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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

El Dorado County Grand Jury • 2000-2001

Acting and Overfill Positions

9 pages
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Findings 21 findings

F1 Page 9
Acting pay assignments (acting positions) are defined by the Resolution, Section 1408 as follows: “When a full-time or part-time Management or Confidential employee is assigned to work in a higher classification for which the compensation is greater than that to which the employee is regularly assigned…” and “the employee is assigned to…an authorized position [which] has become vacant due to the …absence of the position’s incumbent.” 10 Response to F1: The respondent agrees with the finding. In addition, Section 1408(2) further states: “Notwithstanding (1) above, in an exceptional circumstance when a vacancy does not exist but an employee has been assigned to perform duties which exceed the scope of that employee’s classification, and when determined and justified by the Chief Administrative Officer, in his sole discretion, an Unrepresented Management or Confidential employee will be entitled to pay for a higher classification in accordance with the other provisions of this Section 1408.”
F2 Page 10
An overfill position is a position that: a. is to be vacated through retirement or other separation ; b. is occupied by a person on disability leave ; or c. is occupied by a person on an extended leave of absence. Resolution Section 503 (c) states in part: “In such cases the position may be filled by another employee as an overfill…for the period of time prior to the date of separation, …or for the period of the leave of absence…” Response to F2: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F3 Page 10
For an employee to be assigned to an acting pay position, Resolution Section 1408 (1) states in part: “A copy of the department head’s written approval of this assignment must be submitted to the Director of Human Resources at the start of the assignment.” (Emphasis added) Response to F3: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F4 Page 10
Resolution Section 1408(5) states: “Higher pay assignments shall not exceed six (6) months except through reauthorization.” Response to F4: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F5 Page 10
During the effective period of the Resolution, the Sheriff placed seven (7) management employees in acting and/or overfill positions. Response to F5: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Six management employees and one supervisory employee were designated acting during the time period under review.
F6 Page 10
Several of those employees remained in acting or overfill positions for periods of time exceeding six months. Response to F6: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F7 Page 11
The Department submitted no reauthorizations to Human Resources Department for the employees working in these positions. Response to F7: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F8 Page 11
County custom and practice, with the knowledge and concurrence of Human Resources Department, is to accept the transmittal of a Personnel Payroll Form (“PPF”) as notice of authorization by a department head of the assignment of an employee to an acting position. A PPF is a form that notifies HRD of a change of employee status. For payroll purposes that change is noted on the form by entry of an alphanumeric code. Response to F8: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F9 Page 11
The use of Personnel Payroll Forms is inadequate to assure compliance with the County’s acting and/or overfill policies and procedures for the following reasons: a. Personnel Payroll Forms are completed and forwarded by a staff employee within the Department and fail to establish a record that the department head either knows of, or has authorized, the reassignment. b. Personnel Payroll Forms are not necessarily submitted to Human Resources Department prior to the employee’s commencement of work in the higher class position; instead, they must only be submitted to HRD in time to authorize compensation for the pay period worked in the higher classification. c. The reassigned status created by the Personnel Payroll Forms is permanent and open-ended, allowing a department head, at the end of the six-month period, to ignore the County’s requirement for reauthorization of the affected employee’s compensation for working in the higher class. d. Use of Personnel Payroll Forms is inappropriate for reauthorization of acting positions, as PPFs are designed to document a change in employee status, while the required reauthorization would in fact retain the existing status of the effected employee. e. Use of Personnel Payroll Forms fails to provide the County protection against a department’s inadvertent or intentional failure to notify Human Resources Department either that the employee is no longer performing work at the higher class or that the authorization for the particular position no longer exists. In effect, an employee, once elevated in pay, could continue to be paid at a higher compensation rate indefinitely, whether or 12 not (i) the employee either continued to work in the higher classification or (ii) the assignment to which the employee had been temporarily elevated had subsequently been filled by another employee. (See F15.) Response to F9: Respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Respondent disagrees partially with the finding in “a” and “e”. Respondent agrees that the payroll/personnel form alone is inadequate to assure compliance with the County’s acting and/or overfill policies and procedures. Regarding the finding listed in “a”, most department heads sign the payroll/personnel forms for their department. In some larger departments, the Department Head may delegate this task to a subordinate. Respondent also disagrees partially with the statement in “e” that when an employee is no longer performing work at the higher class or that the authorization for a particular position no longer exists “. an employee . . . could continue to be paid at a higher compensation rate indefinitely. . .” Checks and balances exist in the system to preclude an employee indefinitely receiving compensation at a higher level when another employee formally fills the position.
F10 Page 12
Resolution Section 501. Authorized Personnel states in part: “Except as otherwise provided by law, the Board of Supervisors shall, by resolution, specify the number and classification of all positions authorized for each department of the County. …All additions, deletions or modifications to the Authorized Personnel Allocation Resolution shall be made by amending Resolution. No person shall receive any compensation for services as a County employee whose employment is not authorized by the Authorized Personnel Allocation Resolution,…” The Grand Jury believes “all positions” means all positions. Response to F10: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Section 501 is correctly quoted as a stand alone statement. Respondent cannot comment on Grand Jury’s belief.
F11 Page 12
In February 2000, the Sheriff assigned an employee to the position of Undersheriff in an acting capacity because of the extended leave status of the then regular Undersheriff. Response to F11: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F12 Page 12
In May 2000, the regular Undersheriff retired. This action left the Department with one Undersheriff performing in an acting capacity. Response to F12: The respondent agrees with the finding. 13
F13 Page 13
In August 2000 the then acting Undersheriff had been in an overpay position for six (6) months. No reauthorization was written and forwarded to Human Resources Department by the Department. Response to F13: The respondent agrees with the finding other than reference to “overpay” vs. “acting pay” under Section 1408 (2) of the Salary and Benefits Resolution.
F14 Page 13
On October 1, 2000, the Sheriff appointed a second employee to the permanently authorized position of Undersheriff. Response to F14: The respondent agrees with the finding.
F15 Page 13
Upon the appointment of the regular Undersheriff in October 2000, the legal authorization for the acting Undersheriff’s position ceased to exist. Response to F15: The respondent disagrees wholly with the finding. Section 1408(2) of the Salary & Benefits Resolution for Unrepresented Employees provides that “in exceptional circumstance when a vacancy does not exist but an employee has been assigned to perform duties which exceed the scope of that employee’s classification, and when determined and justified by the Chief Administrative Officer, in his sole discretion, an Unrepresented Management or Confidential employee will be entitled to pay for a higher classification in accordance with the other provisions of this Section 1408.” Section 1408(5) provides “Higher pay assignments shall not exceed six months except through reauthorization.” Though desirable, 1408(5) does not require written reauthorization, nor does it specify who provides reauthorization. The CAO was aware of and verbally approved the continued acting status of an Undersheriff after six months.
F16 Page 13
The employee assigned the position of acting Undersheriff continued to be compensated at the rate of Undersheriff until March 2001, subsequent to the initiation of this investigation. One of the effects of this compensation was to increase retirement benefits for the employee. Response to F16: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Retirement benefits are provided by contract; a person’s entitlement varies according to PER’s formulas. Changes in pay do affect individuals’ retirement entitlements. The employee assigned the position of acting Undersheriff continued to be compensated at the rate of Undersheriff until February 23, 2001, not March 2001. The initiation of an investigation by the Grand Jury had nothing to do with the termination of that pay. The employee assigned the position of acting Undersheriff was to retire at the end of December 2000, ending the acting appointment. The employee changed his plans in order to take advantage of the enhancement to the County’s retirement plan (3% at 55). The Sheriff should have terminated the acting appointment at the end of December, but agrees that he failed to do so. Staff brought that matter to his attention on February 14, 2001 and he immediately ordered acting pay to be terminated at the earliest possible date, which was February 23, 2001. Whether the additional compensation will increase the employee’s retirement benefits is pure speculation. Those benefits are based on the highest year’s compensation and until the employee actually retires, there is no way to know whether the ten-pay period acting time will be included in that calculation or not.
F17 Page 14
The retention of an acting Undersheriff after the appointment of a regular Undersheriff constitutes the employment of two (2) persons in the capacity of Undersheriff. · The addition of a second Undersheriff’s position to the Department would have required the Board of Supervisors to amend the Authorized Personnel Allocation Resolution. (Section 501) · The authorization of a second Undersheriff as an overfill would have required the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer and the Director of Human Resources Department. [Section 503(c)] · The authorization of a second Undersheriff as an “exceptional circumstance” would have required the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer. [Section 1408 (2)] Response to F17: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Two persons were acting in the capacity of Undersheriff, one through formal appointment and one through verbal approval by the CAO in the continued acting status pursuant to Section 1408 (2).
F18 Page 14
There is a conflict between the provisions of the Resolution as stated in Section 501 and the language of Sections 503(c) and 1408 (2). Response to F18: The respondent agrees with the finding that there appears to be a conflict in the language. However, as specific language generally supercedes general language under the rules of statutory construction, practice has provided that Section 503(c) supercedes in cases of an overfill and Section 1408(2) supercedes Section 501 in cases of designation in an acting capacity. 15
F19 Page 15
Even if there were no such conflict, there was no authorization by the Chief Administrative Officer, or by the Director of Human Resources Department, for the continued employment and/or compensation of two Undersheriffs. There was no action by the Board of Supervisors to create a second position of Undersheriff. Response to F19: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Respondent agrees there was no written authorization. However, the CAO advised the Director of Human Resources of the continued retention of the acting Undersheriff in such capacity. Respondent agrees there was no action by the Board, but none was required.
F20 Page 15
There is no legal basis for the continued compensation of employees for work, in a higher classification, which those employees no longer perform. That situation would cause the County to expend funds for work it did not receive, and thus would constitute a misuse of public funds Response to F20: The respondent agrees with the finding based on the stated assumption that the employee no longer performs the work at that higher level. Section 1408(5) provides “Higher pay assignments shall not exceed six months except through reauthorization. Though desirable, 1408(5) does not require written reauthorization, nor does it specify who provides reauthorization.” The CAO was aware of and verbally approved the continued acting status of an Undersheriff after six months.
F21 Page 15
There is no mechanism in the County’s Personnel and Payroll system to automatically detect and alert County staff to several conditions: a. employees remaining in acting positions for periods in excess of six (6) months without reauthorization; b. employees being paid for working in a higher classification after having ceased to work in that capacity; and c. A greater number of employees being compensated for working in a classification than a department has authorization to employ. Response to F21: The respondent agrees with the finding. 16

Recommendations 4