BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2735
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT, AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Rob Bonta, Chair
AB 2735
(Jones-Sawyer) - As Introduced February 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Public employees: unused leave credit
SUMMARY: Allows state confidential, supervisory, excluded, or
managerial employees to elect to "cash-out" up to 80 hours of
eligible unused leave credit if the Department of Human
Resources (CalHR) chooses to offer a leave buy-back program.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Allows, upon the annual determination by CalHR as to whether
or not a buy-back program will be offered, state employees
designated as supervisory, confidential, excluded or
managerial to annually elect to cash-out up to 80 hours of
unused leave credit at their regular rate of pay.
2)Specifies that for purposes of the buy-back, eligible leave
may be a combination of vacation leave, annual leave, personal
leave, personal holiday, or holiday credit.
3)Requires CalHR to the date of eligibility and conditions of
buy-back and the period for application.
AB 2735
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Existing CalHR regulations establish Excluded
Employee Buy Back Program which authorizes payment of leave
credits to employees who are excluded from collective
bargaining. On an annual basis CalHR will determine whether or
not a leave buy-back will be offered. Eligible employees may
receive payment at their regular salary rate in exchange for
accrued vacation, annual leave, personal leave, and/or personal
holiday credits. The maximum amount of buy back for managerial
and related classes is 80 hours. Supervisors, confidential, and
other eligible excluded employees may cash out up to 40 hours.
According to the author, "This bill will increase allowable paid
leave buy-back hours to 80 for ALL excluded employees. In
current policy, managers are allowed 80 hours and non-managers
(supervisors, confidential, and other excluded employees) are
ONLY allowed 40 hours of unused leave available for buy-back.
This bill will equate the number of hours for buy back to 80 for
both state supervisors and managers, removing the discrepancy in
the number of hours.
According to a March 2013 report by the Legislative Analysts'
Office (LAO), the state's liability to pay employee leave
balances totaled $3.9 billion as of June 2013. The LAO
concluded that 'the state's large balance of unfunded leave
liabilities can pose fiscal stress on departments, reduce budget
transparency, strain management-employee relations, and
negatively affect public trust in state employee management.'
AB 2735
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The LAO recommended that the legislature act to reduce leave
balance liabilities by 'instituting a leave buy-back program'
because 'it reduces the employer's outstanding long-term
liabilities.'"
The author concludes, "This bill will also help to ensure that
the benefits for state supervisors and managers are consistent
with their rank and file counterparts. Under recently
negotiated rank and file Memorandum of Understanding (for
Bargaining Units 9/Engineers and 10/Scientists), rank and file
state engineers and scientists are provided up to 80 hours of
leave buy-back in a given year."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Association of California State Supervisors (Sponsor)
California Association of Professional Scientists
Professional Engineers in California Government
AB 2735
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Karon Green / P.E.,R., & S.S. / (916)
319-3957