BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 221 (Jackson) - State public employees: sick leave:
veterans with service-related disabilities
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|Version: April 20, 2015 |Policy Vote: V.A. 5 - 0, P.E. & |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 11, 2015 |Consultant: Maureen Ortiz |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 221 provides any state employee who is hired on or
after January 1, 2016 and who is a military veteran with a
military service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or
more with additional credit for sick leave with pay of up to 96
hours, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Unknown, potentially over $50,000 for sick leave credit
(General/Special Funds)
SB 221 (Jackson) Page 1 of
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Unknown, potentially minor, administrative costs (General)
Exact costs will depend on the number of military veterans who
are hired into state service and who have a service-connected
disability rated at 30 percent or higher. Additionally, the
source of funding (General or Special) will depend on the
department that hires the veteran. Assuming the new employee
has a monthly salary of $4,000, the cost of an additional 96
hours in sick leave would be approximately $2,220 per employee.
There will be additional, unknown but likely minor, costs for
administering and tracking this new benefit.
Background: Existing law provides each state officer and employee who is
employed full time with one day of credit for sick leave with
pay following the completion of one month of continuous service.
Each state officer or employee is entitled to this leave with
pay, on the submission of satisfactory proof of the necessity
for sick leave as provided by rule of the department. Unused
sick leave accumulates throughout the individual's employment.
Proposed Law:
SB 221 provides that in addition to any other entitlement for
sick leave with pay, a state officer or employee hired on or
after January 1, 2016, who is a military veteran with a military
service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more by the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs shall be entitled
to additional credit for sick leave with pay of up to 96 hours
for the purpose of undergoing medical treatment for his or her
military service-connected disability.
The additional sick leave shall be credited to the employee on
the first day of employment and shall remain available for use
for 12 months. Sick leave provided for this purpose which is
not used during the first 12 months of employment may not be
carried over and will be forfeited. SB 221 allows each
department to require satisfactory proof that the sick leave was
used for treatment of a military service-connected disability.
Staff
Comments: The costs of providing the additional sick leave
SB 221 (Jackson) Page 2 of
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credits will be borne by the individual departments and
therefore could be either a General Fund cost or come from a
variety of Special Funds. It is unknown how many employees will
be hired annually who are military veterans with a
service-connected disability of 30 percent or more
Additionally, CalHR currently is not tracking which military
veterans are also disabled because the prior practice of
awarding veterans and those with disabilities extra exam points
has been replaced by a statute that allows any veteran who
passes a state exam to automatically get placed at the top of
the ranks. Therefore, it is unknown if the state application
form will need to be modified, or a new form developed to
identify applicants who have a 30 percent or greater
service-connected disability. Also, employers will need to
track the sick leave usage of these employees separately because
at the end of one year, any unused hours that had been allotted
toward service-connected disability medical treatment will need
to be forfeited.
SB 221 is intended to assist new state employees who have served
in the military and have a service connected disability of 30
percent or more. These individuals are often receiving
continuing treatment for their injuries and would otherwise have
to choose between taking time off without pay which would cause
an economic hardship, or possibly forgoing their health care
treatment. Under current law, a new state employee receives one
day of sick leave after completing one full month of service.
This bill will provide these individuals with 96 hours (12 days)
upfront to be used as needed.
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