Report 2009-608 Recommendation 2 Responses

Report 2009-608: High Risk Update—State Overtime Costs: A Variety of Factors Resulted in Significant Overtime Costs at the Departments of Mental Health and Developmental Services (Release Date: October 2009)

Recommendation #2 To: Developmental Services, Department of

To make certain that patients and consumers are provided with an adequate level of care, and that the health and safety of the employees, patients, and consumers are protected, Mental Health and Developmental Services should encourage Personnel Administration—which is responsible for negotiating labor agreements with employee bargaining units—to include provisions in future collective agreements to cap the number of voluntary overtime hours an employee can work and/or to require the departments to ensure that overtime hours are distributed more evenly among staff. One solution would be to give volunteers who have worked the least amount of overtime preference over volunteers who already have worked significant amounts of overtime.

1-Year Agency Response

Developmental Services states that the decision-making process for staffing and supervision continues to be influenced by the health and safety of consumers and retaining the facilities certification with the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, Developmental Services stated it informed Personnel Administration of the bureaus recommendation. However, as discussed in Mental Healths response above, Personnel Administration reached agreements with the bargaining units, without the inclusion of having staff with the least amount of overtime receive preference over the employees who have worked significant amounts of overtime. (2011-406, p. 141)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2009-608

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.