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  




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            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:




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             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,  




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            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



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