The San Benito County Board of Supervisors is set to discuss a resolution Tuesday that would cut the compensation and benefit costs of unrepresented employees by 12.27 percent.
The supervisors have asked for 10 percent concessions for all bargaining units and so far have a tentative agreement with the law enforcement management group, which will be discussed at a future date, and with the unrepresented group, which is not part of a union.
The unrepresented group includes department heads, confidential management and confidential employees. The total savings anticipated is $338,927 annually from a combination of furloughs, employee contributions to retirement, and a continued freeze on salary steps. The resolution also includes a vacation accrual cap.
That is slightly more than 1 percent of the county’s general fund of $33 million. The county’s general fund reserve has been gradually declining and now stands at $11 million, while it is facing an estimated $5.3 million deficit next fiscal year.
The vacation accrual limit discussion started at the March 20 meeting when supervisors considered a resolution that would have capped vacation time for unrepresented employees with a requirement that they use six days per month until such time they come in below the cap. The cap would have been two times their annual vacation accrual rate for their position.
Members of the Service Employees Union International – which represents other employees outside the group at stake in this matter – talked in favor of the cap, and one confidential employee in the unrepresented group spoke against passing the resolution without input from the unrepresented group. The SEIU members expressed concerned over unlimited vacation accruals for managers that have to be paid out when they retire or leave the county.
As of July of last year, the county had amassed $5.5 million in banked hours for vacation and sick accrual.
The supervisors agreed to have the budget committee, which includes Supervisors Margie Barrios and Robert Rivas, discuss the cap and bring it back before the board.
The new resolution would freeze the vacation account of each employee on the last pay period of June 2012. If any amount would be left in the account when the employee leaves the county, the worker would be paid out for the number of hours multiplied by the hourly rate on the “freeze” date in June 2012.
In the first pay period in July 2012, employees would start accruing vacation in a new and separate account for vacation leave that will be limited to two times the employee’s annual accrual rate. According to the resolution, “the vacation accrual limit shall only be enforced as of December 31 of each year. The intent of this language is to allow employees to exceed their vacation accrual limit at other times during the year so long as they are within the accrual maximum at the calendar year end.”
Employees with balances in the “frozen” bank that exceeds two times their annual accrual rates will make every effort to deplete the balance in that account within two years. The resolution allows the county administrative officer to implement a mandatory usage schedule for employees who still have a balance after July 1, 2014. The resolution states that employees will make every effort to use a minimum of 80 hours of vacation leave each year.
In terms of retirement contributions, the resolution calls for employees to contribute 4 percent of their “pensionable” income to their CalPERS retirement pension.
Employees will also be required to take 15 days of furloughs between July 1 and June 30, 2013. The board will have the right to determine and approve dates observed as office closure days. The resolution does say that permanent and probationary employees subject to furloughs will continue to accrue and maintain all employee benefits at the same rates and levels.
The resolution calls for the county to continue a salary step freeze. If approved by the supervisors, employees will not receive regular or accelerated step advancements, and the time worked during the period will not be credited toward step advancements. The resolution suggests that employees hired during 2012-13 should get hired at step A, the lowest salary level for a position.
