BILL ANALYSIS Ó Bill No: AB 757 SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair 2013-2014 Regular Session Staff Analysis AB 757 Author: Hernandez As Amended: May 2, 2013 Hearing Date: June 11, 2013 Consultant: Paul Donahue SUBJECT Department of Parks & Recreation: employee pay DESCRIPTION This bill would require the Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) to implement the recommendations of the State Controller regarding employee compensation. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires DPR, by July 1, 2014, to implement, to the extent practicable, policy recommendations contained in the State Controller's Payroll Review Report of the Department of Parks and Recreation dated December 18, 2012. 2)Requires the DPR to report to the Legislature by July 31, 2014 on the extent to which it has implemented the Controller's recommendations. EXISTING LAW 1)Grants DPR control of the state park system, and charges it with responsibility for administering, protecting, developing and interpreting state parks for the use and enjoyment of the public. 2)Requires the State Controller to supervise the fiscal concerns of the state, audit all claims against the AB 757 (Hernandez) continued Page 2 state, and authorizes the Controller to audit the disbursement of any state money for correctness, legality and lawful payment. 3)Delegates to state departments the authority to approve employee "out-of-class" assignments, subject to limitations, rules and procedures set out in administrative regulations and various Department of Human Resources and State civil service manuals. BACKGROUND 1)Purpose : According to the author, the purpose of this bill is to ensure that DPR adheres to existing law and regulations governing employees, particularly in instances where employees are working outside their job classification. The author states that "out-of-class work assignments may have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars beyond the misuse of funds at the department that has been previously reported. For most rank-and-file employees, out of class work is defined as performing the full range of duties and responsibilities allocated to an existing classification more than 50 percent of the time." 2)The author notes that, between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2012, DPR had 203 employees assigned to work in positions outside their job classification, usually with a pay increase. In many of these cases, state parks officials circumvented normal payroll rules by assigning employees to out-of-class positions without adequate documentation. 3)As a result, at least 17 employees violated policy by working in out-of-class positions longer than the maximum 120 days, and 20 did so for more than a year. In other cases, parks officials failed to properly adjust out-of-class pay for employees who were furloughed or not working because of disability. 4)State Controller's recommendations : In the recent audit, the Controller listed the following policy suggestions regarding compensation for employees working in out-of-class assignments: AB 757 (Hernandez) continued Page 3 a) All of the out-of-class assignments should be forwarded to the Classification and Pay Unit of the department for approval. The Transactions Unit of the department should ensure that all of the proper approvals are obtained before entering assignments into the payroll system. Approvals should occur before the assignment start date. b) The Classification and Pay Unit of the department should review bargaining unit contracts before approval of the out-of-class assignment to ensure that compensation is not paid beyond the end of an assignment period or that compensation does not exceed 120 days within 12 consecutive months or 365 days, or both, depending on the employee's classification. c) The justification documentation or approval sheet, or both, should include language stating that approval for managers to receive out-of-class assignments occurs only after the manager already has worked out of class for 90 days. d) The Transactions Unit of the department should provide training to staff to ensure that they are aware that out-of-class pay should be adjusted for employees on nonindustrial disability insurance. e) The Transactions Unit managers or supervisors of the department should provide tools and training to staff to ensure that payment calculations are calculated correctly. The calculation should be adequately documented using a state form STD 671 and a legible calculation sheet. f) The department's Internal Audit Unit should conduct regular reviews of out-of-class assignments to determine whether the assignments are in accordance with state law, bargaining unit agreements, and department policies. g) The Department of Parks and Recreation should seek reimbursement from employees who received out-of-class payments to which they were not lawfully entitled. 5)Statements of support: AFSCME supports the measure, AB 757 (Hernandez) continued Page 4 stating that it will "fence off potential abuse through reform. This means requiring proper documentation before out-of-class assignments begin." SUPPORT: American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) State Controller John Chiang OPPOSE: None on file DUAL REFERRAL: Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee **********