The California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) regarding compensation owed Peace Officer I (PO I) staff at Porterville Developmental Center (PDC).
As a result of the settlement, CSLEA has withdrawn a complaint filed with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) against DDS on behalf of PDC PO Is on December 31, 2020, after DDS placed Security Guards (non-Bargaining Unit 7) at the front kiosk entrance at PDC. In December 2020, CSLEA became aware of a contract entered into in which private security was supposed to provide services at the Alternate Care Facility location within PDC grounds which was being managed by the California Office of Emergency Services as a COVID-19 patient overflow location. Instead of being used to provide security only at that location, as was intended under the terms of the contract, an e-mail announcement was issued by Office of Protective Services management at PDC that PO Is scheduled to work at the front kiosk after 6:00 p.m. on December 14, 2020, would be canceled and that private security would man the kiosk until further notice. The PDC front kiosk post is located approximately 40 yards away from the Alternate Care Facility entrance.
CSLEA argued in part that DDS made a change to the working conditions of PO I staff without providing CSLEA proper notification. In addition, because the front kiosk had been primarily occupied by PO I staff when filled over the past several years, including a five-month period of 2020, PO I staff was losing overtime wages due to the displacement.
Pursuant to the terms of the PERB settlement, each Peace Officer I employed can be expected to receive in the upcoming weeks a credit of 10.75 hours in compensating time off and approximately 16 hours of premium pay (depending on the officer’s employment status between December 14, 2020, and March 9, 2021). CSLEA Legal Counsel David De La Riva will be available at 714/894-4411 or ddelariva@cslea.com to answer any further questions related to the settlement.
