2006-09-21 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Mr. Ben, the director of the Civil Service Department, was requested to give an overview of his Department. He said they refer to themselves as the "central personnel agency" for the County. Civil Service is responsible for the recruiting, examining, ranking, and referral of qualified applicants to the various County departments, which then do the actual interviewing and decision - making on hiring. Civil Service is responsible for all phases of human resource management, which includes health and safety, recruitment and examination, employee and labor relations, general training for departments, and to some degree, strategic planning. They also do the "classification process," which is studying the duties and responsibilities of positions and deciding upon the appropriate pay for particular positions. Mr. Ben said there are six County departments which have human resource personnel within them. Those personnel work with the Civil Service personnel in human resources. Another important responsibility of the Civil Service Department, which it received two years ago, is ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity. The Department is responsible for ensuring compliance with all the federal and state Fair Employment and anti - discri mination laws as they apply to the public. All services provided by the County must be provided to everybody equally, to the disabled as well as to immigrants who may not understand English. These members of the public are entitled to the same County services as everyone else. This is a requirement under federal law. In addition, if the County puts on programs, such as recreational or outreach programs, the disabled are entitled to equal access to the programs along with everyone else. Civil Service has one employee, who is doing a great job, assigned to this area. Mr. Ben said this was the overview of his Department, in a nutshell. Mr. Joseph asked how many Civil Service employees the County has. Mr. Ben said the County has about 2,800 employees, of which 2,400 to 2,500 are Civil Service positions. Mr. Joseph asked how many employees the Civil Service Department had, and Mr. Ben said they have 26 positions. Mr. Joseph explained that the COGC had come up with additional questions for the Department of Civil Service, which started at "g" on the agenda, and requested that Mr. Ben address those questions. g. Incentives for employees. Mr. Ben said there is an annual employee award program, which recognizes the best employees nominated that year. It includes a recognition ceremony with a luncheon or dinner, and all the nominees receive a $100 savings bond. The eventual winners receive $250. There is also a service award program, which recognizes years of service for employees. After an employee has worked 5 years, he /she gets $25; at 10 years, $50; at 15 years, $75; at 20 years, $200; at 25 years, $250; at 30 years, $300, and it continues at $50 every five years if they don't retire after that. He has heard that employees look forward to this award. There is also a "suggestions" award program, which rewards employees who come up with ideas that save money, or other good ideas. If savings to the County is involved, the employee could receive up to 20% of what the County saves. Otherwise, the employee could receive $15 to $500, based on 2