Welcome to this week’s CASE Files, part of our commitment to keep 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
Happy Thanksgiving! The CASE Board wishes you a safe and happy holiday.
CalHR Issues Unit 2 Pay Letter. Late yesterday, CalHR issued the Unit 2 pay letter required to provide the general salary increase and related back pay, indicating the state is on-track to provide the raise and retroactive pay in line with the timeline previously covered in CASE Files. Because the letter issued after the monthly payroll cutoff, you will not see the increase reflected on your regular monthly pay warrant for November. Rather, the adjustment for the November 2022 pay period will be issued as a supplemental warrant with a December 1 issue date. Retroactive GSI salary adjustments for the period of July, 2002 through October, 2022 will issue as a supplemental warrant on November 24. The timing for receipt of the supplemental warrants may vary by financial institution.
Worth noting: typically, when retroactive payments are provided, tax withholding is higher on that lump sum check than on your normal warrant. Your tax preparer can provide additional information or advice. Financial Wellness guidance and resources are also available via EAP.
Attorney Consolidation Project Continues. Attorney Members received an email last week soliciting your input on the next phase of the Attorney Consolidation Project. In case you missed that email: Under the 2021-22 MOU, CASE and the State agreed to work on consolidating various Unit 2 classifications to streamline the many duplicative and confusing civil service classifications that could hinder member movement between departments and to bring up pay for newer Attorneys by eliminating lower ranges.
Notably, the CalHR proposal also includes changes to the minimum qualifications for Attorney/DAG classifications. Attorney/DAG III would start at five years experience, rather than six; Attorney/DAG IV would start at six years experience, rather than ten; and Attorney/DAG V would start at eight years experience, rather than thirteen. These changes are partly responsive to evidence CASE presented in bargaining highlighting not just the inequities between state compensation and local government compensation, but the faster paths available to local government attorneys up their professional development ladders.
We encourage you to review the information provided by CalHR here, and to provide any feedback by Monday, November 28. We will be meeting and conferring with CalHR regarding these proposed changes prior to their review by the State Personnel Board next month.
Excessive Outsourcing at your Department? Let CASE Know. State departments are required to notify CASE when they outsource work that can and should be performed by Unit 2 employees – but they don’t always do so in a timely manner. If you see your department outsourcing Unit 2 work, let us know! You can use the new email address outsidelegalcounsel@calattorneys.org to let us know what’s going on. Not every instance of outsourcing is impermissible, but CASE is committed to vigilantly monitoring state outsourcing to protect your job and career development opportunities.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
News Headlines. Recent media reports of interest to Unit 2 legal professionals:
- California stares down $25B deficit after years of record cash – Politico
- State of California Sues More Than 100 PFAS Manufacturers in Landmark Lawsuit – Lexology
- Another step toward agreement on California’s water – CalMatters
REMINDERS
Ensuring Members Receive Their Stipends. CASE continues to receive reports of members not receiving the telework stipends negotiated over a year ago, with especially pronounced issues at the Department of Industrial Relations. To assist us in enforcing your rights under the contract, we invite members to take this quick survey. Your responses will help us assess next steps – including filing Wage Claims on behalf of members who haven’t received what they are owed. Take the survey today.