SR-202-004
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Santa ~fonica, California, April 1, 1980
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Mayor and C~ty Council
;? .P:z. .- 007"
A. P R 8 1980
FRO~
City Staff
SllBJECT
Adoltional Appropriation to Personnel Budget
INTRODUCTION
ThlS report requests the addition of two positions to the Personnel
Division staff requirin~ appropriation of $30,897 to the Dlvision's
Salaries and Wages, Advertis~ng, and Personnel Examlnation Expense
accounts from the unappropriated surplus.
BACKGROUND
The Personnel Divislon has experienced an unprecedented level of
examlnation activity during the past eight months
Ninety examinations
have been held or are in progress this year, as compared to seventy-two
in the entire twelve months of Fiscal 1978-79
The following
expenditure catefories have been affected-
Budget Budget Expenditures % of Budget
78-79 79-80 7/1/79-2/29/80 Expended
Overtime 1500 2000 3386 169%
Temporary ET!lployees 4000 2000 4823 241%
Advertising: 20190 12000 18544 155%
Examlnation Expense 5000 4000 6039 1517Q
There is every indication that the current rate of activity and
expenditure wl1l continue. The overall rate of expendltures for
the Division is such that no savinps wlll be realized to cover
overexpenditure in the above catefories
NON FINANCIAL EFFECTS ON DIVISION OPEP~TIONS
Personnel Divislon staff have been warkin? at capacity. In addition
to the heavy Overtime expenditures, the staff have accrued an average
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Mayor and City COiC~l
April 1, 1980
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of twenty-f~ve hours of compensatory t~me per pay period in order
to keep up with the workload. Despite efforts to maintain a high
level of productivity, civil service procedures and sound personnel
practices cannot be compromised and are time consuming
As a result,
a backlog of vacancies await~ng examinations has developed. This
is a source of substantial concern to operating Departments with
unfilled positions
In addition, the volume of work has resulted ln an increase in
clerical errors
The processing of examination results and payroll/
beneflts papen~ork lS exacting. Errors impact employees, appllcants,
payroll operations and data processing operations. The time necessary
to complete this work accurately and to supervise it properly has
not been available
Because examinations have taken the bulk of employee time, other
important functions of the Division are being slighted
1. City job speciflcations are normally updated on a three-year
cycle. Virtually no routine updates have been performed this
year. Accurate classifications are an essential basis for
salary determination, constructlon of valid examinatlons and
grievance handling
2. Staff is unable to promptly serVlce requests from other cities
for salary surveys and other information. As Santa 110nica
relles on the cooperation of these agenCles for similiar
information, ~t is important to be responsive and timely.
3. No Employee Relations Handbook has been published this year.
City employees are using a badly outdated handbook and have
repeatedly requested updates.
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Mayor and City Council
April 1, 1980
Paze Three
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4 Back~round informatlon and historical records of neeotiations
are not being systematically complIed.
5 The training program, an excellent vehicle for increasing
productivity and developing employees, has been neglected
6 Effective use of the data processing capabllities available
for personnel needs is not bein? made.
7. Development of career ladders to encourage retention of employees
is not occurring at as fast a rate as possible.
8. Benefit package options are not being researched as fully as
necessary.
9. There is little or no development of new recruiting alds or
sources.
10. Llttle or no validation study is posslble, nor is proper
updating possible for previous validation studies
11. There is little or no time to research and try new affirmative
action techniques.
12. A badly needed restructuring of the clerical series has been
postponed numerous times to the detriment of clerical efficiency
throughout the City
13. Staff assigned to reduce workers compensation and unemplo)~ent
claims have been diverted to examination activity.
It is apparent that additional personnel are needed to achieve an
adequate level of service
The Slze of the clerical staff In
Personnel has been constant for more than ten years despite the
increased number of City employees, addition of benefit packages
and proliferation of bargaining units. An additional Intermediate
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~ Mayor and City Council
A0ril 1, 1980 It
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Clerk is urgently needed
A Personnel Analyst is also required
to enable the Diviion to reduce the time lag on f~lling vacancies
The decline in attention to the thirteen functions noted above
can be reversed by the additional of these positions
The benefits
to the entire C~ty staff in an effic~ent personnel functio!t far out-
weigh the costs necessary to fulfill this request The positions w~ll
be temporary at this time and will be considered with other requests
during the budget process.
RECO}frlliNDATION
It is recommended that Council appropr~ate an additional $30,897 from
unappropriated surplus as follows
$20,000 to Personnel Advertising,
$3100 to Personnel Examination Expenses, and $7797 to Salaries and
Wages.
Prepared By
R N. Aronoff, Director
Administrative Services