2019 - 2023 SEIU 1021 Memorandum of Understanding:   Article 18: Miscellaneous Provisions – All Bargaining Units

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What’s on this Page

• 18.1 Safety
• 18.1.1 Safety – Shared Obligation
• 18.1.2 Safety Program
• 18.1.3 Safety – Hazard Report, Action, Appeals Process
• 18.1.4 Safety – Training
• 18.2 Memorandum of Understanding – Distribution
• 18.3 Indemnification – County
• 18.4 County / Union Meetings
• 18.5 Suggestion Awards Program
• 18.6 Emergency Meals
• 18.7 Auto Direct Deposit
• 18.8 Housing Assistance Program – Labor / Management
• 18.9 Training – Interest Bargaining
• 18.10 Advisory Committees – Labor / Management
• 18.11 Retirement – Credit for Prior Public Service
• 18.12 Retirement – Employees Hired on or Before December 31, 2012
  • 18.12.1 Final Compensation Based on Single Year
  • 18.12.2 3% @ 60 Pension Formula
  • 18.12.3 Required Employee Contribution
  • 18.12.4 Pension Cost Share Arrangement
• 18.13 Retirement – Employees Hired on or After January 1, 2013
  • 18.13.1 Final Compensation Based on Three Year Average
  • 18.13.2 2% @ 62 Pension Formula
  • 18.13.3 Required Employee Contributions
• 18.14 Implementation of Section 18.13
• 18.15 Workload Accommodation During Vacancies
• 18.16 State of the Workforce
• 18.17 Career Progression
• 18.18 Classification Study Process Training
• 18.19 Paycheck Deduction Corrections
• 18.20 Staffing for Quality Public Services
• 18.21 Extra Help Meetings
• 18.22 Disaster Meeting
• 18.23 County and Labor Retirement Benefits Committee

Read Next: Article 19: Bargaining Unit and Special Provisions

18.1.1 Safety – Shared Obligation

The County is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for its employees. It is the duty of all employees to follow safe work practices and procedures and to report any unsafe practices or conditions to their immediate supervisor or designee.

18.1.2 Safety Program

The County provides an Occupational Safety and Health Program in accordance with Sonoma County Administrative Policy 6-4 Safety Management Policy and Sonoma County Safety Management Program adopted by the Board of Supervisors on February 26, 2008, Resolution #08-0157.

18.1.3 Safety – Hazard Report, Action, Appeals Process

All hazard reports, actions, and appeals shall follow the process contained in the County of Sonoma Safety Management Policy, Administrative Policy 6-4, and Sonoma County Safety Management Program, and shall not be grievable.

18.1.4 Safety – Training

Safety training will be conducted in accordance with the Sonoma County Administrative Policy 6-4 Safety Management Policy and Sonoma County Safety Management Program.

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This Memorandum of Understanding is available on-line at the County’s inter-net and intra-net sites. Bargaining unit members with no access to a County computer at their worksite may request a copy of the MOU from the Department Payroll Clerk.

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The County recognizes its obligation to defend and indemnify its officers and employees in accordance with California Government Code 825 et. seq. and 995 et. seq.  This item is not grievable nor arbitrable.

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The County and the Union shall meet whenever the Union President or General Manager and the County’s Employee Relations Manager agree to meet to discuss matters of mutual interest. Agenda items will be agreed to as well as the date and time of such meeting.

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The County agrees to continue the Suggestion Awards Program. The County reserves the right to reduce or eliminate the program if adequate staff resources cannot be provided to continue a meaningful program.

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An appointing authority may arrange for meals to be provided at County expense to employees who are required to be kept on duty for prolonged periods of time or for emergency situations.

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The County will make a deposit of the employees’ pay checks directly to the employee’s account(s) at their designated participating financial institutions.  The effective date of deposit will be one day after the regularly scheduled date of payroll issue. Employees may opt-out of direct deposit, at the time of hire or at any point(s) in the future, and receive printed paychecks.

Printed pay stubs will not automatically be provided. Pay stub information can be found bi-weekly in the self-service feature of the HRIS system where print and/or save functions are available. Employees will be provided access to a County computer to print or email their paystub. 

Members who leave County employment for reasons other than retirement will be able to access their on-line paycheck information for a period of two months following their date of separation. Separated employees may request copies of their paystubs from Auditor Payroll.

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The parties agree that effective July 5, 2016, the Auditor shall deduct 2¢ per hour from each Union represented employee and shall place the monies in a specific account for use in assisting eligible employees in purchasing or renting a home in Sonoma County. The County shall, on at least a quarterly basis, make a matching contribution equaling the amount generated by employee deductions. The County will cover up to $50,000 of the cost to administer the program each fiscal year. Any costs exceeding this amount will be deducted directly from the fund. The Auditor shall make regular reports to the committee on funds available.

The County and the Union shall jointly form a labor management committee to prepare and administer a Sonoma County Labor / Management Housing Assistance Policy. The Committee shall oversee the administration of the housing assistance program through the Community Development Commission staff. Represented employees of the Community Development Commission (CDC) may participate in the Housing Assistance Program except the Special Projects Coordinator may not participate nor any CDC employee who is in a decision making position related to the Housing Assistance Program.

If an employee receives a loan from the housing assistance fund, payroll deduction payments will be made so long as the employee is employed by the County.

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It is the intent of the parties to incorporate interest bargaining concepts into future labor / management negotiations.

This Section (18.9) is not grievable nor arbitrable under this contract grievance procedure. The parties agree that training costs under this Section (18.9) shall be equally shared between the County and the employee’s Tuition & Textbook account.

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The County and Union support the creation and utilization of the SEIU Countywide and departmental labor-management committees. The parties acknowledge that it may not be feasible to form committees in every department, particularly small departments, but departments are encouraged to consider utilizing this collaborative problem-solving mechanism, which has proven to be worthwhile and successful.

Labor / Management Advisory Committees shall be comprised and function in the following manner:

1. The committees shall be made up of no less than two (2), nor more than four (4), members each from the Union and other labor organizations representing department employees and from department management and supervisory staff. A member of the staff of the Human Resources Department or Union trained in facilitation or group problem solving may serve as a facilitator. The parties may also utilize the service of an outside facilitator with the department and the Union sharing the outside facilitator’s fee.
2. Labor/Management committee meetings and related training shall be deemed County business for compensation purposes.
3. The committees may be continued, modified, or expanded by mutual agreement of the participants. At the request of either party, Department Labor Management Committees may be evaluated.
4. The committees may review, discuss and make recommendations on a variety of departmental issues of mutual concern. Concerns regarding workloads within a department are to be taken to the Department Labor Management Committee. If the department does not have a Labor Management Committee, or if the issue is unresolved by the committee, the issue may be referred to the SEIU County Wide Labor Management committee.
5. The committees are encouraged to brainstorm possible issues and problems, prioritize the possible issues in general order of importance, and select high priority issues of mutual interest to review. In reviewing the issues, the committees are encouraged to define the issue carefully, study and evaluate the most promising solutions, and make a recommendation with supporting documentation to the department head with a copy to the Director of Human Resources and the Union.
6. The department head shall evaluate proposed solution, make a decision on the committee’s recommendation and report back his/her decisions. The committee may make an oral presentation as well as their written report and recommendation to the Department Head.
7. Departments must fund any recommended changes through the existing budget process or through cooperative efforts of the Department Labor / Management Committee in seeking and locating funding for changes through other sources. The decisions of the department head shall not set precedent nor bind the County or other County departments. The SEIU County Wide Labor / Management Committee shall publicize the positive results of department committee recommendations.
8. Matters of SEIU County wide interest and matters impacting the collective bargaining agreement shall be forwarded to the SEIU County Wide Labor / Management Committee for review. Department committees are not authorized to bargain, modify or add to existing provisions of the existing agreement. Grievances, wages, hours, fringe benefits are also excluded from consideration by the committee. The SEIU County Wide Labor / Management Committee, by mutual agreement, may request and authorize, in writing, a Department Labor / Management Committee to review and discuss (but not negotiate) a matter within the scope of bargaining such as premiums, fringe benefits, caseload and working hours.
9. This Section (18.10) is not grievable nor arbitrable under the contract grievance procedure, except that the County’s refusal to establish in good faith these committees is a contract grievance matter.

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In addition to any other retirement buyback provision authorized by law and applicable rules of the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association, employees who are contributing members of the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association can purchase retirement credit for public service time rendered prior to employment with the County of Sonoma to the extent allowed by Government Code Sections 7522.46, 31641.1 and 31641.2 and other provisions of law, during the term of this MOU.

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This Section 18.12 (including subsections) shall apply to employees hired on or before December 31, 2012, who are or become contributing members of the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association (“SCERA”), or who are hired after that date and qualified for pension reciprocity as stated in Government Code Section 7522.02(c) and any related SCERA reciprocity requirements.

18.12.1 Final Compensation Based On Single Year

For purposes of determining a retirement benefit, final compensation for employees covered by this Section 18.12 shall mean the average annual compensation earnable by the member as specified in Government Code Section 31462.1.

18.12.2 3% @ 60 Pension Formula

The 3.0% at 60 pension formula shall be available to employees covered by this Section 18.12 who are contributing members of the SCERA.

18.12.3 Required Employee Contribution

SCERA members covered by this Section 18.12 will contribute the amount required by SCERA as employee contributions, and shall continue to pay an additional 3.03% of pay, pretax, to their employee retirement account. This 3.03% of pay contribution of the employee’s pensionable compensation shall be paid as part of the County’s contribution to pay for the unfunded accrued actuarial liability resulting from past service. This additional 3.03% contribution will continue until July 2024. Employees also shall continue to pay a pretax statutory contribution of approximately 1.0% or slightly more, contingent upon age of entry into the retirement system.

18.12.4 Pension Cost Share Arrangement

Effective the first full pay period following July 1, 2016, and subject to Sonoma County Employees Retirement Association (SCERA) Board approval of the cost share arrangement under the terms described herein, active County General legacy members of SCERA will contribute one third of the actuarially determined difference between the average General legacy employee retirement rate (exclusive of the 3.03% payroll contribution toward the UAAL described in section 18.12.3 of the MOU) and one half the total normal cost (“total normal cost” includes both employer and member shares) calculated as an average for General legacy Members of the Sonoma County Employees Retirement Association (SCERA) covered by this Section 18.12 based on rates of all active County General legacy members, with the difference computed to a factor and applied equally to all legacy members. Such legacy employees will receive a lump sum benefit allowance as reimbursement for this pension cost share arrangement each pay period equal to the dollar value of the deduction described in this paragraph, less any required taxes.

Effective the first full pay period following July 1, 2017, and subject to SCERA Board approval of the cost share arrangement under the terms described herein, active County General legacy members of SCERA will contribute an additional one third (for a total of two thirds) of the actuarially determined difference between the average General legacy employee retirement rate (exclusive of the 3.03% payroll contribution toward the UAAL described in Section 18.12.3 of the MOU) and one half the total normal cost calculated as an average for General legacy Members of the Sonoma County Employees Retirement Association (SCERA) covered by this Section 18.12 based on rates of all active County General legacy members, with the difference computed to a factor and applied equally to all legacy members. Such legacy employees will receive a lump sum benefit allowance as reimbursement for this pension cost share arrangement each pay period equal to the dollar value of the deduction described in this paragraph, less any required taxes.

The lump sum benefit allowance described above will not be included in wages for computations of overtime, pension, benefits or for any County benefit related purpose. The parties acknowledge that the negotiated cost share arrangement is subject to the approval of the Sonoma County Employees Retirement Association (SCERA) Board. In the event SCERA does not accept the purpose of the lump sum benefit as described herein, if SCERA deems the benefit allowance as pensionable compensation, or if SCERA does not accept the cost share arrangement, or if the pension reimbursement is determined to be taxable beyond FICA and Medicare taxation, the parties agree that this provision shall cease to be implemented and the parties will reopen this section of the contract to meet and confer on a replacement pension cost share arrangement, subject to mutual agreement of the parties.

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This Section 18.13 (including subsections) shall apply to employees hired on or after January 1, 2013, who are or become contributing members of the SCERA and who do not qualify for pension reciprocity as stated in Government Code Section 7522.02(c).

18.13.1 Final Compensation Based On Three Year Average

As required by Government Code Section 7522.32, effective January 1, 2013, for the purposes of determining a retirement benefit for SCERA members covered by this Section 18.13, final compensation shall mean the highest average annual pensionable compensation earned during 36 consecutive months of service.

18.13.2 2% @ 62 Pension Formula

As required by Government Code Section 7522.20, the 2.0% at 62 pension formula shall be available to employees covered by this Section 18.13.2 who are contributing members of the SCERA.

18.13.3 Required Employee Contributions

As required by Government Code Section 7522.30(c), SCERA members covered by this Section 18.13 shall pay 50% of normal costs. In addition, SCERA members covered by this Section 18.13 shall pay 3.03% of the employee’s pensionable compensation toward the County’s employer contribution to retirement costs. This additional 3.03% contribution shall continue until July 2024.

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The parties agree that Section 18.13 shall be implemented concurrently with implementation of a Board of Supervisors Resolution implementing identical or comparable provisions for employees covered by the Salary Resolution.

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To accommodate workload during periods when there are vacant positions in a work unit, the following criteria will be followed:

1. Workload will be prioritized and distributed with input from staff.
2. The use of overtime, Extra Help, temporary workers, interns, retiree registry, increased staffing, supervisory and management support to staff will be considered before workload is assigned.

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In March of each year, the County Administrator shall meet with County labor groups to discuss the “State of the Workforce.”

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Within six (6) months of ratification of the MOU extension, the County will produce and post a document on the County Human Resources website that lists all of the classification families, broken down by classification, within the County’s classification plan. The document will illustrate career progression opportunities for County staff. New classes will be added to the document as they are established within the County’s classification plan, when applicable.

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Within six (6) months of Board approval of the MOU extension, the County will conduct a training that is based on common and recognized principles and techniques of job classification which provides instruction on the concepts, methodology, and tools used by County HR to conduct classification and compensation studies.

Up to ten SEIU Chapter Officers/Stewards/Representatives may attend on approved County Release time. The County may also include Human Resources staff at this training.

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It is understood by the parties that the County can take deductions from employee paychecks to correct prior under collections in instances where the County has secured the permission of the affected employee(s) to do so. When County payroll becomes aware that one or more paycheck adjustments are necessary to correct an under collection of required deductions in a prior pay period, including but not limited to deductions for taxes, benefits, or retirement contributions, or pursuant to a court order, the County shall notify the affected employee(s) and SEIU as soon as possible, and where possible, will notify SEIU three business days  before notifying the employee(s) with any details known at the time of notification. The County will work with the affected employee(s), and, if the employee chooses, SEIU, to obtain the affected employees’ consent to make the required paycheck adjustment(s). If the deduction in question is confidential in nature, SEIU will be notified of the situation but will not be given the names of the affected employee(s). Employees will be informed that SEIU is available if the employee chooses to contact the Union for assistance.

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Staffing levels are determined by the Board of Supervisors taking into account budgeted allocated positions for each department, division, or unit. Upon request, County Human Resources will provide a report to the Union of all allocated positions vacant longer than 90 days.

Employee(s) who have ongoing concerns about staffing levels or excessive workloads (hereafter referred to as "staffing concerns") are encouraged to document their concern and address the issues directly with their manager. 

Staffing concerns may be brought to the County-wide Labor Management Committee for collaborative review as per Article 18.10 (e).

County of Sonoma may not retaliate against or engage in any form of intimidation of an employee for performing any duties or responsibilities in connection with the Labor Management Committee; or an employee who notifies the Labor Management Committee or the county administration of his or her concerns about staffing.

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The County and the Union will meet annually prior to budget hearings for the purpose of review and discussion of Extra Help usage.

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At the request of the Union, as soon as feasible after a disaster occurs within the boundaries of the County of Sonoma or surrounding counties of Mendocino, Lake, Napa, or Marin, the Human Resources Director or designee, and a representative from the CAO’s office will meet with SEIU to discuss employee needs.

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Within twelve months of the effective date of the parties’ successor MOU, the County and the Union will form a management / labor retirement benefits committee.  The charge of the committee is to gather and analyze information on County employee retiree benefits and to develop recommendations for optimal long-term solutions that meet the interests and needs of all impacted parties and still position the County to have total compensation market competitiveness and workforce stability. As part of this recommendation, the parties shall address the following items: unfunded liability cost sharing; pension cost sharing; pension obligation bonds; retiree medical benefits, longevity and;  retiree cost of living adjustment. Other retirement related issues may be considered by mutual agreement. 

The committee shall consist of up to six (6) SEIU Union members and six (6) management representatives. Union team members will be permitted time off without loss of compensation or other benefits when formally meeting or engaging in mutually agreed upon preparation or caucus time. Additional SEIU staff may participate.

The County and the Union further agree that the committee should include representatives from all County Bargaining Units and employee organizations and that they will support having representatives of all such units and organizations participating in the committee by commencement of the committee’s work in the March 2021. The County and the Union further agree that the committee’s work will be completed by March 2022. The committee’s recommendations and strategies will be advisory only to the County’s CAO’s office.

The County and the Union agree that to the extent the committee’s recommendations and/or strategies, and/or the County Administrator’s recommendations resulting from the committee’s recommendations and or strategies, address subjects that are specifically covered by existing articles or sections in the parties’ labor agreements, those specific articles or sections may be re-opened by either party to formally meet and confer. Unless the parties mutually agree otherwise, the earliest reopener negotiations will commence will be June 2022.

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