AB 2335

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The California Constitution provides that the civil service includes every officer and employee of the state, except as provided, and requires that in the civil service, permanent appointment and promotion be made under a merit-based system ascertained by competitive examination. Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, prescribes a comprehensive personnel system for the state with appointments to be based on merit and fitness established by competitive tests. Existing law states the purposes of the State Civil Service Act, including, among others, to provide a comprehensive personnel system in which positions involving comparable duties and responsibilities are similarly classified and compensated. This bill would expand that purpose to include that the compensation relationship between state civil positions with comparable duties and responsibilities is maintained. (2) The State Civil Service Act requires each state agency to establish an equal opportunity plan that includes, at a minimum, identifying the areas of significant underutilization of specific groups based on race, ethnicity, and gender within each department and job category level, as provided. This bill would additionally require the plan to identify the areas of significant overutilization of specific groups, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to establish and adjust salary ranges for each class of position in the state civil service based on the principle that like salaries should be paid for comparable duties and responsibilities, as specified. Existing law prohibits the department from making an adjustment that would require expenditures in excess of existing appropriations that may be used for salary increase purposes. This bill would require the department to consider any relevant factor, including the origins and history of the work, including the manner in which wages have been set, in determining whether compensation and classification inequities exist between bargaining units within the state civil service. The bill would require the department to ensure that the principle that like salaries be paid for comparable duties and responsibilities is maintained when determining the distribution of appropriations used for adjusting salaries and would authorize the department to make adjustments requiring expenditures in excess of existing appropriations if the adjustments are necessary to maintain or restore historical salary relationships, as specified. The bill would require the department to make a change in salary range retroactive if made for that purpose. Existing law requires the department to submit to parties meeting and conferring, and to the Legislature, reports on 2 groups of bargaining units biennially, beginning on either February 1, 2025, or February 1, 2026, depending on the group, on the findings of the department relating to the salaries of employees in comparable occupations in private industry and other governmental agencies. This bill would, instead, require the reports to include findings of the department relating to the salaries of employees in comparable classifications, occupational groups, or bargaining units within state civil service, in private business, and other public employment, as specified. (4) Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to evaluate all state civil service classifications in the Personnel Classification Plan and prepare a detailed report, as specified, on gender and ethnicity pay equity in each classification where there is an underrepresentation of women and minorities. This bill would additionally require the report to include where there is an overrepresentation of women and minorities and statistical information for each bargaining unit, as specified. The bill would require the department to negotiate salaries to close any gaps found, as specified, and would require that an increase in total compensation resulting from this evaluation be implemented through a memorandum of understanding, as specified. The bill would require the department, in determining whether inequities exist, to consider any relevant factor, including the origins and history of the work, including the manner in which wages have been set.