Contract & Labor

Member News

For Health Educator Classifications. Regarding SB1334 this new requirement is a legislative mandate and not County driven. In the event that a meal period is waived the employee gets paid plus receives a County penalty fee of $100, which the County will provide retroactive to 1/1/23.

Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) Audit The Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) Audit for positions within the Airport Operations Officer (AOO) was completed. The audit found that all AOO positions are FLSA exempt, meaning that they are performing work that is not subject to overtime provisions of the FLSA.

FLSA Analysis Findings (PDF)

Meal Waiver

If the employee whose typical shift is regularly 6 hours or less or more than 10 hours can sign the waiver once and the employee may revoke the waiver with a one-day notice.

Anything in-between (an employee who works a shorten day that is 6 hours long, etc.) will need to sign the waiver.

The attached waiver includes more general language to account for the above various scenarios an employee will need to complete the waiver, and adds verbiage that the employee may revoke their waiver within one day written notice.

  Meal Break Waiver Form (PDF)
  SB 1334 Correspondence to DSH Employees (PDF)
  SB 1334 Impacted Classes (PDF)
  SB 1334 Missed Lunch and Rest Breal Log (XLSX)

Things to note:

Employees will have every opportunity to take their lunches and breaks. Employees can then choose how to spend their lunch times. Employees will not be coerced to miss these important breaks.

If there is an instance that a meal break or lunch period could not be taken due to an unforeseen, staff will need to work with their manager to schedule the time needed to take the missed period.

All staff who have missed their breaks or lunches over the past year will receive retroactive payments going as far back as January 1, 2023, if they have provided the information to payroll as outlined in the April 2023 correspondence.

Payments are expected to be distributed to impacted staff no later than September 30, 2023.

2022 Election Update: No election necessary, all positions ran unopposed.
Retirement Memo: Attached is a memo regarding the California Supreme Court decision in Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association et al. v Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association (ACERA) and Board of Retirement ACERA (also known as “the Alameda case”).
California Supreme Court decision on the Alameda Case (PDF) 
RHSP Investment Update: Attached is a notice from ICMARC regarding a change to investment options offered in the RHSP effective June 19, 2020. Every participant must re-select their investment elections. If an election is not made the participant’s current plan balance and future deferrals will be defaulted to the Plan’s default investment.
County of Sacramento Participant Letter (PDF) 
2020 CPI – COLA Notice: Attached is the letter from the Office of Labor Relations regarding the cost of living adjustments effective June 21, 2020.
2020 CPI - COLA Notice (PDF) 
CSAC Urgent Request: Attached is the letter from CSAC seeking relief from the State of California.
CSAC Covid-19 Budget Needs (PDF) 

Essential Employees Age 65+/Or Employees With Chronic/Underlying Health Conditions

  • — Telework Work from home. May work at worksite if they exhibit no symptoms and have supervisor approval.
    — Contingent upon available work and if the employee is unable to work, they are to be placed on paid administrative leave.
    — All other provisions of paid administrative leave are in effect. Employees must be available by phone during their normally scheduled shift.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act: 
What California Employers and Employees Need to Know (PDF)

Employees with Chronic/Underlying Health Conditions must self-disclose to their supervisor and will need to get medical verification within 10 business days of the self-disclosure. Remember to provide employees with a California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) notice prior to collecting information about their symptoms, testing history, etc. If employees are unable to get a medical verification within that timeframe they will need to contact their supervisor and may be required to use any available leave balances.

Bylaws: The SCAPA Board will vote to adopt changes to the bylaws at the next membership meeting scheduled for May 8, 2019. Membership meetings are held at 5pm on the second Wednesday of every odd month, Jly, Sep, Nov, etc. @ 9616 Micron Avenue, Suite 900. Changes include: Adjust the time of year for board elections, from winter to fall, remove obsolete language pertaining to when SCAPA had not yet formed, reinstate the term of board members from 2 years to 4 years. 
2018 Election Update: No election necessary, all positions ran unopposed. 
Contract update: At a meeting on May 30, 2018, members in attendance voted 21-9 to accept the County offer. Summary below:

Section 2.12: LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT
Eliminate redundant reporting

Section 2.13: FAILURE TO FILE LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORTS
Eliminate redundant penalty

Section 7.4: OUT OF CLASS
Requires County to advise the Association of Out of Class assignment extensions

Section 7.5: SALARY INCREASES
Effective Jun 24, 2018 – Three percent (3%) increase to all classes
Effective Jun 23, 2019 – Two to four percent (2%-4%) increase to all classes
Effective Jun 21, 2020 – Two to four percent (2%-4%) increase to all classes

Section 7.6: BILINGUAL PAY
Increase oral skill differential from thirty cents ($.30) per hour to forty cents ($.40)
Increase oral/written differential from thirty-five cents ($.35) to fifty cents ($.50) per hour

Section 7.8: NIGHT SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL
Increase night shift differential from five percent (5%) to seven and one-half percent (7.5%) for Airport Operations Officer

Section 7.10: MASTER’S DEGREE
Add two and one-half percent (2.5%) differential for possession of Master’s Degree in Aeronautics, Aerospace or Aviation for Airport Operations Officers

Section 8.1: HOLIDAYS
Roll in addendum that added Mar 31st as holiday (clean-up only)

Section 9.2: SICK LEAVE
Adds relatives living with employee to relationships qualifying for leave

Section 9.5: FAMILY DEATH LEAVE
Adds grandparent-in-law to relationship qualifying for leave

Section 9.6: PARENTAL LEAVE
Requires verification of intent to adopt and eliminates home study requirement
Provides an extension of leave for employees on military leave

Section 10.5: LIFE INSURANCE
Clean-up rewrite of additional benefit options (no change in benefit level)

Section 12.7: NOTICE REQUIREMENT AND EFFECTIVE DATE OF HIRE
Identifies last known address as that entered into the County payroll system

Section 13.9: NOTICE OF LAYOFF
Identifies last known address as that entered into the County payroll system
Provides five (5) day assumption of delivery by mail

Section 14.4: MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT
Eliminates reimbursement deduction after 600 miles driven per month
Eliminates $48.00 minimum mileage claim

Section 15.1: TERM
Three year (3) through Jun 30, 2021
DHHS Restructure: The Department of Health and Human Services is moving forward with a restructure that will result in the separation of Health and Human Services with two departments. The County has targeted an effective date of Mar 4, 2018 at which time employees will be assigned to their respective departments.

The Sacramento County Administrative Professionals’ Association (SCAPA) met with the County on Nov 13, 2017 to commence the meet and confer process to discuss the impacts of the restructure. The County intends to assign employees to departments based on the current duties and assignments and area of support. As the list of assignments is developed we will provide the information to our members so that you can provide us with any concerns you would like addressed during the process.
Sacramento County made the following statement on Jun 30, 2017:

Some of your members and their dependents who have Western Health Advantage (WHA) for a medical plan and see a UC Davis physician have received, or will be receiving a letter informing them that UC Davis is withdrawing from participation in the WHA health plan. UC Davis was a founding business partner in establishing WHA, and this marks a very significant retreat by UC Davis in the local market. Attached is a sample of the WHA letter sent to members, and a copy of the UC Regents action item with some additional details about the decision.

At this time, there is no immediate replacement medical plan that will allow County employees to continue seeing a UC Davis physician after Jan 1, 2018. Approximately 500 employees with WHA coverage have selected physicians in UC Davis. We do not know the number of impacted dependents. We are actively requesting quotes from other medical plans on an urgent basis, but it is not a certainty that any other carriers will want to quote given our current participation structure and the number of impacted participants.

For now, no immediate action needs to be taken. However, absent any new medical carrier or plan offering, impacted employees and dependents have two options. First, they could stay with WHA coverage and change their primary care physician. WHA will actively assist in the process, including establishing a dedicated phone number and transition team as mentioned in their letter. A primary care physician change can be made at any time directly with the health plan and does not need a life event.

The second alternative is to change medical plans at Open Enrollment to either Kaiser or Sutter for January 2018.

Related Documents:
UC Regents Action Item – UC Davis Withdrawal From WHA
WHA UC Davis Member Letter

County of Sacramento Restructuring: The County plans to change its organizational structure. This may affect some of you; please reach out to us if you feel it might at info@scapaonline.org. SCAPA plans to meet with the County to discuss the impact. Restructuring Memo with Proposed Changes (PDF)
Salary update: Many people have asked about the upcoming salary increase. Effective Jun 26, 2016 salaries will increase 5%. We also will pay an additional ~1.23% to retirement contributions just like we’ve done each year beginning in 2014.

2014-2018 Summary:
Cost of Living Adjustments: 2014 2-4% 2015 2-4% 2016 4% 2017 2-5%
Restoration of 4.9%: 2014 2% 2015 1.9% 2016 1% 2017
Retirement Contributions 2014 (~1.23%) 2015 (~1.23%) 2016 (~1.23%) 2017 (~1.23%)
Negotiation update: The negotiating team continues to gather information to complete a proposal that will require the County to consider the salaries and salary relationships of all SCAPA job classifications using surrounding markets as the standard for appropriate pay. The proposal will also include revising current benchmarks to more accurately compare SCAPA represented job classes to the market. As far as we know, in the classes we represent the County has never correctly utilized benchmarks to determine appropriate pay.
Cesar E. Chavez Holiday: The Board of Supervisors approved an additional eight (8) hours for the creation of the new Cesar E. Chavez holiday/service day. The day will be recognized on Mar 31st of each year. Labor Relations will meet with each REO individually to amend the collective bargaining agreements to reflect the new holiday.
Consumer Price Index: This year the CPI reported a 1% increase; according to our contract we will receive a 2% minimum CPI salary increase effective Jly 2015. At the same time our contract guarantees that we will receive a additional 1.9% restoration increase. Please See Attached
Election Update: No election necessary, all positions ran unopposed including Secretary — current incumbent elected to not run for additional term.
Election Update: SCAPA would like to welcome our new secretary, Staci Meredith, who will join the Board effective Dec 10, 2014, after running unopposed. Staci was a member of the 2014 negotiating team for SCAPA where her knowledge of Sacramento County was appreciated by the whole team. We thank her for her willingness to donate her time, skills and experience to SCAPA. At the same time we will say goodbye to Kathy Seatris and Irene Perry.

Kathy has served on the Board as secretary since 2010. She’s someone who the board could always count on, and was a pleasure to have on the team. Irene has been our member-at-large since 2011. Her wisdom and guidance was instrumental when making crucial decisions.

The SCAPA board acknowledges the personal time both Kathy and Irene have sacrificed while serving their terms. We would like to express our gratitude for their dedication and appreciation for their talents . We wish them well in their future endeavors.
Arbitration Update: Effective Jly 1, 2014, the County placed the Assistant Planner and Planning Technicians in the SCAPA unit to which ETTI objected and asserted they belong in the ETTI unit. SCAPA asserted it did not seek the placement, but welcomed the opportunity to represent these classifications.

The community of interest criterion of S.C.C. §2.79.080 argues for including the Assistant Planner and the Planning Technician in the SCAPA unit, since both groups have duties that are similar to those of other Planners, all of whom are in the SCAPA unit.

However, the arbiter decided to adhere to §2.79.080-d in his justification, stating that the Assistant Planner and Planner Technician classes must be assigned to the ETTI bargaining unit. SCAPA retains representation of the Associate Planner classifications –previously known as the Planner III and Senior Environmental Analysts.

View attachment for additional information
Board Election: Nominations for the SCAPA Board will be accepted until 5 pm, Nov 9, 2014.
Please see the attachment.
JLM ACA Update: JLM ACA Update: Yesterday, 8-21-14, the County held a Join Labor Management, JLM, meeting with Union representatives. The County has held very few JLM meetings in the past to discuss health benefits issues; and even fewer for other general issues. The County is now interested in meeting more often either starting late this year or early next to address the impacts of ACA and the trending of employees choosing Kaiser as their health care provider. As you can see in the material via the links below most County employees are moving to Kaiser because it is less expensive. This year and next the County has an agreement with Sutter and WHA to control the rates with a 9% cap for increases into 2015. The rates will slightly increase next year but not as much as the cap would have allowed –this varies depending on your selection.

There are a few changes being rolling out. See the “additional items” page of the material. Lower dental premiums, no changes to vision and other items. The last item on the list is a Critical Incident/Cancer Plan. This was explained as a similar product to AFLAC — possibly less expensive too. We have been asking for something like this for a few years now so it is of great interest to see more about this plan when they decide to share more about it.

There is a page titled Assumptions. This was interpreted by audience members in different ways so I would like to give a brief explanation for you. The intent of #1 is that right now there are fewer people migrating to Kaiser due to the competitive rates provided by Sutter and WHA. The rates for 2016 will probably rise substantially once our current contract ends with those two providers. The following year the County expects more migration to Kaiser. The #2 section shows that there is a migration of employees choosing a High Deductible plan versus a standard HMO plan.

The County would like employees to move to High Deductible, HD, plans and use the Health Savings Account, HSA to the fullest extent possible. This does a couple things; it lowers the expense for you and the County and allows you to set aside money into the HSA for non-covered medical expenses. It also allows you to save the money tax free for use when you separate from the county and need to pay for medical premiums. If you have questions about all of this I suggest speaking with the benefits office about your specific situation.

As many of you are well aware, the ACA has a Cadillac tax, which starts in 2018, on every dollar for medical over the limits below which are annually adjusted. This includes the portion the employer and the employee pays for medical. The current annual limits are $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. Right now it looks like we are below the limit but in a few years things may change. SCAPA plans to meet soon with the County to discuss ideas and options for lowering expenses (some of them listed on pages 12 and 13.) We will do our best to negotiate with them, but ultimately the County will make its own final decision.

We will keep you in the loop as much as possible as this moves forward. If you have ideas, particularly creative and knowledgeable ideas to help with this, please send us a message.

Group Insurance For Active Employees 2014 Update (View/Download)
Arbitration Update: We will likely hear from the arbitrator in mid-Sep. Thank you to those who have shown support for joining SCAPA but the ultimate decision of which union will represent you belongs to the arbitrator.
Announcement: Per the new SCAPA contract, permanent full-time employees will receive 64 hours of paid administrative leave in exchange for furloughs taken in 2009/10. The administrative leave time has no cash value and must be used before Jun 30, 2018.

The County has loaded the hours to your leave accruals effective 7/27/14 and will appear on your Aug 15th paycheck. You may begin using the hours during this current payperiod with timesheet code Z291 , Negotiated Admin Leave.
Meeting: SCAPA has a scheduled meeting with the County on Aug 13th to discuss options for union release time; this is the earliest date the County was available. As previously announced, a meeting with membership is scheduled on Aug 6th to answer questions and become more familiar with union release time. Membership requested this meeting with the SCAPA board within 30 days of our last meeting on Jly 10th.
Announcement: County Board of Supervisors approved the SCAPA contract on Tuesday, Jly 22. We found a few errors and the County has promised to work with us to make the necessary corrections.
Meeting Announcement: Meeting scheduled on Aug 6, 2014, 9616 Micron Ave, CONF 1, 5:30-7:00pm to discuss union release time.
Arbitration: We were in arbitration for 9 hours on Monday supporting the County’s decision to assign three newly reclassified classifications of Associate Planner, Assistant Planner and Planning Technician to SCAPA.
Negotiation update: Contract scheduled for Board approval Jly 22, 2014, according to County Labor.
Negotiation update: CONTRACT RATIFIED. Membership voted 77-10 to accept the County offer.
Negotiation update: REMINDER: Directional / ratification vote on Thursday, Jly 10, 2014, 6:00PM at 700 H Street Board Chambers. Only dues paying members are able to vote.

County Language 6.7 | County Summary (1) | County Summary (2) | County Summary (3) | County Summary Correction
Negotiation update: Announcement of directional/possible ratification vote on Thursday, Jly 10, 2014, 6:00PM at 700 H Street Board Chambers.
Negotiation update: SCAPA has met with County several times in the last few weeks. We are very close on many of the issues but still not close on the matter of compensation. We have another meeting scheduled this week with the County to discuss salaries and to remind them again that we have not received any pay increases for several years.
Negotiation update: SCAPA continues to negotiate with County; these first meetings have established the ground rules and placed issues on the table. Some of the issues in discussion so far: COLA’s, equity adjustments, increased retirement costs (PEPRA), increase transit subsidy, increased education incentive, stand-by pay, admin leave, improved HIL policy, increased County contribution for dental, increased reemployment and reinstatement rights, disability return rights.
Negotiation update: County has agreed to begin contract negotiations with SCAPA beginning May 15,2014.
Potential Grievance Update: DHA Management has reversed the decision to deny time off requests. Time off requests are now being approved.
Negotiation Update: The negotiations with the County have not yet begun; we are anxious to begin but are in need of a member who has interest to become part of the negotiating team. We are seeking someone who can take notes, keep documents and has voting rights on the team. If you’re interested please send us your contact information and a brief explanation of why you should belong on the negotiation team to: scapavp-1@yahoo.com.
Potential Grievance Update: DHA management has issued directive to their Program Managers to deny time off requests for all staff for dates in Mar. SCAPA contacted DHA to express concern.
Unit Modification Arbitration Update: SCAPA presented testimony for unit modification of the Personnel classes, and final closing arguments given by both sides. Expect at least one month for the final decision; the arbiter did not give a specific date.
Hostile work environment update: SCAPA met for the third time with Robert Bonner to discuss the same issue which County either did not respond or didn’t supply a satisfactory response. SCAPA also introduced our new Labor Representative, Michelle Laidlaw and Kim Gillingham.
Unit Modification Arbitration Update: SCAPA presented arguments for unit modification of the Personnel classes.
Unit Modification Arbitration: County is challenging the addition of the personnel classes to bargaining unit 034 (excluding the Retirement Benefit series).
Unit Modification Update: SCAPA received a sufficient number of signature cards for the personnel classes and presented them to County before the deadline.
Unit Modification Update: SCAPA informed County of a unit modification request to add the non-confidential, unrepresented classes within personnel, including: Personnel Technician, Personnel Analyst, Senior Personnel Analyst, Employee Benefits Analyst, Retirement Benefits Specialist and Senior Retirement Benefits Specialist.
Hostile work environment update: SCAPA met again with Robert Bonner to discuss the same issue which County either did not respond or didn’t supply a satisfactory response.
71-J On-Call consulting services update: SCAPA met with Labor Relations
Hostile work environment update: SCAPA met with Robert Bonner to request County’s help resolving the many complaints about OES being a hostile work environment. Other issues were discussed such as out-of-class-assignments and conscientious objectors.