On September 12, 2019, the Legislature approved Assembly Bill 118 which includes funding for certain excluded employee salary adjustments. AB 118 approved labor contracts for 13 state rank-and-file bargaining units (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, and 21). The bill, which contains budget appropriations to fund employee compensation increases for both rank-and-file employees and related excluded employees, now heads to Governor Newsom for his approval.
ACSS has requested CalHR provide at least the same salary and benefit increases to supervisors, managers and confidential employees in addition to correcting standing salary inequities and compaction issues. The expectation is that CalHR will adjust salaries for excluded employees related to bargaining units 2, 7 and 13 retroactively to July 1, 2019.
Most salary adjustments and other benefits for excluded employees related to the 9 SEIU Local 1000 bargaining units (1, 3, 4, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, and 21) are effective July 1, 2020. The SEIU rank-and-file agreements call for a few increases to take effect this fiscal year: increase in bilingual pay, recruitment & retention for Correctional Case Records Analysts, increase in the call center differential, expanding the personnel and payroll geographic differential to include Alameda County, and an increase in the commute reimbursement from $65 per month to $100 per month. Other employee compensation adjustments – general salary increases, special salary adjustments and the new provision to provide $260 per month to those enrolled in a CalPERS health plan – are scheduled to take effect July 1, 2020. ACSS has asked CalHR to provide excluded employees with at least these same increases in addition to resolving identified salary compaction issues by raising excluded employee salaries.
Following Governor Newsom’s signature on AB 118, CalHR will issue a “Pay Letter” as the official instruction to the State Controller’s Office to adjust salaries. ACSS will publicize the pay letter and its impact as soon as it is released. ACSS is next scheduled to meet with CalHR in early October and will keep all members apprised of progress made on addressing salary compaction and improving excluded employee salaries and benefits.