RivCo Board Gets First Look at Proposed Contract with Prosecutors

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA - The Board of Supervisors today will review a proposed two-year collective bargaining agreement with the Riverside County Deputy District Attorneys’ Association, which is not seeking automatic pay increases this time around.

The prosecutors’ union, representing 270 non-managerial attorneys, voted in favor of the 24-month compact early last month, and now the board must decide whether the terms are acceptable.

Under the 60-page contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 2015, prosecutors would be entitled to so-called “merit pay’’ increases, which are granted unless an employee has failed to meet performance standards. However, unlike the 48-month RCDDAA contract that expired last year, there are no automatic cost-of-living adjustments built into the current agreement.

Prosecutors would be granted the option of redeeming up to 160 hours of accrued but unused vacation time annually. The previous cap was 80 hours. The maximum amount of leave that can be accrued would be 2,080 hours
each calendar year, according to the proposed agreement. It specifies that a union member would earn about 10.5 hours of vacation time every 10 workdays.

According to the compact, the county will reimburse up to $150 of each attorney’s annual Bar Association dues. A variety of incidental and healthcare expenses would also be covered.

During a recent assessment of fiscal year 2015-16 budgetary challenges, the board expressed general opposition to any pay hikes for employees as the county faces mounting cost pressures that threaten to cut reserves in half.

The contract makes allowances for “difficult-to-recruit’’ attorneys who warrant a higher salary classification. Prosecutors with specialized knowledge or skills could be hired into the D.A.’s office with a guarantee of annual pay that’s 11 percent above the base salary of attorneys who have already finished their probationary periods, according to the agreement. Probationary periods last 24 months.

Attorneys hired at salaries that exceed predetermined classifications would be subject to board approval.

The contract maintains retirement formulas that went into effect under the prior collective bargaining deal. RCDDAA members will be responsible for paying their own contributions into the California Public Employees Retirement System, amounting to 8 percent of gross annual salary. The county makes higher per-employee contributions,
depending on PERS rates.

Employees vested in the defined-benefit plan that existed in the county prior to August 2012 are guaranteed future retirement benefits under a 3 percent at 60 formula. Employees hired after that time qualify for benefits of 2 percent at 60 or 2 percent at 62, depending on their classification, according to the contract.

Compensation is based on the amount -- 2 or 3 percent for RCDDAA members -- of the average of the three highest-paid years of an employee’s career, multiplied by the number of years he or she was on the job.

--City News Service