REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 25, 2020
FROM
GARY McBRIDE, Chief Executive Officer, County Administrative Office
SUBJECT
Title
Side Letter Agreement
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve the proposed Side Letter Agreement between the County of San Bernardino and the Teamsters Local 1932.
(Presenter: Bob Windle, County Labor Relations Chief, 387-3101)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Ensure Development of a Well-Planned, Balanced, and Sustainable County.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of the side letter agreement with Teamsters Local 1932 (Teamsters) will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The proposed side letter agreement with Teamsters includes an extra shift incentive for eligible employees, which includes a differential of $7.50 per hour for Assistant Unit Managers and $5.00 per hour for all other eligible employees for all hours worked during the extra shifts at the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) to care for COVID-19 patients. Additionally, the side letter extends already existing on-call pay to eligible per diem classifications. If approved, the extra shift incentive will be effective for the period of August 29, 2020 through December 31, 2020. The total estimated one-time cost associated with the approval of this side letter agreement is approximately $41,500 for 2020-21, which will be funded by State Medi-Cal, Federal Medicare, private insurances, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and other departmental revenue. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in ARMC’s 2020-21 budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Extra Shift Incentive
ARMC has experienced an increased demand to fill shifts as a result of the establishment of COVID-19 specific units at the hospital. This increased demand has been exacerbated as a result of staff being exposed to COVID-19, which often requires taking them off schedule for 10 days or more. Additionally, there are many employees with pre-existing health conditions that are not available to ARMC as they have taken a leave of absence as recommended by their physicians.
As a result, the County has identified a need to fill shifts caused by the surge of COVID-19 patients at ARMC. In an effort to reduce utilization of and reliance on contract and temporary staffing to fill these shifts, the County developed a proposal to incentivize eligible employees to work extra shifts to care for COVID-19 patients at ARMC by providing additional pay while working such extra shift, effective August 29, 2020. The County and Teamsters Local 1932, which represents the affected employees, have met and conferred and agreed to the proposed extra shift incentive, which will sunset on December 31, 2020 unless extended by mutual agreement of the parties. This extra shift incentive is consistent with the extra shift incentive approved by the Board on July 28, 2020 for nurses at ARMC (Item No. 32).
If approved, this extra shift incentive will be a useful staffing tool to assist covering shifts caused by absences and/or vacancies, or to meet fluctuating census/workload needs related to COVID-19.
On-Call
ARMC is in the process of establishing a full Comprehensive Stroke and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) center that will provide stroke and heart patients critical procedures such as thrombectomy, angioplasty, and stenting that must be performed within a short timeframe from onset of condition to ensure the best possible outcome for patients. Additionally, ARMC is planning to establish other cardio-thoracic service lines that would also require fast response times. To meet the staffing needs for these time sensitive procedures, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County and Teamsters Local 1932 provides On-Call compensation to regular employees in certain classifications for being available to return to work with limited notice should the need for one of these procedures arise.
Due to the anticipation for increased staffing demands for these specialized procedures and to expand the pool of employees ARMC has to select from, the County met and conferred with Teamsters Local 1932 regarding extending on-call compensation to certain per diem classifications who would be required to report back to ARMC in the shorter timeframe. The meet and confer process resulted in the proposed agreement to amend Appendix H of the MOU to make the per diem classifications eligible for the On-Call compensation.
PROCUREMENT
N/A.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Cynthia O’Neill, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 17, 2020; Labor Relations (Bob Windle, County Labor Relations Chief, 387-3101) on August 14, 2020; Finance (Jessica Trillo, Administrative Analyst, 387-4222) on August 18, 2020; County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on August 18, 2020.