BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 757|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 757
Author: Roger Hernández (D)
Amended: 6/26/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/11/13
AYES: Wright, Nielsen, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, Correa,
De León, Galgiani, Hernandez, Lieu, Padilla
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/25/13
AYES: Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Jackson, Lara, Monning,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hueso
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/23/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Department of Parks and Recreation: payroll review
report
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Parks and
Recreation (DPR) to report to the Legislature on DPRs
implementation of the recommendations contained in the "State
Controller's Payroll Review Report of the Department of Parks
and Recreation." Sunsets the provisions of this bill on
December 31, 2014.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS :
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 Controller to supervise the fiscal concerns of
the state, audit all claims against the 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.
This bill requires DPR to report on its implementation of the
recommendations of the Controller contained in the "State
Controller's Payroll Review Report of the Department of Parks
and Recreation," dated December 18, 2012. Specifically, this
bill:
1. Requires the DPR to report to the Legislature on or before
July 31, 2014, on the extent to which it has implemented the
Controller's recommendations.
2. Sunsets the provisions of this bill on December 31, 2014.
Background
The author's office 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.
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
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failed to properly adjust out-of-class pay for employees who
were furloughed or not working because of disability.
State Controller's recommendations . In the recent audit,
contained in the "State Controller's Payroll Review Report of
the Department of Parks and Recreation," the Controller listed
the following policy suggestions regarding compensation for
employees working in out-of-class assignments:
1. All of the out-of-class assignments should be forwarded to
DPR's Classification and Pay Unit for approval. The DPR's
Transactions Unit 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.
2. The DPR's Classification and Pay Unit 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.
3. 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.
4. The DPR's Transactions Unit 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.
5.The DPR's Transactions Unit managers or supervisors 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.
6.DPR'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.
7. DPR should seek reimbursement from employees who received
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out-of-class payments to which they were not lawfully
entitled.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/18/13)
State Controller John Chiang
AFSCME
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, 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's office states that out-of-class
work assignments may have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of
dollars beyond the misuse of funds that has been previously
reported at the department. 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% of the time.
AFSCME states that this bill "will fence off potential abuse
through reform. This means requiring proper documentation
before OOC [out-of-class] assignments begin."
State Controller John Chiang states, "The review my office
conducted looked at DPR's payroll processes for the period of
July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2012, and identified numerous
internal control weaknesses and/or violations of DPR and State
policies that create a risk of abuse, fraud, and overpayments to
employees for OOC assignment pay. Further, we also identified
additional violations of DPR and State policies and procedures
that resulted in inappropriate amounts paid to DPR employees.
As the State's chief fiscal officer, I strongly believe this
legislation will help ensure that the recommendations outlined
in the review are implemented by DPR in a meaningful and prompt
manner."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/23/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
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Cooley, Dahle, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Daly, Grove, Holden, Jones, Waldron, Weber,
Vacancy, Vacancy
MW:d 8/8/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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