Supervisors, Managers, and the CAPS MOU. There’s a reason CalHR refers to supervisory and managerial classifications as “excluded.” It’s because certain supervisory, managerial, and confidential state employees, among others, are excluded from the Ralph C. Dills Act, which gave collective bargaining rights to California State Employees. Instead, supervisory and managerial classifications (through the organizations that represent them, like CAPS) are given the right to meet-and-confer with CalHR regarding wages, hours and working conditions via the “Excluded Employee Bill of Rights” (Government Code Sections 3525 – 3539.5). CalHR and these organizations do not reach formal written agreements, nor do they negotiate official contracts.

So, if not in the MOU, where are my rights? Supervisory and managerial scientists’ rights are laid out in the CalHR Online HR Manual, and in various California Labor and Government Code Sections. Typically, the easiest way to find one’s rights are to contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org).

What about “exempt?” CalHR uses the classification of exempt employees in two ways; first, it can refer to employees who are appointed, and thus exempt from civil service. But, to make things a bit more confusing, “exempt” is also term that refers to an employee’s wage status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and whether or not they qualify for overtime. So, potentially, a state employee could be an exempt, exempt employee.

If an employee is exempt under the FLSA in state service, their classification falls into Work Week Group E (WWG E) – these employees do not typically qualify for overtime. WWG E employees would be referred to as “salaried” in the private sector. Conversely, if an employee is not exempt under the FLSA, in state service, they fall into Work Week Group 2 (WWG 2), also known as “hourly” employees. Hourly employees qualify for overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week.

In summary, most supervisory and managerial classifications are excluded classifications, which may or may not be exempt from the FLSA. CAPS represents scientific supervisory and managerial “excluded” employees in regular meet-and-confers to discuss our members’ wages, hours, and working conditions, in an effort to improve them for ALL state scientific supervisory and managerial members; and provide individual representation to members when necessary.

Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes Posted. The Draft Minutes from the November 2, 2019 Board of Directors’ Meeting are posted on the CAPS Website. View them here.

The next Board of Directors’ meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 22, 2020 at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown Arena (300 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814), commencing at 10 a.m. All members are welcome to attend; parking will be validated.

News Briefs.

Project to restore American River for native fish leads to surge in salmon nests. The American River is seeing an increase in native fish nests following a fall project carried out by federal, state and local agencies to re-establish natural spawning habitats.