Vacation/Annual Leave Cash Out. Typically, CalHR authorizes Departments to analyze whether they have funding to participate in the Vacation/Annual Leave Cash Out Program in April for the current Fiscal Year and to inform the unions. CAPS requested information on the program in April. On Friday, CalHR confirmed that at the direction of the Department of Finance, Departments will not be authorized to participate in the program this year, as a result of California’s economic situation caused by the novel coronavirus. While this is consistent with the reasons that Departments can decide not to participate in the program under the CAPS MOU, CAPS has pointed out to CalHR the many benefits of the program to the State. These include: ensuring employee’s vacation balances don’t exceed their 640-hour cap, the money could act as an economic stimulus in a time that the State is desperately in need of one; and finally, that the money will come due regardless if the state pays it now, or later in the form of cash-outs upon employee retirements.
Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes Posted. The Draft Minutes from the February 22, 2020 Board of Directors’ Meeting are posted on the CAPS Website. View them here.
REMINDER: Board Meeting Postponed. The CAPS Board of Directors’ Meeting which was previously scheduled for May 16, 2020, has been postponed to June 13, 2020. Currently, the meeting is scheduled to be held at the Holiday Inn – Sacramento Downtown, Arena (300 J Street Sacramento) contingent upon the lifting of Governor Newsom’s Stay-at-Home Order.
Californians for Retirement Security Chairman Featured in Sacramento Bee. CAPS is a founding member of Californians for Retirement Security (CRS), the coalition of labor unions and retiree and employee groups that work to protect defined-benefit pensions for public servants, primarily by beating back ballot measures and other proposals to roll-back defined-benefit pensions in California. Recently, CRS Chairman, and CAPS Legislative Staff, Ted Toppin, was featured in the Sacramento Bee for his piece, Public pensions survived the Great Recession. They will survive coronavirus, too. You can read the piece here (tiered subscription).
REMINDER: CAPSule on the Website. Due to Governor Newsom’s Stay-at-Home order and issues arising from the novel coronavirus, this month’s CAPSule is an email-only issue. Access it on the CAPS Website here. When Governor Newsom’s order is lifted, CAPSule will be able to return to print. If you’d prefer to go green, you can opt-out of receiving an in-print copy of the CAPSule here.
News Briefs.
Travel limits, end to vacation buy-back directed for state agencies as California’s recession hits — The California Department of Finance urged state agencies on Thursday to take “immediate actions” to cut spending and identify savings in preparation for a years-long recession caused by the coronavirus. Executives were directed in a memo sent by the finance department to cut unnecessary travel, cancel annual leave and vacation “buy back” plans this year, avoid any cost-increasing changes to existing goods and services contracts, and forego new goods and service contracts unless they are coronavirus-related. Agencies also were asked to “use discretion when filling vacancies” and to assess whether additional staff is needed for positions or whether there’s flexibility in the existing workforce.