An increase in the County medical contribution qualifies as an event that allows for a special enrollment period per IRC Section 125.  The qualifying event date is the date the Board approves the Salary Resolution, scheduled for December 11, 2018.  If an impacted employee wants to make a change to their medical elections, they have 31-days from that date to complete and submit an Employee Benefit Enrollment/Change Form to the Human Resources (HR) Benefits Unit.  The election change will be effective February 1, 2018 if their completed and signed form is received by HR Benefits Unit by January 11, 2019. 

HR Salary Resolution Updates 6/28/2018

County HR will be presenting an amendment to the Salary Resolution on July 10th Board of Supervisor Meeting. Some of the changes being proposed are the following:

• Lump Sum of $3,154 (Equivalent to 2% of salary)

• Status Quo Preservation Allowance

• Dental Premium Holiday - not required to pay dental premiums for 22 months

• Cesar Chavez Holiday, March 31st

• 8 hour Floating Holiday - use it or lose it, no roll over

• Paid Parental Leave -

  • 8 weeks of paid bonding

    • Must be permanent or probationary employee, and continuously employed for at least 12 months prior to the start of the leave

    • Must use sick leave down to 40 hours if in disability status (birth parent only)

    • If both parents are employed by the County, each may be eligible for leave

    • No mor e than 320 hours may be used in any 12 month period

  • May be used in a continuous block of time or as intermittent leave

  • May be used for qualifying events that occurred prior to October 1, 2018 to the extent CFRA bonding leave hours are still available.

  • Not applied retroactively.

SCAMC Membership Meeting with HR 

When:   March 28th 2018 @ 12:00PM
Where:  Board's Chambers
575 Administration Drive Room 100 A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Speakers:           
Christina Cramer – Director of Human Resources
Carol Allen – Deputy Director of Human Resources
Marcia Chadbourne – Deputy Director of Human Resources

• There are 11 bargaining groups

  • All of the groups will have started negotiations by the end of April

  • County proposed a contract extension of 1 year with any increased medical coverage costs covered by the County

  • County also proposed removing language from the bargaining unit MOUs to allow Administrative Management to receive medical coverage cost parity

    • All of the bargaining units have to agree to MOU language change in order for Administrative Management to receive the same medical coverage

  • Labor Str ategy Team includes H/R, ER, Sheryl, County Counsel, and outside counsel.

• Retirees

  • 200 County employees have retired since July 2016

  • Prior to 2008, medical coverage retire contributions were based on an informal agreement dating back to the 1980’s

  • County used to pay 100% of medical coverage for active employees and retirees prior to the 1970’s

    • In the 70’s it was changed to a tiered percentage formula tied to what Administrative Management received

  • In 2019 it will be possible for the County to delink retirees from the medical pool. The County has not committed to do so at this time.

    • Delinking is estimated to reduce current County employee healthcare premiums by 7% to 12%

    • Delinking will increase retiree healthcare premium costs by up to 30%

      • These costs are only affecting retirees that are not 65 years old

  • Current Other Public Employee Benefits (OPEB) liability is $380m. While settling the retiree lawsuit has slowed growth, the County is still looking at options to reduce this liability.

  • The County couldn’t de-link retirees from Salary Resolution during the last round of negotiations due to legal risk.

• Human Resources strategy Plan A is medical premium parity for Administrative Management

  • Plan B is either:

    • A Lump Sum Payment Option

      • The budget instructions for Fiscal Year 18/19 included an amount equal to previous lump sum amounts over the last two years.

      • Because it would be considered reoccurring over the last two years, it would be pensionable

    • Another Benefit equivalent to the lump sum payment dollar amount

  • Neither plan includes COLA’s or any other benefits

• If MOU’s do not result from negotiation process by July, then bargaining units will see increases in their medical premium costs due to rate increases.

• SCAMC members would like more outreach to Administrative Management that are not members currently.

• The Health Department SCAMC members in particular would like assistance with encouraging coworkers to join SCAMC and participate in future general membership meetings.

• SCAMC members would like more meetings at a different location to increase attendance by other members that are unable to meet at the main County Campus

SCAMC Workshop 7/20/17

SCAMC’s Purpose:

• Culture – Encourage collaboration, trust, kindness and innovation

• Communication – Serve as a conduit between members and our Board

• Connections – Encourage members to meet and engage their fellow managers

• Compensation – Reduce barriers to management positions

Top Areas of important to SCAMC members

1. Healthcare

2. Compensation

3. Other Incentives

   1. Deferred Comp

   2. PDL maternity/paternity

   3. Home Buying Program