ACSS met with the California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) in Sacramento on August 12, 2016, to discuss a variety of issues affecting ACSS members.
We would like to thank the CCHCS members that provided input to ACSS prior to the meeting. Their input and feedback was important and valuable in order for ACSS to address their specific concerns. In these types of Meet and Confer meetings, ACSS represents the voice of members and protects careers on behalf of its members.
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Below is a summary of the main points that ACSS and CCHCS discussed:
1. Safety Retirement for Nursing Consultant, Program Review and Chief Support Executive (CEA):
- ACSS is working with CCHCS to submit a state safety retirement designation request to CalHR for NCPR and CSE.
2. Office Support Supervisor I (OSS) upgrades in place:
- CCHCS is upgrading OSS Is to OSS II. The upgrades are in progress now. To be eligible for the upgrade in place current OSS Is must be reachable on an OSS II eligibility list. For OSS Is not currently on the OSS II list, there will be an OSSII examination in September This process will take about 6 – 9 months to complete. If you have any questions or concerns about being upgraded, please contact your local ACSS Labor Relations Representative.
3. Senior Registered Nurse (SRN) Issues:
- Seniority Watch Preference Policy - In May, 2016, ACSS proposed language changes to the proposed Seniority Watch Preference Policy (SWP) as part of the meet and confer process. At the moment, CCHCS reports that the policy is still in review, but it is now at the executive level. CCHCS anticipates the final policy will be completed and released soon, but no later than the end of the year.
- Best Practices: CCHCS recognizes need for statewide standard and is moving forward in developing a proposed policy to address such issues as mandated overtime, on-call duty, out of class assignments, vacation policy and SWAPs. ACSS will continue to work with CCHCS by providing proposals to assist in the development of the proposed policy.
4. Food Administrator Issues:
- ACSS raised concerns with salary parity, salary compaction and recruitment issues. The Food Administrator class suffers the effects of salary compaction by making less than the Registered Dietitians. They also suffer the effects of salary parity because their total compensation is lower when compared to similar jobs in local government, private sector and federal government. CCHCS is aware of these salary issues and has submitted a proposal to CalHR to revise the Food Administrator classifications. This proposal is currently at CalHR pending review and approval. ACSS will continue to work with CCHCS and CalHR to resolve the issues of salary compaction and parity for this severely impacted classification group.
If you have any questions or concerns in regards to this matter, please contact ACSS Assistant Director of Representation, Nellie Lynn, at nlynn@acss.org.