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

Section 16. Holidays

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

New Year's Day, January 1
Dr. 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, 4th Friday in November
Christmas Day, December 25
Floating Holiday (See Paragraph B below)

B. All regular employees in a pay status (including paid leave) for any portion of pay period one of 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 C below.

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

D. 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.

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 employee the eight (8) hours shall be a prorated 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 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 on an hour for hour basis for all hours worked up to eight (8) hours.

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

Section 17. Leave Donation

Purpose

To provide a mechanism for assisting employees who have exhausted paid leave due to a serious or catastrophic illness or injury. This provision 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 14, Paragraph G) requiring the employee's attendance.

Conditions

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.

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 care leave.

Section 18. Administrative Leave

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

A. Purpose. Salaried employees are compensated for meeting the requirements and performing the duties of their job regardless of the number of 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 than 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).

B. Approval Required. Salaried employees do not have 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 completely 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.

C. 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.

Section 19. Retirement

A. The County offers the following retirement plans:

1. Employees Hired Before October 10, 1994

Contributory Retirement Plan (Plan 5 A-Half Rates)

2. Employees Hired On or After October 10, 1994

Contributory Retirement Plan (Plan 5B-Full Rates)

B. The County may adjust the employee contribution rates to the Contributory Retirement Plans 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 the rate adjustments shall be in accordance with the applicable provisions of the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937.

C. For each full-time employee, the County shall pay up to $80 per pay period of the employee's normal contributions to the Retirement System in accordance with Government Code Sections 31630. Part-time employees shall receive a prorated equivalent.

D. During the term of this agreement, either party may reopen negotiations on the issue of retirement plans.

Section 20. 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.

Section 21. Tuition and Textbook Reimbursement

To the extent funding is available, the County shall, for those employees represented by the Union, provide for tuition and textbook reimbursement up to a maximum of $500.00 per fiscal year and in accordance with existing administrative regulations governing this program. Tuition reimbursement for regular part-time employees shall be prorated based on their part-time percentage.

Section 22. Time Off for Continuing Medical Education

A. Unit members may use up to a maximum of five days per fiscal year for Continuing Medical Education.

B. Employees preparing for Board Certification/re-certification examinations will be
granted five additional days CME time off for that purpose. Such additional time will not be granted more than once every five years.

Section 23. Schedule/Shift Changes

The County agrees to provide at least ten (10) business days advance notice of permanent schedule or shift changes when the changes are made at other than the employee's request.

Section 24. Departmental Reassignment

A. An employee who wishes to be considered for reassignment within the same classification from one departmental unit, program or division to another unit, program or division of the same department shall make a written request for such reassignment to the department management concerned for its consideration. The department will acknowledge receipt of the request and maintain it in its file for a period of one (1) year. An employee requesting reassignment shall be given first consideration for any vacant bargaining unit position.

B. The County shall provide ten (10) business days notice to a physician prior to an involuntary change in work location. A physician will not be involuntarily reassigned between north and south county for punitive reasons.

Section 25. Employee Personnel Files

A. All personnel files on an employee maintained by the County and the department will be open for inspection by that individual or his authorized representative at his request during business hours by appointment. He will be shown all contents of the file except those materials designated confidential by law. A copy will be provided to the individual upon his request.

B. No material relating to performance appraisal or disciplinary action shall be placed in the personnel file of an employee represented by the Union without the employee first being given an opportunity to read such material and attach a reply if the employee desires, which shall remain with said material.

C. At the request of the employee and after three years from the date of insertion, an employee may request that judgmental or incidental material in his/her departmental file be sealed if legally permitted and in the opinion of management the material has no significant importance in evaluating the employee's ongoing performance with the County. If material is sealed, it may be reopened for good cause only.

Section 26. Performance Evaluations

A. The County and UAPD encourage periodic informal performance evaluations and conferences between employees and their supervisors to discuss work performance, job satisfaction, and work-related problems. Such conferences shall be held in a private setting.

B. Employees shall be given an opportunity to read and sign their performance evaluations prior to placement of the evaluations in the employee's official personnel files. It is acknowledged that the fact the employee has signed a performance evaluation does not necessarily mean the employee agrees with the evaluation, but that such signature shall be evidence of the employee's knowledge of the completed evaluation. The employee shall receive a copy of the performance evaluation within thirty (30) working days of the date of the evaluation.

C. An employee on ADMHS or Public Health has the right, upon request, to have his/her professional clinical practice evaluated by the Medical Director or his/her physician designee, who shall participate in and sign off on performance evaluations that become part of the employee’s permanent record.

Section 27. On-Call Pay

As per the side letter agreement executed by the parties on October 5, 2006, doctors in classifications represented by the Union received an adjustment of 8% of base salary in exchange for making on-call duty part of the responsibilities expected of physicians working in Santa Barbara County. There is no additional compensation for participating in on-call rotations as assigned.

Section 28. Additional Straight Time

Employees who are assigned to standby duty and who are then called in to work shall receive additional straight-time compensation for the hours worked.

Section 29. 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 30. Committee Participation

The County and UAPD agree to the formation of a Labor/Management Quality Medical Care Committee. This Committee shall be made up of at least four physicians. The purpose of the Committee is to meet quarterly or by mutual agreement to discuss clinical issues and concerns associated with providing quality medical care. The intent of these meetings shall be to discuss professional concerns. Participants may submit agenda items in advance of the meeting. The Committee shall normally include two (2) representatives from UAPD and two (2) representatives from the County. Participation may be altered by mutual agreement.

Section 31. Professional License Fees

The County shall pay professional license fees (e.g., physician and surgeon certificates and Drug Enforcement Agency fees), excluding any portion designated for political purposes, under the following conditions:

A. Possession of the license or certificate must be an ongoing requirement of the position.

B. The employee may use the license for outside employment or private practice, provided such use does not conflict with the County’s operational needs.

C. If the employee leaves County employment during the year, the County's contribution shall be pro-rated (i.e., if fees have been paid in advance by the County, the employee shall be required to reimburse the County for the pro-rated portion of the fees).

Payment for part-time employees will be pro-rated based on their percentage of full-time employment.

Section 32. Professional Judgment

Employees in this bargaining unit are professional employees as defined by California Government Code Section 3507.3. It is the County’s intent that employees practice their profession in a manner that is consistent with their professional licensure requirements. The provisions of this Section are not grievable, but issues may be presented to the Labor/Management Quality Care Committee.

Section 33. Long Term Disability Insurance

The County shall provide a Long Term Disability Insurance Plan for employees represented by the Union. Part-time employees must be employed a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of full-time in order to be eligible for insurance benefits.

The waiting period for benefit eligibility will be 60 days. The benefit will equal sixty percent of pre-disability earnings up to a maximum monthly benefit in accordance with specific plan provisions and exclusions.

Section 34. Term Life Insurance

Employees represented by the Union shall be provided with basic Group Term Life Insurance in the amount of $20,000 paid for by the County. Part-time employees must be employed a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of full-time in order to be eligible for insurance benefits.

Section 35. Bulletin Boards

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

B. Bulletin Board space shall be provided for this purpose at each facility where UAPD members are regularly assigned to work, if a bulletin board already exists.