Update: 11:42
Currently the Calaveras County Sheriff Department employs six 'extra hire' deputies that have retired from other agencies. At the Board of Supervisors meeting 12-18-12 the Board approved replacing the 'extra help' positions with permanent temporary positions. According to Supervisor Spellman changing the term from extra help to permanent temporary employee makes the employee "eligible for incremental pay increases for years of service." The change in verbiage will cost the county approximately $3800.00 this fiscal year.
According to Sgt Hewitt the "extra hire deputies do not contribute to CalPers for their part time positions." Yet points out that the hours they currently work may need to be adjusted to fit with the cap of 960 hours per fiscal year and their part time employment may effect a pension they may be drawing. Adjusting for the 960 hour cap could affect the Sheriff Dept's "court staffing since we use extra hires as bailiffs in the courts." However Sgt Hewitt states that the Sheriff Dept has already adjusted their staffing for this cap.
According to reports from other county agencies the use of qualified retirees throughout the country is common practice as many agencies see the potential for saving money due to the lack of need for training (ex:sending recruits to a police academy or firefighters to a fire academy) as well as many retirees prefer part-time employment allowing for more lenient scheduling. Recently CalPers placed many restrictions on the ability of a person retired from a CalPers agency to accept employment from another CalPers employer.
A retiree can work for a CalPERS employer without reinstatement (1) as a
temporary “retired annuitant” employee with certain restrictions or (2) if the
position is specifically exempt from restrictions by CalPERS law.
Eligible retirees can work for a state agency*, university, public employer,
or school employer contracted with CalPERS without reinstatement from
retirement into active employment, if all of the following conditions are met.
• You have specialized skills needed to perform work of limited duration or
your employment is needed during an emergency to prevent stoppage of
public business.
• Your temporary employment will not exceed 960 hours in a fiscal year
(July 1st through June 30th).
• The rate of pay received will not be less than the minimum nor exceed the
maximum that is paid to other employees performing comparable duties.
* Retired annuitant employment with a State agency is limited to retirees who
have civil service eligibility from previous State agency employment or who
qualify for appointment under an applicable civil service employment list.
