LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) weighed in on two of three grievances filed by county correctional officers against the sheriff”s office, making intended decisions Tuesday to uphold one appeal and deny a second while waiting to deliberate on a third.
“We appreciate the Board making the time to hear these issues and look forward to the final resolution of the last grievance later this month,” said Jeffrey Edwards, attorney representing the Lake County Correctional Officers” Association (LCCOA).
The LCCOA filed three grievances regarding decisions made by Sheriff Frank Rivero. The BOS heard evidence in mid-September on the grievance pertaining to the Lake County Sheriff”s Office (LCSO) sick leave policy but continued its deliberations to Tuesday.
The sick leave grievance focused on an email union members received from LCSO Capt. Rob Howe in May stating that “any employee calling in sick will need to provide what duties or essential job functions they are unable to perform.”
Edwards argued the message meant LCSO administration changed the sick leave policy without meeting and conferring with union leaders and violated the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the county and the union.
County Human Resources Director Kathy Ferguson, who previously denied the grievances, said the call for LCSO employees to provide the requested information was allowable and not a change in policy.
Department supervisors can inquire whether a sick leave request is for a bona fide illness, according to Ferguson.
The Lake County Deputy Sheriff”s Association also filed a grievance appeal on the sick leave issue and presented evidence on the matter in September, but Edwards told the BOS Tuesday that the deputy”s union withdrew its claim.
“I deeply appreciate the Deputy Sheriff”s Association having dropped their grievance on this issue,” Rivero said.
The BOS voted 3-2 for an intended decision to uphold the LCCOA appeal and in favor of the union.
“To me, it reads like it”s a new policy,” District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said.
Smith was one of the supervisors who said they thought the issue should have gone through the meet-and-confer process before implementation.
Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Denise Rushing disagreed, representing the two dissenting votes.
“I don”t feel a meet-and-confer process is required,” Farrington said.
County Counsel Anita Grant will prepare a findings of fact document based on the intended decision. The BOS will make a final decision on the appeal on Oct. 25 after considering the findings of fact.
Rivero said he believed the intended decision was “flawed and has far-reaching implications beyond the Sheriff”s Office.”
“Sick leave is an important privilege provided to our employees when they have a need to take paid time off for a legitimate illness, injury or family emergency. Unfortunately sick leave usage can be abused.?When that happens the ripple affect is profound, including increase costs, schedule changes and employee and public safety concerns,” Rivero said.
While a majority of the supervisors disagreed with Ferguson and Rivero on the first grievance, all five concurred with the department heads on the second appeal.
The LCCOA filed a grievance after a “shift swap” between two correctional aides was “denied without consideration.”
Correctional aides select shifts based on seniority and a recent practice had been to allow aides to switch shifts with one another after selection, according to LCCOA president Mike Silva.
Edwards said denying the “shift swap” without consideration violated an established past practice of the LCSO.
Ferguson argued that the “shift swap” practice “circumvented” the more established past practice of selecting shifts based on seniority.
The BOS ultimately agreed with Ferguson, voting unanimously in favor of an intended decision to deny the appeal. A final decision will also come on Oct. 25 after consideration of a findings of fact document.
The last grievance concerned Rivero”s decision to move correctional officers to eight-hour shifts instead of 12-hour shifts.
Both sides presented evidence to the BOS, with the debate hinging on language in the MOU, which stated, “The current shift schedule types will not change.”
Edwards argued the union understood the phrase to mean that management could not remove LCCOA members from the current type of shift used for their assignment. “The appropriate time to do that was at the bargaining table,” he told the BOS.
Silva testified that officers working inside the jail always maintained 12-hour shifts while LCCOA members with other duties, such as transportation, would work for eight-hour blocks. The MOU did not define “shift schedule types,” according to Edwards.
Ferguson said she believed the language indicated department supervisors could change the correctional officers” schedules to any type of shift worked by other LCCOA members. “Types means that there are multiple choices,” she said.
The BOS took the third grievance under submission late Tuesday afternoon but opted to wait to make a decision.
Deliberations for the eight-hour shift grievance are set for Oct. 25 at 10:30 a.m.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
