In late 2024, CalHR proposed revising the titles for the Staff Services Manager series with a small class consolidation component. ACSS met and conferred with CalHR over the proposal to protect the pay, status and other employment interests of impacted employees. The State Personnel Board approved the class revisions in August 2025 and CalHR is now ready to implement the new classifications.
On January 1, 2026, the classification title changes for the SSM series will take effect. The renamed classes for over 10,000 supervisory and managerial employees currently in the series include:
- Staff Services Manager I ................................ --> .............Supervisor I
- Staff Services Manager II (Supervisory) ........ --> .............Supervisor II
- Staff Services Manager II (Managerial) ......... --> .............Manager I
- Staff Services Manager III ............................... --> .............Manager II
The changes are in name only, with no changes to the salary structure for the SSM classes or to reporting relationships. Incumbents are not expected to receive any “Notice of Personnel Action” forms in connection with the class title changes. CalHR has confirmed to ACSS that incumbents may continue to use appropriate working titles.
In addition to the new titles, CalHR has made small changes in broadening the Minimum Qualifications (MQs) for the classes. CalHR confirmed that the changes to the MQs do not hinder the ability of ACSS members to promote.
CalHR will cease administering the examinations for the SSM series on December 22, 2025 and the current eligibility lists will then be abolished by CalHR. The new Supervisor I, Supervisor II, Manager I, and Manager II examinations are expected to be online January 1, 2026. Members applying and competing for promotions with concerns over list eligibility issues should reach out to the hiring department, as each hiring will have its own “certification” date. The new exams will be similar to the current experienced based assessments which can be completed relatively quickly online to maintain eligibility for promotion.
The actual class consolidation, which will also take effect January 1, 2026, is very narrow as it moves 12 current department specific classes into the newly named series, which will affect only 25 incumbents in these classes. Only two of the classes being moved currently have a different salary range. CalHR has assured ACSS that the incumbents in those two classes will see a salary increase with the consolidation.
CalHR also revised the rank-and-file analyst series by renaming SSA to Analyst I, renaming AGPA to Analyst II, and adding two new “specialist” rank-and-file classes. The new Analyst III classification will be above the current AGPA and will report to the newly named Supervisor I (formerly SSM I) and a new Analyst IV that will report to the Supervisor II (formerly SSM II (Supervisory)). The salaries for these new rank-and-file classifications will be approximately 7.5 percent below the Supervisory I and Supervisory II classes, so no new “salary compaction” will be created. Only a small number of rank-and-file incumbents will initially move into these new rank-and-file classes. No excluded employees will be moved into these lower paid rank-and-file classes.
All current SSM “specialists”, including those with “E48” and “E59” collective bargaining identifier designations, will remain as excluded employees in the newly named excluded classifications. And CalHR assured ACSS that departments will continue to be able to use the higher paid supervisory and managerial excluded classes for “specialist” positions as needed.
We know that many members are disappointed with the new class specification names, and others are disappointed that CalHR rejected ACSS’ proposals to expand the class consolidation to include more classes. As with other class consolidations, ACSS was able to ensure no harm to impacted incumbents in pay, status, or the ability to promote.
If you have any questions regarding the new class titles or the consolidation, please reach out to your ACSS Labor Relations Representative.