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Conduct a public hearing and receive a presentation from the Department of Human Resources on the status of vacant positions, and recruitment and retention efforts as required annually by Government Code Section 3502.3, as added by AB2561, effective January 1, 2025
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes __X__ No __ _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Human Resources (HR) recommends the Board of Supervisors conduct a public hearing and receive a presentation from HR on the status of vacant positions, and recruitment and retention efforts as required annually by Government Code Section 3502.3, as added by AB2561, effective January 1, 2025.
SUMMARY:
In 2024, Assembly Bill 2561 (AB2561) was passed and added to Government Code as §3502.3. The new code requires public agencies to conduct a public hearing to present the status of its vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts. The hearing must be held annually and prior to the adoption of the annual budget. As part of the presentation, the public agency must identify any changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to obstacles in the hiring process. The recognized employee organizations shall have the opportunity to conduct a presentation during the public hearing; no bargaining units requested to do so during the 2025 public hearing. Bargaining units where vacancy rates meet or exceed 20% of the authorized full-time positions may request the County include specified information including: 1) the total number of job vacancies in the bargaining unit; 2) total number of applicants for vacant positions within the bargaining unit; 3) the average number of days to complete the hiring process from when a position is posted; and 4) opportunities to improve compensation and other working conditions.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact. The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2024/25 Working Budget.
DISCUSSION:
As of February 28, 2025, the County had 3,279 allocated positions and an overall vacancy rate of 11.40% or 373.70 vacancies. Between March 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025 there were 302.1 Full-Time Employee (FTE) terminations (96.5 retirements, 177.6 resignations and 28 involuntary terminations) and 862.65 FTE hiring transactions. These hires included new hires, promotions, transfers, demotions and rehires. As of pay period March 1, 2025, the vacancy rate has decreased more than two percent from 10.43% to 8.40% for requisitioned positions as compared to the same period in 2023.
Of the 21 bargaining units, two bargaining units (2 and 11) have a vacancy rate that meets or exceeds 20% of the authorized full-time positions. Unit 2 has 67 allocated positions, with a vacancy rate of 17.83% for the 12 requisitioned positions, and 24.22% when adding four additional positions that are not requisitioned. Unit 11 has 22 allocated positions, with a vacancy rate of 26.85% for the 6 requisitioned positions and 44.07% when adding four additional positions that are not requisitioned. Position specific vacancy data for Units 2 and 11 is outlined in Attachment B and represents positions that have had a recruitment opened between February 2024 and February 2025. The statistics in the charts underscore the difficulty Solano County has in filling health care positions. While it appears there has not been success in filling positions for the recruitments posted in 2024, the statistics indicate some success in 2024 from prior eligible lists.
In December 2023, the Labor Program at UC Berkeley released a report titled “Civil Service Vacancies in California: 2022-2023.” Through its research, the Labor Program identified that job vacancies were a significant problem “prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that the pandemic and obstacles during the ongoing recovery period had exacerbated job vacancies.” The report further outlined that “vacancies are high across occupations and wage levels”, including public health, behavioral health and social work. Research determined some of the reasons for the vacancies are related to a tight labor market with increased voluntary turnover, changing labor force demographics (e.g. retirements), difficulty competing with the private sector on earnings as it relates to California’s high cost of living (fringe benefits do not appear to be a factor to potential candidates), high demand for workers in occupations without adequate supply, and an extended hiring process. The report suggests that the vacancy rate can be helped via a number of pathways including, improving pathways into government jobs (e.g. training programs, partnerships, workforce planning), updating hiring processes, reviewing compensation (e.g. recruitment/retention bonuses), and improving job quality (e.g. schedules, employee development).
Solano County’s current approach to recruitment and retention include implementation of new HR tools for recruitment and onboarding. The new recruitment system has broadened the County’s reach to applicants, while the onboarding tool provides a streamlined method for processing new hire documentation. HR is once again participating in in-person career fairs, which were on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The County provides flexible schedules and telework where the impact to services is minimal. Recently, the County updated its comparable agency list for review of position classification information and began an inclusive workforce study. It also continues to provide internship opportunities to external candidates, and training/development and tuition reimbursement for current employees. The County has also updated its advance step salary criteria.
Specifically, Units 2 and 11 recruitment and retention efforts include a new electronic health records system and clinical documentation solution to streamline review and documentation of medical records. Additionally, specific job classifications, such as Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant, Psychologist/Therapist, Clinic Physician, and Psychiatrist are eligible for a recruitment and retention bonus provided through Partnership Health Plan ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 depending on the classification and length of service. In addition to negotiated COLAs, Psychiatrists, Physicians, and Dentists received equity adjustments within a range of 6% to 11% between February 2020 and December 2022.
The County understands that current efforts may not be sufficient to improve recruitment and retention efforts for certain classifications in health care. HR will continue to explore other means to recruit and retain staff, including updating Civil Service Rules so they are more relevant to today’s recruitment needs, conducting a classification study to ensure job specifications are reflective of the work performed today, and that minimum qualifications contain viable pathways, such as substituting experience for education where feasible. The County will also explore middle and high school outreach efforts to conduct early introductions into civil service jobs, and a more direct, targeted outreach to identify potential candidates for hard to fill occupations.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could elect not to receive the presentation or conduct the hearing; however, this alternative is not recommended as it is required by Government Code.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Pursuant to the requirements, HR notified all County bargaining groups of the public hearing and their right to presentation during the public hearing. No bargaining unit requested to conduct a presentation.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION