V
venator64
Guest
My query is regarding job classification/salary negotiations in California.
I work for the County of San Diego as a Medical Director for more than 4 years and have had excellent performance evaluations. Although am not represented by the union (SICU) due to the fact I am a manager, I do have Civil Service Protections. When I was hired, the base salary was relatively low, but I was promised two things: that I would be paid for hours worked (and could claim overtime at straight rates) and that I would be compensated for "on-call hours" (hours I worked outside of normal working hours when I was available to answer the telephone and handle patient-related medical issues/required in the nursing facility). With these provisions, the salary was reasonable. I claimed these hours using various time sheet codes for the first four years. I have since learned that I may "never"have been eligible for overtime and call hours, and that my administrator should not have approved it, but she had, regularly, for four years. In fact, when I was hired, I was the only physician working for some weeks and if I did not do call hours, there would have been no-one else to do them.
In March of this year, with less than a week's notice, I was sent a letter informing me I was no longer eligible for overtime and on-call hours and was now "exempt" meaning that I could work various number of hours for the same pay. This has resulted in about $20,000 loss of income annually for me. It did not save the county any money, because the other physicians I supervise had to pick up these on-call hours and so the income just transferred to them. When I protested, I was told there was nothing that could be done. I understand that this change went before the Board of Supervisors.
I went to my supervisor (who is not the one who originally hired me), telling her that I could not live on the lowered income and could not justify doing the same job for less money. She suggested I have the job "re-classified" to match the salary ranges of other medical directors in the county as it appeared I was under-compensated. She assisted me with the paperwork and a "job study" was done. It was determined that my job was similar or had more responsibility than the other(s) with which it was compared and I received another letter. This one asked me to sign away my civil service protections and enter "unclassified" county service. Evidently this means I can be "terminated at will" and give up a right to appeal. As a colleague of mine was actually terminated with one day notice last year (as a medical director--and re-hired back about 9 months later....) and I am not sure I "trust" all those above me (although my direct administrator is fabulous), I feel uncomfortable giving up these protections without, at the very least, some sort of negotiated benefits package, including severance. There are a lot of county politics and even though I am a good employee, for budget or political reasons, I fear there is a risk of being terminated. There are also negotiated annual salary increases for classified employees, but evidently for unclassified, all increases or decreases are negotiated and can be changed at any time. On a personal note, I am confident I could find another job, however, it may take months and I have a large family and need a steady income stream--one of the reasons I chose the county with reduced salary is for stability.
I refused to sign my rights away without legal counsel and I understand that my job will remain classified until I do so, however, if I leave, the position will be an unclassified one. Of note, being "unclassified" carries a larger salary range than the previous job and, if hired at top range, will at best, only get me to the salary I previously had!!!
I love my job and want to stay there, but need more money to live on. Do I have any recourse? Do Civil Service Rules offer me some protection from changes in the job (e.g. stopping overtime and call) that I had previously enjoyed? Can I go back to the old classification and add a provision to do on-call? Can I get more salary in some other way? Do you have experience with county government and related employment law/politics? If not, can you direct me to someone who does?
Also, is what they did (reduce my salary after 4 years with no negotioation or notice) even legal?
Thank you for your attention
Rebecca Ferrini, MD
I work for the County of San Diego as a Medical Director for more than 4 years and have had excellent performance evaluations. Although am not represented by the union (SICU) due to the fact I am a manager, I do have Civil Service Protections. When I was hired, the base salary was relatively low, but I was promised two things: that I would be paid for hours worked (and could claim overtime at straight rates) and that I would be compensated for "on-call hours" (hours I worked outside of normal working hours when I was available to answer the telephone and handle patient-related medical issues/required in the nursing facility). With these provisions, the salary was reasonable. I claimed these hours using various time sheet codes for the first four years. I have since learned that I may "never"have been eligible for overtime and call hours, and that my administrator should not have approved it, but she had, regularly, for four years. In fact, when I was hired, I was the only physician working for some weeks and if I did not do call hours, there would have been no-one else to do them.
In March of this year, with less than a week's notice, I was sent a letter informing me I was no longer eligible for overtime and on-call hours and was now "exempt" meaning that I could work various number of hours for the same pay. This has resulted in about $20,000 loss of income annually for me. It did not save the county any money, because the other physicians I supervise had to pick up these on-call hours and so the income just transferred to them. When I protested, I was told there was nothing that could be done. I understand that this change went before the Board of Supervisors.
I went to my supervisor (who is not the one who originally hired me), telling her that I could not live on the lowered income and could not justify doing the same job for less money. She suggested I have the job "re-classified" to match the salary ranges of other medical directors in the county as it appeared I was under-compensated. She assisted me with the paperwork and a "job study" was done. It was determined that my job was similar or had more responsibility than the other(s) with which it was compared and I received another letter. This one asked me to sign away my civil service protections and enter "unclassified" county service. Evidently this means I can be "terminated at will" and give up a right to appeal. As a colleague of mine was actually terminated with one day notice last year (as a medical director--and re-hired back about 9 months later....) and I am not sure I "trust" all those above me (although my direct administrator is fabulous), I feel uncomfortable giving up these protections without, at the very least, some sort of negotiated benefits package, including severance. There are a lot of county politics and even though I am a good employee, for budget or political reasons, I fear there is a risk of being terminated. There are also negotiated annual salary increases for classified employees, but evidently for unclassified, all increases or decreases are negotiated and can be changed at any time. On a personal note, I am confident I could find another job, however, it may take months and I have a large family and need a steady income stream--one of the reasons I chose the county with reduced salary is for stability.
I refused to sign my rights away without legal counsel and I understand that my job will remain classified until I do so, however, if I leave, the position will be an unclassified one. Of note, being "unclassified" carries a larger salary range than the previous job and, if hired at top range, will at best, only get me to the salary I previously had!!!
I love my job and want to stay there, but need more money to live on. Do I have any recourse? Do Civil Service Rules offer me some protection from changes in the job (e.g. stopping overtime and call) that I had previously enjoyed? Can I go back to the old classification and add a provision to do on-call? Can I get more salary in some other way? Do you have experience with county government and related employment law/politics? If not, can you direct me to someone who does?
Also, is what they did (reduce my salary after 4 years with no negotioation or notice) even legal?
Thank you for your attention
Rebecca Ferrini, MD