County and OCEA Reach Agreement on New Contract

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Orange County Supervisors have scheduled a special meeting for Friday, December 18, at 8:30 a.m. to allow for public comment on details of a proposed tentative agreement with the membership of the Orange County Employees Association for a new contract that would extend to June 30, 2018.

The proposed tentative agreement is posted for public review on the County webpage at http://ocgov.com/gov/bos/agenda. If ratified by OCEA, the County’s largest employee union, the agreement would be presented for approval and adoption at a second special Board meeting on Wednesday, December 23, 2015.

OCEA represents about 10,871 employees in 453 different job classifications within the County of Orange. The previous contract ran through June 25, 2015.

The proposed tentative agreement reflects the Board’s continued focus on working in partnership with its employees to enhance health and wellness in ways that are both cost effective and promote improved health, and on compensation that rewards the County’s hard-working employees while maintaining fiscal prudence.

The proposed agreement would increase OCEA member salaries by 4.5% upon adoption plus provide a one-time $500 payment upon adoption and in December 2016 and 2017. Additional salary increases of 2.5% would be effective on July 8, 2016, and July 7, 2017.

Among other elements of the proposed tentative agreement:

The County and OCEA would establish a working group to examine the potential replacement of, or modification to, the current program of annual leave that combines sick and vacation leave. The County’s managers and attorneys have already agreed to return to separate sick leave and vacation.

In conjunction with the current OC Healthy Steps wellness program, the Board would adopt an Annual County Parks Pass Program for employees.

The County and OCEA would establish a working group to examine and present proposals on programs to reward outstanding performance and cost savings within teams, County departments and the County as a whole.

To view the tentative agreements for each bargaining unit, click here: http://ocgov.com/gov/bos/agenda

To view the staff report for Friday’s meeting, click here: http://cams.ocgov.com/Web_Publisher_Special/agenda12_18_2015.htm