Existing law provides that it is the policy of the State of California that the composition of state boards and commissions shall be broadly reflective of the general public, including ethnic minorities and women.
This bill would require that by December 31, 2022, all state boards and commissions have at least one director or commissioner from an underrepresented community. The bill would require by December 31, 2023, all state boards and commissions have at least 2 or 3 directors or commissioners, depending on the size of the entity, from an underrepresented community. The bill would define the term “director or commissioner from an underrepresented
community” as an individual who self-identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self-identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. The bill would require that these requirements only apply as vacancies on state boards and commissions occur.
The California Constitution establishes the State Personnel Board (board) and requires the board to, among other things, enforce the civil service statutes, prescribe probationary periods and classifications, adopt rules authorized by statute, and review disciplinary actions. The Constitution also requires the executive officer of the board to administer the civil service statutes under the rules of the board. Under existing law, the board is authorized to conduct audits and investigations of the personnel practices of the Department of Human Resources and appointing authorities to ensure compliance
with civil service policies, procedures, and statutes. Existing law establishes the Department of Human Resources (department) and provides that, subject to the requirements of the California Constitution, it succeeds to and is vested with the duties, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction exercised by the board as its designee with respect to the board’s administrative and ministerial functions.
This bill, among other things, would instead authorize the department to conduct audits and investigations of personnel practices of other departments and appointing authorities to ensure compliance with civil service policies, procedures, and statutes. The bill would require the department to oversee compliance of rules prescribed by the board consistent with a merit-based civil service system to govern appointments, classification, examinations, probationary periods, disciplinary actions, and other matters related to the board’s constitutional authority, and require
the department to investigate complaints filed by employees in a state department’s equal employment opportunity program and personnel office, other civil service employees, applicants, and members of the public alleging violations of civil service laws and report findings to the board for adjudication.
Existing law requires that lists of eligible applicants for civil service positions be established as a result of free competitive examinations. Existing law, with regard to the requirements governing examinations for establishing employment lists, authorizes the department to designate an appointing power to design, announce, or administer examinations and requires the board to establish minimum qualifications for determining the fitness and qualifications of employees for each class of position.
This bill would require instead that the board establish a process that includes diversity and best practices in each aspect of
the design, announcement, and administration of the examinations and, in conjunction with the department, create standards for statements of qualifications used as examination criteria for the State of California in determining the fitness and qualifications of employees for each class of position. The bill would also require that the department or a designated appointing power conducting the examination be comprised of an ethnically diverse team of men and women, and that examinations with an oral component be video and otherwise electronically recorded and all other examination materials be maintained for each examination. The bill would also require the announcement for an examination include the core competencies, as defined, and the standard statement of qualifications, if applicable.
Existing law requires all appointing authorities of state government to establish an effective
program of upward mobility for employees in low-paying occupational groups. Existing law requires each upward mobility program to include annual goals for upward mobility and a timetable for when progress will occur, and requires the department to approve the goals and timetables. Existing law authorizes an appointing authority that determines that it will be unable to achieve the goals to ask the department for a reduction in the goals, as specified.
This bill would repeal the authorization for an appointing authority to ask the department for a reduction in their annual upward mobility goals, and would instead require the department to oversee the hiring process for that appointing authority if the appointing authority is unable to meet the goals or timelines for 2 consecutive fiscal years, as specified. The bill would, on or before July 1, 2022, require the department to develop model upward mobility goals that include race and gender
race, gender, and LGBTQ as factors, and to provide a report to the Legislature outlining the department workforce analysis used to develop those model goals.
Existing law authorizes a state appointing power to take adverse action against state civil service employees for specified causes for discipline, and provides procedures for state civil service disciplinary proceedings. Existing law authorizes the board to hold hearings and make investigations concerning all matters relating to the enforcement and effect of the State Civil Service Act, as specified.
This bill would require each appointing power to provide the Speaker of the Assembly and the President pro Tempore of the Senate with a report, no later than April 1 of each year, detailing certain information
regarding adverse actions against state employees, including, but not limited to, the ethnicity, race, gender identity, or sexual orientation of each employee served with an adverse action in the preceding calendar year. The bill also would require each appointing power to utilize an independent arbitrator to conduct state civil service specified disciplinary hearings when an adverse action is taken against an employee. The bill would require the department to establish a list of approved independent arbitrators for these purposes. The bill would specify that these provisions do not prevent an employee from appealing the decision of the arbitrator
any adverse action as provided or as otherwise authorized.
Existing law requires the department to administer the Personnel Classification Plan, including allocating every position to the appropriate class. Existing law requires the allocation of a position to a class be derived from, and determined by, ascertaining the duties and responsibilities of the position, and be based on the principle that all positions are to be included in the same class if certain qualifications apply, including, but not limited to, that the positions are sufficiently similar in respect to duties and responsibilities that the same descriptive title may be used, and substantially the same requirements as to education, experience, knowledge, and ability are demanded of incumbents.
This bill would require instead that the allocation of a position to a class be derived from, and determined by, the
type of work, level of difficulty and responsibility, and qualifications requirements, and instead of the qualifications stated above, would require that the allocation be based on the principle that all positions are to be included in the same class if the positions share a similar objective, scope of job responsibility, and work conditions, and that substantially the same core competencies are demanded of incumbents.
Existing law requires the board to establish by rule a merit system specifically suited to the selection and placement of executive personnel. Eligibility for appointment to positions in the career executive assignment category is established as a result of competitive examinations, and all candidates are required to meet the minimum qualifications that the board determines are requisite to the performance of high administrative and policy influencing functions.
This bill, with exceptions, would require that the board, as a minimum requirement, require that all candidates for career executive assignment positions have 2 or more consecutive years of civil service experience, including the most recent 2 years.