sooner than June 2009, the parties may evaluate salaries based on market changes.

Section 8. Medical and Dental Coverage

A. For new employees, medical and dental coverage benefits under this Section shall be effective at the beginning of the month that immediately follows the employee’s first pay period of employment in a regular position. Part-time employees must be employed a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of full-time in order to be eligible for insurance benefits.

B. The County and the Union agree that Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Point of service (POS) medical plans and PPO and Dental Maintenance Organization (DMO) dental plans shall be available to employees.

C. The County shall contribute up to $148.11 biweekly toward the cost of the biweekly premium for employee-only medical coverage. The County shall contribute up to $12.02 biweekly toward the cost of the biweekly premium for employee-only dental plan coverage. These contributions are based on full-time employment; part-time employees shall receive a prorated contribution based on their percentage of full-time employment. Insurance plan premiums that exceed the County's biweekly contribution shall be paid by the employee through payroll deductions. During the term of this agreement, the County shall pay 100% (pro rated for part-time employees) of the least expensive HMO employee-only premiums.

Employees may select coverage from the following options:

Medical*

Dental

D. Employees may ensure their eligible dependents under the medical and dental plans in accordance with the rules and regulations applicable to obtaining said dependent coverage.

E. The County shall meet and confer with the Union prior to reducing the level of benefits provided by the indemnity dental plan.

F. If two regular County employees are either a) married to each other or b) registered as domestic partners as specified below, and are both eligible for a contribution from the County toward employee-only medical and dental coverage (as in Paragraph C above), they may consolidate the County contributions toward the cost for “employee plus dependent(s)” coverage held by one of the employees. In this situation, one employee (referred to below as the “spouse” or “partner”) becomes a dependent on the other employee’s (referred to below as the “primary employee”) medical and dental coverage.

In order to be eligible under this provision, all of the following conditions must be met:

The amount of the consolidated contributions shall be that amount which would otherwise be contributed by the County toward the primary employee’s and the spouse’s or partner’s employee-only premiums for the respective medical and dental plan, less the cost for participation by the spouse or partner in the Employee Assistance Program and the County’s healthcare advocacy program. The appropriate contributions shall be made by the respective departments employing each employee.

Section 9. Health Insurance Benefits During Medical Leave of Absence

Employees who are placed on a leave of absence resulting from a medical condition including injury, illness, pregnancy or childbirth shall receive the County contribution toward health plan coverage (as provided in Section 8) for a leave period up to eighteen months. Premium amounts exceeding the County contribution and for dependents shall be the responsibility of the employee during the leave period. If an employee has paid leave accruals in excess of eighteen (18) months at the start of the leave, the County will continue to make its contribution toward health coverage while paid leave is being used and until such time as the paid leave is exhausted.

Section 10. Flexible Spending Account Plan

A. All full-time and part-time employees in Union represented classifications shall be eligible to participate in the County sponsored Flexible Spending Account Plan.

The Flexible Spending Account Plan will include the following salary reduction options:

These options are described in detail in the Flexible Spending Plan Legal Document which is available to all employee organizations. Compensation received in accordance with Section 11 (Benefit Allowance) may be used by employees to fund the options described above. All salary reduction amounts are included in base salaries for the purpose of computing retirement earnings and are subject to appropriate Internal Revenue Service regulations.

The County shall meet and confer with the Union prior to revising the benefit options.

B. Benefits selected under this plan cannot be changed during the plan year except for a change in family status consistent with the benefit change. Enrollment in the plan shall be offered on an annual basis at the beginning of the plan year. New employees may enroll within the first thirty (30) days of employment. Continued operation of the program shall be subject to County administrative procedures.

Section 11. Benefit Allowance

A. The County shall contribute $227.99 per pay period per full-time employee as a benefit allowance. Regular part-time employees are eligible for this allowance based on a prorated equivalent of their employment status. The benefit allowance, which is received in cash, has a primary purpose of allowing employees to fund employee and dependent health insurance costs. Employees may also use the allowance to fund options in the Flexible Spending Account Plan and/or receive the remainder in cash.

B. During the term of this agreement, the benefit allowance may be increased in accordance with the following schedule:

This allowance will be paid on a biweekly basis to each regular employee based on the prorated number of non-premium hours paid in a pay period.

Section 12. Bilingual Allowance

A. 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 bilingual allowance. The department head shall designate the employee in writing to the Human Resources Director prior to 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 Human Resources Director. Additional compensation for bilingual duties is payable as an allowance and not as part of basic salary, but shall be payable at the same time as 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 $25.38 per pay period. When a part-time employee is assigned to bilingual duties, the bilingual allowance shall be prorated and paid on the same basis that the part-time position is filled and compensated.

B. As used in this section, the phrase "regular and frequent" means at least once each working day, or at least five times each work week. Payment for the bilingual 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 13. Special Duty Allowance

A. Employees regularly assigned to work at the Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) or other hospital practice shall receive a 5% special duty allowance.

B. Employees regularly assigned to work in Santa Maria and/or Lompoc shall receive a 5% special duty allowance.

C. Psychiatric Specialties – Employees in Psychiatrist classifications who are Board Certified in one or more of the following subspecialties shall receive a 5% allowance when the majority of the employee assignment pertains to the subspecialty:

Addiction Psychiatry
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Forensic Psychiatry

Employees certified in multiple subspecialties and in a qualifying assignment (e.g., certified in addiction and forensic subspecialties and assigned to the jail) shall be eligible for the 5% allowance for each subspecialty.

Section 14. Sick Leave

A. Each regular full-time or regular 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 Union 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 the immediate family is seriously ill or injured and requires the presence and attendance of an employee, the employee may be allowed by the appointing authority to use up to five days (40 hours) 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 immediate 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 accumulated sick leave may be allowed by the 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 E and F above, "immediate family" is defined as husband, wife, domestic partner, 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. 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. 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.

K. 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 15. Vacation

A. For each hour in a regular pay status, excluding overtime, call-back, and standby, 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 Section 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 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 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. Employees requesting vacation at least two weeks in advance shall not be required to secure coverage for their assignment as a condition of approval of the vacation request.

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 Union, 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 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.