Sacramento Bee: Navigating the changing, rocky world of state employment

Navigating the rocky world of state service

By Jon Ortiz
The Sacramento Bee

Published: Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 3A

Copyright 2011 . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The long tail of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration, the state's iffy economy and Gov. Jerry Brown's famous unpredictability continue to keep state workers off balance.

A recent email to The State Worker illustrates what's happening:
"I believe that for most state employee groups, the (personal leave program days) were scheduled to end this month," one state worker wrote. "Will we be back to full-time work? Our HR folks aren't saying anything."

Yes, more than half the state's 230,000 workforce will return to full hours and pay starting next week.
The so-called "Personal Leave Program" that mandated employees take one monthly unpaid day off for a year ends Nov. 1 for 95,000 workers covered by SEIU Local 1000. Another 30,000 excluded workers, such as managers and supervisors, also go back to full salary at the same time.

One day's pay equals close to 5 percent of monthly wages.

State workers in six other unions, including the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, will go to regular hours next year, according to the terms of their contracts.

On one level, it's astounding that some government employees don't know their work schedule next month or how much they'll earn. After all, we're not talking about some Stone Age regime. This is California government: Everlasting. Predictable. Even a tad dull.

But the last three years have been anything but that for California state workers.

It started with Schwarzenegger, who tried to withhold their wages during two epic budget fights with Democrats. He launched furloughs and publicly criticized public pensions, eventually wringing concessions from labor.

Brown hasn't been as combative – unions helped him win office – but clearly understands the power of cutting employee resources.

He has recalled state cellphones, sold off cars and frozen hiring. He backed the shift of some state prison and parole work to counties. He vetoed a bill to soften budget "trigger cuts" next year that could ax more state programs and jobs if tax revenues don't meet expectations.

Brown has talked about pension reform for months without divulging details, vexing employees whose futures are riding on what happens. He's supposed to unveil the plan today.

Now add in Sacramento's flagging economy, which pierced the long-held notion that high government employment here shields the region from economic busts.

Before answering that email, this column sent one of its own to the Department of Personnel Administration to double-check that those 125,000 workers are going back to regular hours.

Spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley's reply: "We've heard nothing to suggest any change of plans, i.e., full pay resumes in Nov. for SEIU Local 1000" and managers.

That's the new California government for you: Transitioning. Tentative. Uncomfortably lively.