HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
MISSION STATEMENT: To provide quality employees that meet the needs of the City, and to enhance the workplace for all employees through creative and cost-effective personnel services.
The department consists of four full-time employees and serves 432 full-time and approximately 230 part-time staff. The department provides consultation and management services in the areas of training, recruitment and selection, benefits management, employee and labor relations, organizational development, management of classification and compensation, employee evaluation, grievance and discipline, compliance with state and federal laws, equal employment opportunity, collective bargaining and contract management, comprehensive employee records management, employee verification of employment, and support to the Human Resources Commission.
Regular full-time staff includes the Assistant City Manager/Interim Director, one human resources analyst II, one administrative analyst II, one department secretary, and one secretary I. The director position is vacant and the Assistant City Manager has assumed these duties. The secretary I position has been vacant for fiscal year 2004-05 and temporary clerical help has been utilized.
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMISSION
The Human Resources Commission was created by the City Council to perform the following duties:
- Act in an advisory capacity to the City Council and the Human Resources Officer on personnel matters not specifically delegated by law to other parties in the City service.
- Review the recruitment and selection process for the classified service, including the publishing or posting of test notices and the preparation and scoring of tests, and the certification of eligible candidates for appointment; review the City's Position Classification System and make comments and recommendations regarding such processes to the Human Resources Officer of the Council.
- When requested by the City Council or the Human Resources Officer, hold hearings and make other recommendations on any matters of personnel administration within the limits of the request by the City Council or the City Manager.
- Receive and hear appeals submitted by any person in the city service relative to any dismissal, demotion, reduction in pay or alleged violation of the classification and salary resolution or the personnel rules; and to certify its findings and recommendations as provided in this chapter.
- In any investigation or hearing conducted by the commission, it shall have the power to examine witnesses under oath and compel attendance or the production of evidence before it by subpoenas, issued in the name of the City and attested by the City Clerk. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to cause all such subpoenas to be served. Refusal of a person to attend or testify in answer to such subpoena shall subject such person to prosecution, in the same manner set forth by law for failure to appear before the City Council in response to a subpoena issued by the City Council. Each member of the Human Resources Commission shall have the power to administer oaths to witnesses.
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
FY 2004-2005 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Approximately 40 recruitments (full and part-time) were conducted this year to provide quality employees to the City's departments.
- Staff began negotiations for Memorandums of Understanding (MOU's) with three employee bargaining units. The three bargaining units are the Police Officers' Association (POA), Police Management Association (PMA), and the West Covina Firefighters' Association. Staff also completed revised salary and benefit resolutions for City Council and department heads.
- The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) continues to provide a variety of personal, financial, and legal counseling services for employees.
- The Employee Activities Committee has continued to provide increased morale and camaraderie among City staff. The Committee organized several events that were received well by employees, including the Employee Service Awards Program.
- City staff participated in nine training workshops, conducted by an outside firm, on topics such as employee safety, hiring practices, personnel issues, performance evaluations, workplace harassment, and other current legal issues.
- The department assisted approximately 85 employees who retired or resigned from City service.
FY 2005-2006 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Continue to meet the needs of the organization by creatively managing recruitments.
- Design each recruitment to serve the needs of the organization.
- Conduct an objective and fair process.
- Market jobs to attract highly qualified employees that enhance diversity.
Implement the department's newly acquired Human Resource Information System (HRIS).
- Provide accurate and timely information, tracking of personnel, and other related data.
Negotiate contracts with the Police Officers', Police Management, and Firefighters' Associations.
- Provide fair and equitable pay, benefits, and working conditions through effective contracts.
Negotiate contracts with the five miscellaneous bargaining units: Mid-Management, Confidential/Exempt, General, Maintenance, and Public Safety Dispatchers.
- Provide fair and equitable pay, benefits, and working conditions through effective contracts.
Implement compensation and benefit changes for two non-represented groups of employees, department heads and fire assistant chiefs.
- Provide fair and equitable pay, benefits and working conditions for the non-represented employees.
Continue to explore alternative health care proposals
- Explore ways to contain rising healthcare costs.
- Work with the Health Benefits Committee.
Develop a Supervisors' Academy for City of West Covina employees.
- Focus on development of supervisory, leadership, customer service, and other skills to support a knowledgeable and productive work environment.
Implement the issues addressed in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) audit.
- Provide accurate compensation related to exempt and non-exempt classifications.
Continue to assist departments with employee investigations, grievances, and discipline.
- Provide guidance and training in the appropriate processes related to employee matters.
Continue to coordinate and work with the Employees' Activities Committee (EAC).
- Plan quarterly events and the Employee Service Awards Program.
- Foster employee morale.
Continue to evaluate the efficiency of department organizational structures.
- Provide guidance and consulting services to the City's departments related to organizational structures.
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
BUDGET COMMENTS
Several areas of routine activity have increased in cost, such as pre-employment background checks, bilingual exams, tuition reimbursement, medical and psychological testing, employee assistance services, and the cost of the Employee Service Awards Program.
The budget for consultant services has increased by $9,000 due to mandatory sexual harassment training for all supervisory employees, per Assembly Bill 1825.
The Commissioners' stipends increased from $50 per month to $100 per month.
BUDGET ISSUES
Personnel and Programs/Projects: There have been two vacancies in the department over the past fiscal year. The Assistant City Manager, who has a dual role of both the Assistant City Manager and Interim Human Resources Director, filled the vacancy created by the departure of the previous director who resigned in January of 2003. The workload handled by the vacant director position has been shifted to the Assistant City Manager and the two analysts in the department. The City will need to continue to hire consultants to assist with the more non-routine or special projects needed, such as:
- Update the City's Personnel Rules, as the last comprehensive revision was completed in 1992.
- Employee training.
- Conduct the initial set-up and conversion of the Human Resources Information System (HRIS).
- Develop personnel policies in needed areas and identify policies that have unclear processes, procedures, or guidelines.
- Assist departments with conducting organizational efficiency studies, by reviewing position functions and department objectives.
- Update the City's classification specifications (job descriptions). The last comprehensive review/revisions were conducted in 1994.
- Provide advanced training for the Analysts to be updated on current laws.
The vacancy created by the departure of the secretary I in July 2004 has been filled with temporary clerical staff working on a full-time basis. The department will need to either fill the secretary I position or continue with the hiring of temporary clerical staff in order to provide administrative support to the department, such as assisting with benefits administration, recruitments, negotiations, employee records management, and other related functions.
AUTHORIZED POSITIONS
ACTIVITY TREE
BUDGET SUMMARY
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