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PERSONNEL / HEALTH SERVICES - Executive Director Jayme Bottke
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Requested Action(s)
recommendation
a) Request approval of new classification specifications of Health Services Assistant I/II and Senior Health Services Assistant within the Joint Council bargaining unit, effective 1/1/25
b) RESOLUTION - Request adoption of a resolution amending the FY 25/26 Position Allocation List (PAL), (Reso #2025-074) by deleting nine (9.00 FTE) Office Assistant I/II allocations, deleting eleven (11.00 FTE) Office Assistant III allocations, and adding twenty (20.00 FTE) Health Services Assistant I/II allocations, effective 1/1/25
c) Request approval to reclassify four (4.00 FTE) Office Assistant II incumbents as a Health Services Assistant I and seven (7.00 FTE) Office Assistant III incumbents as a Health Services Assistant II, effective 1/1/25
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Financial Impact:
The total approximate increase for reclassifying four (4.00 FTE) Office Assistant II incumbents to a Health Services Assistant I and seven (7.00 FTE) Office Assistant III incumbents to a Health Services Assistant II would be approximately $200,283. There is no impact to the General Fund.
Background Information:
The Tehama County Health Services Agency (TCHSA) is requesting approval for new classifications of Health Services Assistant I/II and Senior Health Services Assistant. The creation of the new classification series is predicated on the necessity to increase the minimum wages for staff in the healthcare industry as required by SB 525, which was effective for small counties on January 1, 2025.
The Legislation of SB 525 (Chapter 890, Statutes of 2023), SB 828 (Chapter 12, Statutes of 2024), and SB 159 (Chapter 40, Statutes of 2024, added sections 1182.14, 1182.15, and 1182.16 to the Labor Code, increasing the minimum wage for workers of certain health care employers. To receive the higher minimum wage, employees must, (1) work for certain “health care facilities” that are covered in the new law and (2) provide health care services or support the provision of health care.
The health care facilities that are covered include the following: A county mental health facility; clinics providing primary care; or a clinic operated by a city, county, other political subdivision of the State or the University of California. “Health care services” or “services supporting the provision of health care” mean patient care-related services including nursing; caregiving; services provided by medical residents, interns, or fellows; and services supporting patient care including technical and ancillary services; janitorial work, housekeeping; groundskeeping; guard duties; business office clerical work; food services; laundry; medical coding and billing; call center and warehouse work; scheduling; and gift shop work.
In accordance with SB 525, as of January 1, 2025, these classifications were required to be paid at a minimum of $18.00 per hour, and the amount increased to $18.63 per hour on July 1, 2025. The minimum wage for this classification series will continue to increase incrementally each July 1st until the minimum wage reaches $25.00 per hour on July 1, 2033. Thereafter, beginning January 1, 2035, the minimum wage will be adjusted annually for inflation.
While every Office Assistant assignment in TCHSA may not have this mandate (e.g. certain roles in Public Health and front desk at the administrative office), TCHSA positions provide coverage across the Agency and having a salary disparity would continue to cause recruitment and retention issues. As part of meeting the requirements of SB 525, the Agency feels this also provides an opportunity to expand the breadth of activities this classification can perform. In recent years, the Agency has seen increasing complexity with the work requirements in healthcare due to working in electronic health records and meeting increasing regulatory burdens. The goal with this new classification series is to provide increase job duties and a salary commensurate to those tasks.
TCHSA has had trouble recruiting and retaining Office Assistant positions and one of the reasons is because of the low pay they receive for the integral functions they fulfill. After reviewing comparable positions in surrounding counties and weighing the internal positioning of this series, the Agency has developed a recommended rate that meets criteria of SB 525.
The requested placement for Health Services Assistant I would be at Range 17 ($19.51 - $23.72), the Health Services Assistant II at Range 21 ($21.54 - $26.18), and the Senior Health Services Assistant at Range 25 ($23.77 - $28.90) as there are typically four ranges between serial job classifications.
The Agency is also requesting Board of Supervisor approval to reclassify four (4.00 FTE) Office Assistant II incumbents as a Health Services Assistant I and seven (7.00 FTE) Office Assistant III incumbents as a Health Services Assistant II.
The Joint Council bargaining unit has been notified of the requested changes, and an agreement has been reached.