Report 2009-608 Recommendation 5 Responses

Report 2009-608: High Risk Update—State Overtime Costs: A Variety of Factors Resulted in Significant Overtime Costs at the Departments of Mental Health and Developmental Services (Release Date: October 2009)

Recommendation #5 To: State Hospitals, Department of

To ensure that the State is maximizing the use of funds spent on patients and consumers, Mental Health and Developmental Services should encourage Personnel Administration to resist the inclusion of provisions in agreements that permit any type of leave to be counted as time worked for the purpose of computing overtime compensation.

1-Year Agency Response

Mental Health stated it raised the issue of the methodology for computing overtime with Personnel Administration. Personnel Administration reached a tentative agreement as of October 7, 2010, with employee bargaining unit 17 and an agreement dated August 19, 2010, with employee bargaining unit 18. Under these agreements, the calculation of overtime will generally be based on the California Government Code, Section 19844.1 that states personal leave, sick leave, annual leave, vacation, bereavement leave, holiday leave, and any other paid or unpaid leave, shall not be considered as time worked by the employee for the purposes of computing overtime. However, when an employee is mandated to work overtime during a week with approved leave, other than sick leave, the employee will earn overtime pay. (2011-406, p. 144)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2009-608

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.