Keeping you up-to-date on our work to increase your salary, improve and protect your benefits, and aggressively represent your professional interests in every forum where they are at stake.
CASE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE
CASE Board of Directors Meeting – Friday, May 19. The CASE Board of Directors meets Friday, May 19. CASE Members who would like to attend must register in advance via the Board Meetings page in the Member Center on the CASE website (password: membersmatter22). A zoom link will be sent Friday morning to all registrants. You can also mark your calendars now for the remaining meetings this year, which will convene on August 18 and November 17.
Consolidation Project Implementation Update. The June 1 effective date of the Attorney/DAG class consolidation and classification update project is quickly approaching. In preparation for the implementation of revised classification minimum qualifications and other changes to the exam process, exams for Attorney and DAG classes will be temporarily offline from May 25 until the updated exams are released on June 1. What does this mean for you:
- Fortunately, CalHR has reversed an initial plan to abolish all eligibility lists. This means if you are currently eligible for hire on the Attorney/DAG I, III, IV, or V list (under the soon-to-be-outdated exam), you will not need to retake the exam. You’ll maintain your eligibility for the standard amount of time (based on when you first were placed on the list).
- If you’ll qualify for Attorney/DAG III or IV or Attorney V under the new minimum qualifications that become effective June 1, you should take the exam for the appropriate class, starting June 1.
- The DAG V exam is not continuously open like the III and IV exams. DOJ will announce the schedule for the updated DAG V exam when it is finalized.
- If you failed an exam during the last 12 months for failure to meet the minimum qualifications, you’ll have the opportunity to take the exam again under the updated minimum qualifications starting June 1.
- Those on hiring lists for any department-specific classification list (for example: Tax Counsel III), should take the new corresponding Attorney exam that becomes available on June 1.
- The current Assistant Chief Counsel list will soon be abolished and those wishing to apply for the newly re-titled and updated “Attorney, Assistant Chief Counsel” classification should take the exam for that class on June 1.
- The newly created “Attorney Supervisor” class and exam will also be available June 1.
- We encourage everyone to check their current list eligibility now and after June 1 via the CalCareers website to confirm what lists you may still be on and what exams you may need to retake.
- All exams posted on June 1 will reflect the updated Minimum qualifications for all classes. Please see the consolidation project FAQ on the CASE Website for details. (password: membersmatter22)
State Budget Update. Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday released a revised $306 billion State Budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year which starts July 1. The budget shortfall has grown some $9 billion since his initial January plan, now projected to be a $31.5 billion deficit.
What the government’s belt tightening means for the 15 state-employee units currently bargaining to replace expired or expiring agreements remains to be seen. For CASE, the Governor’s budget revision honors the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that your Bargaining Team negotiated last year. The terms of the agreement include a 3% General Salary Increase, Special Salary Adjustments for Administrative Law Judges at the top step of their salary range for the past 12 months, and the new NDI-Family Care Leave benefit. All of those enhancements are scheduled to take effect when the new fiscal year begins July 1.
Newsom’s new budget proposal kicks off intensive negotiations between the governor and the Legislature as the calendar draws down to the June 15 deadline for lawmakers to pass an2023-24 spending plan. As always, CASE will closely monitor events at the Capitol and act as necessary to protect members’ interests.
Outsourcing Litigation Update. As reported previously, CASE has found tremendous success challenging wasteful outsourcing of state legal work so far this year. Recently, however, the Superior Court declined to grant our writ petition challenging an SPB denial of our contract challenge at the former DFEH, now known as the Civil Rights Department (CRD). CRD had hired two outside law firms based on alleged conflicts of interest. CASE normally does not challenge outsourcing based on the department’s claims of conflict of interest, but in this situation, the Board authorized action. The result confirms that the Courts, along with SPB, are highly deferential to the AG’s determination of a conflict. Nevertheless, CASE will continue to vigorously fight wasteful outsourcing of your work.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
News of interest to CASE legal professionals:
- Balancing act: Newsom’s plan to cover California’s ballooning budget deficit – CalMatters
- Wage theft whack-a-mole: California workers win judgments against bosses but still don’t get paid – CalMatters
- Lawyers confirm $24M settlement with CA for man who died in CHP custody – ABC 7 (Los Angeles)
Leave Cash-Out List Available. Article 9.23 of the CASE MOU allows employees to cash out up to 160 hours of accumulated Vacation or Annual leave each year, if their department participates in the cash out program. Departments also generally extend this option to Unit 2-related excluded employees. To check your department’s status, visit the Resource Center on the CASE Website. You’ll find a searchable chart towards the bottom of the page. Requests to cash out leave must be submitted during the month of May. The deadline at most departments is May 31, but a few have earlier deadlines.