by David Leonhardi
DSA members,
As I announced last month, the DSA worked in partnership with the County of San Diego and the Sheriff’s Department to address some of the ever increasing challenges facing our recruitment and retention efforts. In August, I signed 7 Letters of Understanding with the County to assist in addressing these concerns. The most notable of our agreements is that deputies working those late night and very early hours will finally receive additional compensation in the form of a night shift premium! This incentive is tentatively scheduled to take effect on September 9, 2022. Most of the other agreements are designed to attract lateral new hires from other agencies, but all of them are steps in the right direction. Below is a short summary of all the agreements. For the exact language of each agreement, please visit the DSA website at dsasd.org/negotiations
Relocation allowance– New Hires moving into San Diego County from another county will be eligible for up to $15k in relocation expenses.
Vacation Accrual Reciprocity– All laterals will start with a 42.5 hour balance of vacation time (they currently receive none) and will be receiving credit for time with their previous agency for vacation accrual purposes.
Voluntary Time Off- This is rarely used for our folks. It essentially allows employees to take leave without pay for a short period of time with the right to return.
Pandemic advance credit leave– This is just an extension of the advanced credit leave for folks who have used all of their sick time. It extends until 2026.
New hire lateral incentive– This provides a 20k bonus for laterals. Anyone who laterals and doesn’t have to attend one of our academies would qualify.
Hard to Recruit-This provides a 1k payment if you refer someone who gets hired into a hard to recruit position. You must refer them before they apply. Other rules also apply. Take a look.
Night shift premium– This provides a 5% incentive for deputies who work a night shift.
The past month has brought about a lot of negotiations for the DSA on behalf of our members. As DSA President, the forefront of my concern is always to fight for the best pay, benefits, and working conditions for our members. This mind set resulted in some back and forth as we fought to negotiate the best deal for the night shift premium, as this was the benefit that would most greatly impact our membership. While this adjustment does not negate the overwhelming sacrifice many of our members have made over the past 2 and a half years. my hope is that deputies can qualify this as a win by the DSA and the department.
Additionally, many members are aware of the new SEIU contract that was recently enacted by the county. What many members aren’t aware of is that academy cadets, both for the Detentions/Court Services Academy and the Regional Law enforcement Academy, fall under the SEIU PS (Public Services) bargaining group. The SEIU bargaining team successfully negotiated a slew of equity increases based off an equity study. These changes will increase a Detentions/Court Services Cadet pay nearly 48.46% over the term of the 3-year contract. For Deputy Sheriff’s Cadet’s, their pay will increase 29.64% over the life of the contract. While this is great for future members, it created a scenario where academy cadets were being paid more than some of our current deputies/members who are currently in Steps 1 and/or 2 of our salary schedules. The DSA advocated for an equity adjustment for our current members and was able to bump over 150 members to Step 3 to ensure they were not being paid less than their academy counterparts.
Our negotiations team is hard at work preparing for our upcoming negotiations cycle, which will begin in early 2023. Thank you to our members who participated in the DSA Negotiations Survey. These survey results will remain confidential, but we will be utilizing the data to prioritize and strategize for how the DSA Negotiations Chairs, our Attorney, the DSA Board of Directors, and our committee will navigate and plan for the upcoming bargaining. To stay up to date on new developments, please make sure you are subscribed to the DSA newsletter, register for an account on the DSA website, and check back every other month to my President’s report, as future updates will continue to be at the forefront of my reports.
Myself and the rest of the DSA Board are fully aware of the difficult and trying times our members are currently facing. Rest assured, we are strategically advocating for and working towards remedying the issues we each face and diligently working towards a contract that will help justify the sacrifices we each make.