Vacation/Annual Leave Cash Out. Typically, April is the month that CalHR authorizes departments to analyze whether they have funding to participate in the Vacation/Annual Leave Cash Out Program for the 2019-2020 Fiscal Year and to inform the unions. CAPS has requested information on whether CalHR will be informing departments in the typical timeline, considering the pandemic. As soon as we receive information, the membership will be informed.
The CAPS MOU allows eligible employees in participating departments to submit a written request during the month of May to receive payment at their regular salary rate in exchange for up to 80 unused vacation or annual leave hours. Payment for all leave hours are made using existing departmental appropriations, therefore, each department’s participation is subject to the availability of departmental funds.
Range Placement Correction. All scientific classifications with ranges, such as the Environmental Scientist classification, can be reviewed for a range placement correction. Many State Scientists have years of scientific experience prior to joining state service: whether it was in a professional, research or internship setting, it may count when it comes to your range placement at your time of hire. You do not have to wait a year to file a range placement correction!
How Do the Departments Determine Range? Placement in a range is typically determined by an Alternate Range Criteria and is different per classification. The most commonly known classification with ranges is Environmental Scientist with Ranges A, B and C. The Alternate Range Criteria for Environmental Scientist is 430, which is listed on the CalHR Pay Scales chart as “AR Crit,” you can view it here: http://www.calhr.ca.gov/Pay%20Scales%20Library/PS_Sec_15.pdf.
How Can I Appeal my Range Placement? Simply contact your local CAPS office and speak with a labor consultant. CAPS staff will typically request some items from you that may include your application from your time of hire and an updated resume among other items. After review, staff may submit a Merit Issue Complaint on your behalf. This starts at the department level. If the department denies the first claim, it can be appealed to the State Personnel Board. If the complaint is appealed through the State Personnel Board the response may take upwards of six months, but the wait can be worth it!
What happens if the claim is successful? If your claim is granted you may be looking at back pay from your time of hire! Dependent upon which range you started in and when you were hired, you can be looking at a good lump sum in back pay – the largest amount ever gained for a member by CAPS was $20,000! While not all cases are granted, it is worth the effort to ensure that you were correctly placed at your time of hire. If you believe you have scientific experience, equivalent to the work you were hired to do in complexity and scope, that was not counted toward your initial range placement, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org).
New Legislative Session Return Date & COVID-19 Hearing. Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced that they will now call the Senate and Assembly back to the Capitol on May 4, 2020. The date changes the previous target return date, April 13, under the guidance of public health officials who seek to minimize opportunities for COVID-19 transmission. While the Legislature will remain in recess, the Pro Tem and Speaker announced hearings starting next week to review the state’s COVID-19 spending, with the first hearing to be held on Thursday, April 16, at 1p.m.
News Briefs
A deficit of more than 250,000 public health workers is no way to fight Covid-19 – What happens when a nation systematically cuts or underfunds its public health workforce? We are seeing an answer to that in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping across the United States.
HLB spreads slowly, confined to residential citrus – Thanks to conducive weather conditions and state restrictions on how citrus is transported within the state, California still has the upper hand in controlling huanglongbing, or HLB, the citrus greening disease that has devastated Florida’s groves.