To: Board of Supervisors of the County of Sonoma, Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Water Agency, Board of Commissioners of the Community Development Commission, and Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Resources
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jennifer Lelouarn, (707) 565-2235
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): All
Title:
Title
Miscellaneous Classification, Compensation, and Allocation Changes
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Recommended Actions:
Recommended action
Adopt Resolutions reflecting the recommendations of completed classification studies and other position allocation changes:
A) Adopt a Concurrent Resolution amending the Memorandum of Understanding between the County and Service Employees International Union, Local 1021, Salary Table Scales, to establish the new classification and salary of Assessment Specialist, to amend the salary of the Assessment Process Supervisor classification, and to abolish the classification of Assessment Process Specialist, effective June 4, 2019; and to amend the salary of the Human Services Systems and Programming Analyst classification, effective May 7, 2019.
B) Adopt a Concurrent Resolution approving the reclassification of a Sonoma County Water Agency position, with the retention of the affected incumbent; and amending the Department Allocation Tables of the Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Department, Economic Development Board, Human Services Department, and the Sonoma County Water Agency, effective June 4, 2019.
end
Executive Summary:
The County’s Human Resources Department is responsible for managing the County-wide classification and compensation structure. Components of this responsibility include ensuring employees are appropriately classified, administering the County’s Compensation Plan, and assisting departments with organizational changes when they involve classification reviews. Regularly, the department conducts classification and compensation analyses, and develops reports and presents recommendations to incumbents, unions, departments, and in many situations the Civil Service Commission. Ensuring employees are appropriately classified and having a sound classification plan results in the County’s ability to attract and retain a highly qualified, engaged workforce charged with providing the most efficient services possible for our community.
In resolutions before your Board today Human Resources requests approval to implement the final recommendations resulting from classification studies in the Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Department, Human Services Department, and the Sonoma County Water Agency; to amend the salary of one job classification; and to add a position allocation for the Economic Development Board.
Discussion:
Classification is a method for categorizing jobs based on duties, responsibilities, and a variety of other factors. A classification plan contains all of the classifications in the agency and forms the basis for setting job expectations, consistent and fair job entrance requirements, equitable compensation, and plays an important role in the budget. Human Resources is responsible for managing the County’s classification plan by evaluating job descriptions for vacant, filled, and new positions to ensure that they are assigned to the appropriate classifications. Positions are assigned, or allocated, to departments based on Human Resources’ determination of the appropriate classification.
The majority of the County’s positions/classifications are in the County’s Civil Service System. Therefore, most classification changes and new classifications are reviewed and approved by the Civil Service Commission, and the Board has final approval authority prior to the implementation of any classification changes. However, four agencies (i.e., Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, Community Development Commission, Sonoma County Fair, and Sonoma County Water Agency) are not governed by the County’s Civil Service System, and the Board has sole authority for the related classification and compensation issues. As part of this effort, Human Resources is seeking approval for the following changes in classifications and allocations.
Clerk-Recorder-Assessor (CRA) Department:
During negotiations in 2016, the County and SEIU entered into a side letter agreement to determine if the Assessment Process Specialist (APS) positions assigned to the Ownership Unit of the CRA Department were appropriately classified, and if the current specification should be updated. After further evaluation, HR determined that conducting a new study of all APS positions in the department was the most appropriate approach to studying the APS positions in the Ownership Unit.
As a result of the study, HR determined that a single, technical, paraprofessional classification was appropriate for all of the studied positions, and that changes in the scope and level of responsibility in the work of all the studied positions warranted a new classification. Therefore, HR recommended that a new Assessment Specialist classification be established to more appropriately recognize the body of work being performed.
Human Resources, CRA Department Management, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) participated in several meet and confer sessions, which resulted in a Letter of Agreement between the parties (Resolution 1; Attachment B).
On May 2, 2019, the Civil Service Commission approved the new classification of Assessment Specialist, as well as the reclassification of Assessment Process Specialist positions to Assessment Specialist, with the retention of incumbents pursuant to Civil Service Rule 3.3C.
Bargaining Unit, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and Salary Determinations:
Pursuant to the County’s Employee Relations Policy, HR determined the appropriate bargaining unit for the Assessment Specialist is SEIU Service & Technical Support Non-Supervisory -- 0005. This classification is non-exempt, pursuant to the guidelines of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Based on an evaluation of market data and internal equity factors, HR recommends a $29.88/Monthly I-Step salary for the Assessment Specialist classification, and that the ongoing salary administration be set at 17% below the benchmark classification of Appraiser II.
The creation of the new, higher paid, Assessment Specialist job classification has resulted in a reduced differential between the new job class and the Assessment Process Supervisor position, to which it reports. In order to address this disparity, HR recommends the Assessment Process Supervisor salary be amended to $33.61/Monthly I-Step, and further recommends that ongoing salary administration be set at 12.5% above Assessment Specialist.
Further, in 2016, the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) introduced the professional Assessment Analyst certification for Assessor’s positions that process Changes-In-Ownership and Exemption applications, in order to ensure that these employees have the appropriate technical knowledge to correctly review and process their assigned transactions. The CRA Department supports this certification and intends to seek Board of Supervisors’ approval to introduce a certification requirement for the applicable Assessment positions in the future. Once adopted, positions in the Assessment Ownership and Exemptions Units will be required to obtain and maintain the certification while performing Ownership and Exemptions functions. HR recommends an additional 2.5% salary increase for the new Assessment Specialist and Assessment Process Supervisor classifications become effective if/when the Board approves adoption of the new certification program. This increase was discussed and agreed to through the meet and confer process with SEIU.
The additional cost for replacing the Assessment Process Specialist allocations with Assessment Specialist allocations is $5,310 for FY 18-19, and $56,089 for FYs 19-20 and 20-21. Any necessary budgetary adjustments will be included in the Q1 Consolidated Budget Adjustments for FY 19-20.
The Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Department seeks approval for the addition of 9 FTE Assessment Specialist allocations, the deletion of 9 FTE Assessment Process Specialist allocations to its department allocation table.
Further, HR seeks approval to abolish the Assessment Process Specialist job classification, as there will be no allocations filled upon Board approval, and CRA will not use this outdated job specification in the future.
Economic Development Board:
Since its inception four years ago, Creative Sonoma has grown significantly, which has created the need for a full time Administrative Aide position. The program’s success in acquiring outside grants requires significant additional work, including higher levels of contract and invoice administration, and the workload is anticipated to continue to grow over the next five years.
Creative Sonoma’s professional development activities have deepened and expanded over the past three years to include more than 15 workshops and trainings. Without proper staffing levels, the Department does not have the capacity to apply for and administer outside grant funds, thereby missing out on significant resources available to the county. Thus far, the work has been performed by extra help resources. However, given the anticipated ongoing nature of the work, staff recommends to establish a permanent Administrative Aide allocation in-lieu of programming extra help resources.
The Creative Sonoma program is supported by the Community Investment fund (TOT) and various grants. The total cost for an Administrative Aide position is approximately $128,000 and is included in the salary and benefit costs of the fiscal year 19-20 recommended budget, which is the result of redirecting extra help funding towards a permanent staff allocation
Due to an increasing body of work, which is anticipated to continue, the Economic Development Board seeks approval for the addition of 1.0 FTE Administrative Aide to its department allocation table.
Human Resources Department:
On May 7, 2019, a Concurrent Resolution approving the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County of Sonoma and Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 (SEIU) for the period of March 1, 2019 through February 28, 2023 was adopted by your Board. As part of the agreement reached with SEIU, the County implemented equity adjustments to certain benchmark job classifications, in order to bring each benchmark job classification to 100% of market average.
To maintain internal equity within the County’s classification plan, equity adjustments to identified benchmark classifications result in concurrent adjustments to the classifications linked to the benchmarks. An audit of the equity adjustment implementation has been conducted by Human Resources and it has been determined that one of the linked job classifications - Human Services Systems and Programming Analyst - has been identified as needing a retroactive adjustment.
Human Resources seeks approval to amend the salary of the Human Services Systems and Programming Analyst job classification from a $46.02/Monthly I-Step to a $47.83/Monthly I-Step, effective May 7, 2019, in order to bring this non-benchmark classification into alignment with internal salary administration.
Human Services Department:
Human Resources (HR) received position review requests from Eligibility Worker III and Eligibility Supervisor incumbents in both the Fraud and the Quality Assurance functional assignments in the Human Services Department’s (HSD’s) Office of the Director. The requests indicated that the scope of duties and knowledge/experience required for these assignments exceed the bounds appropriate for their current classifications, primarily given their roles in reviewing and evaluating the economic assistance cases involving the Affordable Care Act.
As a result of the study, HR determined that the work of the studied Eligibility Worker III and Eligibility Supervisor positions were more appropriately aligned with the Senior Eligibility Specialist and Eligibility Specialist Supervisor classifications, respectively.
Human Resources, Human Services Management, and SEIU met and conferred over the recommended reclassifications. On May 16, 2019, the Civil Service Commission approved the reclassifications, and the retention of the incumbents in accordance with Civil Service Rule 3.3B.
The Human Services Department now seeks approval for the addition of 10.0 FTE Senior Eligibility Specialist allocations and 2.0 FTE Eligibility Specialist Supervisor allocations, and the deletion of 10 FTE Eligibility Worker III and 2.0 FTE Eligibility Supervisor allocations to its department allocation table.
Sonoma County Water Agency:
HR received a request to study an Administrative Aide position, which functions as the Sonoma County Water Agency’s Recruitment Coordinator, in order to determine if the position was appropriately classified. The request asserted that the position’s responsibilities encompass professional-level support for a broad range of Human Resources functions within the department.
Through the class study process, HR found that the studied position provides lead direction for a Payroll Clerk position, and oversees multiple Human Resources and Administrative programs and processes, which include responsibility for conducting analyses, interpreting data, and making recommendations. Further, the Agency anticipates this position assuming an active role in representing the Agency in future negotiations with bargaining units.
As a result of the classification study, HR has determined that the majority of the position’s job duties exceed the scope appropriate for an Administrative Aide classification, but that they are appropriately aligned with the Department Analyst classification.
Human Resources recommends approving the reclassification of one Administrative Aide (Working Title: Recruitment Coordinator) position assigned to the Human Resources division of the Sonoma County Water Agency to Department Analyst. Additionally, Human Resources recommends that the incumbent be retained pursuant to Water Agency Personnel Policy, Article V. Reclassification. The study report memoranda with these recommendations are attached (Attachment 5).
The Agency requests approval for the addition of 1.0 FTE Department Analyst allocation, and the deletion of 1.0 FTE Administrative Aide to its department allocation table.
Salary and benefits are budgeted in the General Fund which is funded through water sales revenue, taxes and grants. The General Fund is reimbursed by enterprise funds through project costing. The Water Agency’s cost accounting system allocates labor costs to Water Agency projects specific to its enterprise funds. The reclassification of 1.0 Administrative Aide to Department Analyst will increase expenses in FY 18-19 by $1429.68. This amount is available from the FY 18-19 Sonoma Water General Fund. The increase for FY 19-20 is $17,670.81 and 18,200.94 for FY 201-21, taking into account a 3% COLA adjustment in each year. FY 19-20 and FY 20-21 appropriations will be budgeted in those fiscal years.
Prior Board Actions:
Throughout the year, Human Resources submits several Miscellaneous Classification, Compensation, and Allocation Change Board Items that require Board approval in order to be fully adopted and implemented.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 18-19 Adopted |
FY19-20 Projected |
FY 20-21 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
CRA: $5,310 EDB: $7,825 HSD: $9,131 WTR: $1,430 |
CRA: $56,089 EDB: $ 120,700 HSD: $118,660 WTR: $17,671 |
CRA: $56,089 EDB: $ 125,300 HSD: $118,660 WTR: $ 18,201 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$23,696 |
$313,120 |
$318,250 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
CRA: $5,310 WTR: $1,430 |
CRA: $56,089 WTR: $17,671 |
CRA: $56,089 WTR: $18,201 |
|
State/Federal |
HSD: $9,131 |
HSD: $118,660 |
HSD: $118,660 |
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
EDB: $7,825 |
EDB: $ 120,700 |
EDB: $ 125,300 |
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$23,696 |
$313,120 |
$318,250 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Department: The additional cost for replacing the Assessment Process Specialist with Assessment Specialist allocations is $5,310 for FY 18-19, $56,089 for FY 19-20, and $56,089 for FY 20-21. The Department will request additional General Funds for the increased reclassification costs during mid-year estimates, if FY 19-20 appropriations are not sufficient.
Economic Development Board: The Creative Sonoma program is supported by the Community Investment fund (TOT) and various grants. The total cost for an Administrative Aide position is approximately $128,000 and is included in the salary and benefit costs of the FY 19-20 recommended budget.
Human Services Department: The additional cost for replacing Eligibility Worker III and Eligibility Supervisor positions to Senior Eligibility Specialist and Eligibility Specialist Supervisor for FY 18-19 is $5,743. The incremental cost for the FY 19-20 budget is $77,808. These job classifications are funded primarily by state and Federal sources, which are expected to be sufficient to cover increased costs. The cost associated with the Human Services Systems and Programming Analyst equity adjustment is $3,388 for FY 18-19, and $40,852 for FYs 19-20 and 20-21. These costs will also be funded primarily by state and Federal sources, which are expected to be sufficient to cover increased costs.
Sonoma County Water Agency: Salary and benefits are budgeted in the General Fund which is funded through water sales revenue, taxes and grants. The General Fund is reimbursed by enterprise funds through project costing. The Water Agency’s cost accounting system allocates labor costs to Water Agency projects specific to its enterprise funds. The reclassification of 1.0 Administrative Aide to Department Analyst will increase expenses in FY 18-19 by $1430. This amount is available from the FY 18-19 Sonoma Water General Fund. The increase for FY 19-20 is $17,671 and 18,201 for FY 201-21, taking into account a 3% COLA adjustment in each year. FY 19-20 and FY 20-21 appropriations will be budgeted in those fiscal years.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A - I Step) |
Additions (number) |
Deletions (number) |
|
Assessment Process Specialist |
$3,941.18 - $4,789.94 |
|
(9.0) |
|
Assessment Specialist |
$4,275.12 - $5,196.93 |
9.0 |
|
|
Administrative Aide |
$4,433.39 - $5,389.99 |
1.0 |
(1.0) |
|
Eligibility Worker III |
$4,294.25-$5,219.54 |
|
(10.0) |
|
Senior Eligibility Specialist |
$4,633.41-$5,631.75 |
10.0 |
|
|
Eligibility Supervisor |
$4,850.81-$5,894.38 |
|
(2.0) |
|
Eligibility Specialist Supervisor |
$5,097.79-$6,198.75 |
2.0 |
|
|
Department Analyst |
$5,610.87 - $6,819.66 |
1.0 |
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
Clerk-Recorder-Assessor (CRA) Department: There is no net change to the number of FTE’s. The incumbents in the studied Assessment Process Specialist positions will be retained in the Assessment Specialist positions, in accordance with Civil Service Rule 3.3C.
Economic Development Board: This permanent position will take over duties currently being performed by an Extra Help Administrative Aide, which is the result of redirecting extra help funding towards a permanent staff allocation.
Human Services Department: There is no net change to the number of FTE’s. The incumbents in the studied Eligibility Worker II and Eligibility Supervisor positions will be retained in the Senior Eligibility Specialist and Eligibility Specialist Supervisor positions, in accordance with Civil Service Rule 3.3B.
Sonoma County Water Agency: There is no net change to the number of FTE’s. The incumbent in the studied Administrative Aide position will be retained in the Department Analyst position, in accordance with Water Agency Personnel Policy, Article V. Reclassification.
Attachments:
1. Resolution 1: Concurrent Resolution amending the Memorandum of Understanding between the County and Service Employees International Union, Local 1021, Salary Table Scales
2. Resolution 1: Attachment A - Salary Tables.
3. Resolution 1: Attachment B - Letter of Agreement between the County of Sonoma and SEIU Local 1021.
4. Resolution 2: Concurrent Resolution approving the reclassification of one position at the Sonoma County Water Agency, and amending the Allocation Tables of the of the Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Department, County Administrator’s Office, Economic Development Board, Human Services Department, and the Sonoma County Water Agency.
5. Memoranda from Human Resources, titled “Classification Study - Administrative Aide (Water Agency Human Resources)”.
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
1. Classification Study Report by Human Resources on the Position Review of nine Assessment Process Specialist positions at the Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Department.
2. Classification Study Report by Human Resources on the Position Review of ten Eligibility Worker III and two Eligibility Supervisor positions at the Human Services Department.