Department of Civil Service - Annual Report Fiscal Year 2000-2001

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DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE

Roles and Duties

The Department of Civil Service is the central personnel agency for the County. The department’s purpose is to develop, maintain, and administer a personnel system based on merit principles and scientific methods governing the classification of positions. It handles the employment, conduct, movement, and separation of public officers and employees.

It supports the goals and challenges of County Government by seeking and providing solutions to employee/workplace issues and problems.

Besides the director and deputy director of personnel, the department has a staff of

20 permanent full-time positions. The department also employs two students from the Hawaii Community College employed under the Cooperative Vocational Education Program.

Besides the Office of the Director, the department is organized into six major divisions:

Employee Relations Division – Ensures compliance with applicable laws, rules, and policies relative to employment. Administers the flexible spending program and leave sharing program.

Classification and Pay – Classifies work and position descriptions to ensure employees are compensated appropriately for the work they perform.

Labor Relations – Advises and assists in matters relating to public- sector collective bargaining, including contract negotiations, contract administration, and grievance processing.

Personnel and Organizational Development – Provides training, facilitation, and consulting support to County department and agencies to continually improve personnel and organizational effectiveness and maximize employee potential.

Recruitment and Examination – Assists departments by recruiting for and referring well-qualified applicants for employment.

Health and Safety – Assists departments in creating and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment for employees so that their efforts are focused on their job tasks.

Commissions

Two commissions are assigned to the department – the Civil Service Commission and the Salary Commission. The Civil Service Commission consists of five members appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the County Council. The Salary Commission consists of nine members appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council.

Highlights/activities

Our department hosted the Conference of Civil Service Commissioners and Personnel Directors in June 2001. The focus was civil service reform and preventing workplace violence.

The electorate voted that the Safety Division of the Office of the Mayor be placed under the Department of Civil Service. It is now the Health and Safety Division. Its goals are to integrate workers’ compensation and safety, to reduce the number of safety accidents and workers’ compensation cases in the County. A new administrator was hired in July.

The former Training Division was renamed; it is now the Personnel and Organizational Development division.

The flexible spending program again resulted in substantial FICA tax savings to the County. This past fiscal year saw savings of approximately $163,122.

We participated in the International Personnel Management Association’s (IPMA) validation study for entry-level fire fighter examinations, and in Cooperative Personnel Services’ (CPS) promotional law enforcement job analysis project. Our participation is expected to result in better examinations to screen fire fighter applicants and candidates for higher-ranking police officer positions.

Aside from police and fire contracts that were completed in the previous fiscal year, negotiations with all remaining unions were completed. Contracts covering all county workers extend to June 30, 2003.

We saw a reduction of the number of Step 3 grievances filed, from 32 to 27, as well as a reduction in the number of arbitration requests filed, from 8 to 3. Two arbitration decisions were rendered, with both decisions upholding the County’s action.

Appeals and Actions Taken by the Civil Service Commission

Subject of Appeal Hearing	Number	Granted	Denied or Dismissed	Withdrawn

Removal of Name from eligible list	3		3
Nonselection	4		4
Denial of reemployment	1		1*
Denial of return rights	1			1

*While dismissing the appeal, Commission granted two years of additional reemployment rights

Number of Employer-Level Grievances Heard, by Bargaining Unit and Subject Matter

Subject	BU 01	BU 02	BU 03	BU 04	BU 11	BU 12	BU 13	Non-BU	Total
Discipline	4		2		1	3	1		11
Overtime			1						1
Personnel Information			1						1
Promotion	4		1		1				6
Return Rights						1			1
Rights of the Employer						1			1
Temporary Assignment	1								1
Termination - Non-disciplinary			1			1			2
Transfer					2	1			3
TOTALS	9	0	6	0	4	7	1	0	27

Arbitration Requests Received

Subject	BU 01	BU 02	BU 03	BU 04	BU 11	BU 12	BU 13	Non-BU	Total
Discipline						1	1		2
Non-disciplinary termination						1			1
Total						2	1		3

Arbitration Decisions Received

Subject

B.U.

Decision

Discipline

Grievance denied. Arbitrator ruled that the Employer was justified in its dismissal of the Grievance. The Union's contentions that double jeopardy occurred (when the Employer dismissed the Grievance after first deciding that no discipline was warranted) were not upheld. Arbitrator ruled that the Employer properly acted upon new information/evidence that was not previously made available by the police because of an on-going criminal investigation.

Arbitrability

Grievance denied. Arbitrator ruled that the Employer was justified in its dismissal of the Grievance. The Union's contention that the Grievant was treated disparately (when other employees who committed far more serious offenses were not dismissed) was not upheld. Arbitrator ruled that the Grievant's blatant untruthfulness severely affected the Grievant's ability to function properly as a police officer.

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