December 2019 Bargaining Update
Author: Human Resources
Date: 12/17/2019 4:16 PM
New Tentative Agreement reached with SLOCEA and two more agreements reached with DSA and IHSS
NEW TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED WITH SLOCEA AND TWO MORE AGREEMENTS REACHED WITH DSA AND IHSS
Since the October 2019 Bargaining Update the County and the San Luis Obispo County Employees Association (SLOCEA) Big Unit and SLOCEA Trades Unit successfully reached Tentative Agreements (TAs) for new Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on December 4, 2019. Additionally, the County and the Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA), and the In-Home Support Services (IHSS) also reached agreements that have been ratified by their respective memberships and were approved by the Board of Supervisors on December 17, 2019.
Once all agreements have been ratified by the membership and approved by the Board of Supervisors, the County and all represented employee associations will have completed contract negotiations for two or three-year terms.
TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH SLOCEA
We are pleased to report that the County and SLOCEA Big Unit and SLOCEA Trades, Crafts, and Services Unit have reached TAs for new MOUs. SLOCEA is currently in the process of having the new TAs ratified by the membership. If the ratification is successful, the agreements will then be sent to the Board of Supervisors for approval in open session. The first compensation increases in the agreements will then take effect the start of the pay period after the Board of Supervisors approves the agreements. If you have specific questions about the ratification process or would like further details about the tentative agreements, please contact a SLOCEA representative. The contact information can be found on SLOCEA’s website at https://www.slocea.org/contact. To review the terms SLOCEA and the County reached tentative agreement on, click here for Big Unit and here for Trades Unit. Additional communication and orientation to the new MOU’s will be rolled out after Board approval.
NEW THREE-YEAR MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE DEPUTY SHERIFF’S ASSOCIATION
The Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA) represents employees in the classifications of Sheriff's Correctional Deputy, Sheriff's Senior Correctional Deputy, Sheriff's Correctional Sergeant, Sheriff's Dispatchers, Sheriff's Forensics, Crime Prevention Specialists, and Sheriff's Property Officers. DSA’s MOUs were set to expire on December 31, 2019, and the County and DSA have been in negotiations since August 2019. After several productive meetings, the County and DSA were able to reach agreement on new Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) that were approved by the Board of Supervisors on December 17, 2019.
The key provisions of the new MOUs are summarized below.
- Three-year term, from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2022.
- Effective the pay period including January 1, 2020 employees shall receive a 3% pension equity adjustment, whereby the employee pension contribution rate shall be reduced by 3% and the County contribution rate shall be increased by 3%. This is in part in exchange for no wage increases for employees for the year 2020
- Effective the pay period including January 1, 2021 employees will receive a wage increase of 2.7%, and effective the pay period including January 1, 2022 employees will receive a wage increase of 2.5%.
- Effective the first paycheck in January 2020 employees with employee only medical coverage will receive a $25/mo. increase to their cafeteria, employees with employee plus one dependent medical coverage will receive a $25/mo. increase to their cafeteria contribution, and employees with employee plus two or more dependent medical coverage will receive a $30/mo. increase to their cafeteria contribution. Effective the first paycheck in January 2021 employees with employee plus one dependent medical coverage will receive an additional $25/mo. increase to cafeteria and employees with employee plus two or more dependent medical coverage will receive an additional $30/mo. increase to cafeteria. Effective the first paycheck of January 2022 employees with employee plus one dependent medical will receive an additional $25/mo. increase to cafeteria and employees with employee plus two dependent medical coverage will receive an additional $30/mo. increase to cafeteria.
Other changes to the DSA MOUs include:
- An increase to the uniform allowance
- An increase to specialty team assignments
- Increases to Standby and Court On-Call and Court Call Back pay
- Changes to sick leave, vacation accrual, and step placement for lateral transfer employees, where these employees may receive an advance to their sick leave accrual, an accelerated vacation accrual based on prior experience, and salary placement up to the top step of the salary range
NEW TWO-YEAR MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE IN-HOME SUPPORT SERVICES
The In-Home Support Services (IHSS) program serves disabled individuals who would be at risk of institutionalization in the absence of services. The individuals served by this program include seniors as well as young children whose disabilities require attendant care. IHSS is a State of California program, but the County of San Luis Obispo serves as the employer-of-record for the IHSS providers who provide the services, and the County has the responsibility to meet, confer and negotiate new agreements for IHSS providers.
After several productive negotiations, the County and IHSS representatives were able to reach agreement on a new MOU that was approved by the Board of Supervisors on December 17, 2019.
The key provisions of the new MOU are summarized below.
- Two-year term, from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021.
- As a result of the last negotiated MOU between the County and IHSS, IHSS providers receive $1.00/hr. above the State minimum wage. With this new MOU, IHSS providers will receive an additional $0.11/hr. on top of that. For example: minimum wage for 2020 will be $13.00/hr., so the wage for IHSS providers will be $14.11/hr. In 2021 when minimum wage is $14.00/hr., the wage for IHSS providers will be $15.11/hr.
