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
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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,
AB 757 (Hernandez) continued
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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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