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Merit Appeals Board April 23, 2026 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MR. THOMAS: I think I heard somewhere—I’m not sure I know where—that there’s a practice <br />of not putting up a Position Description until the Position Description itself has been reviewed— <br />that supposed to happen at every couple years? <br /> <br />MS. TOKIHIRO: So, the target that—every couple of years is something that I’m working for <br />towards the class specifications. There is no timeframe currently set for the number of years <br />before a position is re-described. But anytime we’re recruiting for a position, we want that <br />information to be up-to-date—so that’s our first level of check—and that’s why that checkbox is <br />on the RTF form because if you’re recruiting to fill a position, we should be making sure that <br />everything is up-to-date. <br /> <br />So, when the County went to the new Position Description format in 2016, departments were <br />told, “Update your Position Descriptions and put them on the new form.” And we noticed that <br />departments weren’t doing it. So, as of January of last year, I believe, I may not be recalling the <br />date correctly—but I sent a memo to all departments that said, “If you come in with a Request to <br />Fill a position and this Position Description is not on the current format, it’s being returned to <br />you. We’re not even going to recruit.” <br /> <br />And so, that stops the—just check the box—we’re actually returning it and saying, “No, you <br />must update this before we’re going to proceed.” <br /> <br />MR. THOMAS: ‘Cause, otherwise, it could lead to some kind of case, couldn’t it? <br /> <br />CHR. CABANAS: Well, that’s what we saw with this hearing today. I mean— <br /> <br />MS. TOKIHIRO: So, potentially, without— <br /> <br />CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, the box was darkened. So who’s checking that? I mean, not to <br />pinpoint anyone in particular but, I mean, yeah, they need to check that, so— <br /> <br />MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. So, a mechanism needs to be established in order to do that. It hasn’t <br />existed to-date, but it’s important that everything be consistent—and I have found a number of <br />inconsistencies that I want our department to correct. And so, we’re actively working as a team <br />to address those issues and ensure consistency. <br /> <br />CHR. CABANAS: Okay, good. <br /> <br />MR. AGUINALDO: I guess, sometimes, it’s just with the workload, too—when there’s so much. <br /> <br />MS. TOKIHIRO: I think it’s a—it is a challenge. When we have 800 classes of work—that’s a <br />lot for HR to maintain that—but that’s just classes of work. Then from a class of work, we have <br />3,000 positions. And so, a Position Description for each of our 3,000 positions. And so, <br />managing all of that has been a partnership between HR and the departments, because we <br />have all the class specs. but we really defer to departments as far as Position Descriptions <br />because they know what is the actual work being done in their department. <br /> <br />That being said, though, we need to have a mechanism to ensure that oversight—to ensure that <br />we’re being able to better partner with departments to say, “This hasn’t been updated since <br />whatever date, it needs to be updated”—and it’s to everybody’s benefit. <br /> <br />Page 13 <br /> <br /> <br />