HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05231995 - 2.3 • t^
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra
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FROM: Leslie T. Knight, Director of HumanResources �* Costa
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y .•: °` County
DATE: May 15, 1995
SUBJECT: Veterans' Preference Credits
SPECIFIC REOUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)d BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECONEM ENDATION:
ACCEPT report from Director of Human Resources regarding the County practice of awarding veterans' credit
points in open examinations, and CONSIDER alternatives to this policy.
Alternatives:
1. Make no change to the current practice of awarding veterans' credit points to veterans who have
received an honorable discharge within the last five years.
2. Eliminate the five year limitation in awarding veterans' credit points to veterans who have
received an honorable discharge and, if appropriate, direct the Director of Human Resources to
meet and confer with employee organizations concerning this issue.
BACKGROUND:
This memorandum is in response to a letter received by the Board of Supervisors from David R. Frey,
Commander, United States Naval Reserve, Retired, Pleasant Hill, California, requesting that the Board of
Supervisors change the present practice of awarding veterans' preference points in County examinations.
Commander Frey alleges that the current practice of awarding veterans' credits to veterans who have been
honorably discharged within the last five years discriminates against veterans of the Vietnam War, Korean War
and World War II. Commander Frey would like the County to remove the five year limitation.
The Board of Supervisors referred Commander Frey's letter to the Human Resources Department and requested
that the department contact other counties relative to their practice of granting veterans' credit points in
examinations.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF SIOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON - May 23, 1995 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
IT BY THE BOARD ORDERED that: the report from the Human Resouces Director on Veterans'
Preference Credits is ACCEPTED; Alternative No. 2 is� APPROVED; and the Human Resources
Director is DIRECTED to meet and confer with employee organizations concerning this issue.
I .
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED BY THE BOARD that the Human Resources Director is DIRECTED to
monitor the impact of this action on women applicantis, so as not to disadvantage them.
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VOTE OF SUPERVISORS i
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X_UNANIMOUS(ABSENT --------- + AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: Human ResourQes Director ATTESTED May 23, 1995
County Administrator
Affirmative Action Officer PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPE D COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
B E
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Human Resources Department staff conducted a survey of 14 large California counties (attachment). Most of t
the agencies surveyed do not have a time limitation on granting veterans' credits. Only two counties, San
Diego and Santa Barbara, are similar to Contra Costa in that they have an eight and five year limitation
respectively. Two counties, Napa and San Bernardino, award no preference points.
The awarding of veterans' preference points in County examinations resulted from a provision of the original
Civil Service Ordinance approved by the voters.in 1944. The original provision did not have a five year
limitation. Only minor changes were made to the original ordinance until 1980 when the voters approved the
Merit System Ordinance.
The committee which studied merit system reform concluded that the application of veterans' preference points
was not in conformance with merit principles. It was their opinion that veterans' credits were not job related
and had no relationship to the person's ability to perform the job. In addition, veterans' preference points were
found to be discriminatory for women especially when they applied for positions in non traditional jobs such
as Deputy Sheriff, Firefighter and the trades. It was first recommended that the County eliminate veterans'
credit on examination. The committee felt that if the County did not want to eliminate veterans' credits then
the recommendation was to restrict their use to five years after discharge from the service. This latter
alternative was approved by the employee organizations and has been in effect since the adoption of the
County's Personnel Management Regulations.
The County's current practice allows a person to qualify for veterans' preference points in "open only"
examinations. Five percent (5%) is added to a competitor's earned score provided that one of the following
qualifications is met: 1).the competitor must have served continuously on active duty for more than 180 days
and received an honorable discharge within the last five years of the application filing deadline; 2) the
competitor is classified as a disabled veteran in which case the five year limitation does not apply.
Gary Villalba, County Veterans Service Officer, has been in contact with the Human Resources Department
concerning this issue and supports the removal of the five year time limit.
My staff has also had frequent discussions with Commander Frey and he has been advised of the practices in
other counties concerning the awarding of veterans' credit.
It is the opinion of the County Counsel's Office that any change to the current language on veterans' credit
contained in the Personnel Management Regulations may require the County to meet and confer with employee
organizations.
In conclusion, this office found that ten of the fourteen counties surveyed do not have a time limit on the
awarding of veterans' credit points in examinations.
R VETERANS CREDIT SURVEY r
LIMITATION
POINTS/ QUALIFYING ON GRANTING
COUNTY CREDITS SERVICE VET POINTS
Alameda 5 Served during time
of war or received
campaign medal. No
Contra Costa 5% of Served during time
earned of war or expedition Discharged
score or 180 days of cont. within
active service. last
5 years.
Los Angeles 10 Served during time
of war or received
campaign medal. No
Marin 5 Served during time
of war or received
campaign medal. No
Napa None . : N/A
Orange 5 More than 180 days
on active duty. No
Riverside 5 Served during time
of war or received
campaign medal. No
Sacramento 5 Served during time
of war or received
campaign medal. No
San Bernardino None N/A
San Diego 5 Served during time Discharged
of war or received within past
campaign medal. 8 years.
San Mateo 5 Served during time
of war or received
campaign medal. No
Santa Barbara 5 More than 180 days Discharged
active duty. within past
5 years.
Santa Clara 5 Served during time
of war or received
campaign medal. No
Solano 5 More than 180 days
active duty, must be
within 5 pts of last
person certified from
eligible list. No
Sonoma 5 More than 180 days
active duty. No