2023 - 2026 ESC Memorandum of Understanding: Article 5: Salaries

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What’s on this Page

• 5.1 Salary Scales
• 5.2 Benchmark and Related Classifications
• 5.3 Salary Increases
  • 5.3.1 Salary Adjustments
  • 5.3.2 Cost of Living Adjustments
  • 5.3.3 Additional Salary Adjustments: Staff Psychiatrist
• 5.4 Hourly Cash Allowance
• 5.5 Comparison Agencies

Read Next: Article 6: Hours of Work and Overtime

The salary scales shown in Appendix A, of this Memorandum will be applicable to employees in this unit.

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Benchmark and Related Classifications including negotiated salary relationships are shown in Appendix B.

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5.3.1 Market Adjustments 

Effective the pay period that begins May 30, 2023, contingent on Board adoption by June 6, 2023: The County will increase the A-I Steps of each ESC represented benchmark classification by the percentage specified in Appendix A-1. The County will concurrently increase the A-I Steps of each ESC represented non-benchmark classification salary scale based on the County’s internal salary administration alignments. 

No salaries will be reduced as a result of these adjustments.

5.3.2 Cost of Living Adjustments

During the three-year Agreement, the County will provide three salary adjustments for ESC represented classifications. The effective dates and amounts of the cost of living adjustments are as follows:

Effective June 13, 2023: The County will increase by five percent (5%) the A-I Step of each scale in the Salary Table specified in Appendix A and attached to this Agreement.

Effective April 2, 2024: The County will increase by four percent (4%) the A-I Step of each scale in the Salary Table specified in Appendix A and attached to this Agreement.

Effective April 1, 2025: The County will increase by four percent (4%) the A-I Step of each scale in the Salary Table specified in Appendix A and attached to this Agreement.    

The following language is for historical reference only and does not apply to salary increases in the 2023-2026 Agreement. Any future application of the formula below will be subject to negotiations between the parties. During the 2019-2023 Agreement, the County provided four salary adjustments for ESC represented classifications.   The effective dates and amounts of the cost of living adjustments were as follows:

Effective August 13, 2019:   The County increased by three percent (3%) the A-I Step of each scale in the Salary Table specified in Appendix A and attached to this Agreement.

Effective April 7, 2020:  The County increased by three percent (3%) the A-I Step of each scale in the Salary Table specified in Appendix A and attached to this Agreement.

Effective April 6, 2021 and March 22, 2022:  For salary increases for years 3 and 4 of the 2019-2023 Agreement, the County increased the A-I Step of each scale in the Salary Table by at least two percent (2%) and not more than four percent (4%).  The actual amount of the increase each year within 2% and 4% was determined by the lesser amount of the two following calculations:

• The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward All Urban Annual Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in January 2021 and January 2022 for the preceding December percentage change from December of the prior year.
• The County’s actual annual growth percentage of secured property taxes collected between fiscal years 2018-19 and 2019-20 for year 3 salary adjustment; and between fiscal years 2019-20 and 2020-21 for year 4 salary adjustment, divided by 1.5, respectively.

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The County shall pay each permanent full and part time employee, in addition to their hourly regular earning rate from the salary schedule, a cash allowance of $3.45 per pay status hour that the employee is in paid status excluding overtime, up to a maximum of eighty (80) hours in a pay period (or approximately a maximum of $600.00 per month).

Such hourly cash allowance is compensation for services rendered in that pay-period and shall be taken into account for the purposes of computing employees' final compensation for pension purposes, as well as all usual taxation as their regular earning rate from the salary schedule.  It shall not be included on the salary schedule and shall not be impacted by future increases on the salary schedule.  It is not intended as a supplement toward medical, dental, or any other insurance or benefit.

Effective the pay period that begins July 11, 2023, the County will increase the current “I” step of each job classification in the Salary Table specified in Appendix A by $3.45/hour. The County will then recalculate each salary range/salary scale in Appendix A from the adjusted “I” step in order to maintain an approximate 2.5% differential between salary steps consistent with the definition of “Salary Scale” as defined in Article 2: Definitions.

Concurrently (i.e. effective July 11, 2023), the County will reduce the hourly cash allowance to $0.00 per pay status hour that the employee is in paid status, excluding overtime, up to a maximum of 80 hours in a pay period.

Effective the first full pay period in July 2023 and July 2024, each regular, full-time employee hired prior to June 30, 2023, who on the last day of the pay period are in a step below the “I” step of the salary scale, shall receive a one-time, non-recurring, pensionable lump sum payment in the amount listed below:

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Unless mutually agreed to, all classifications covered within Bargaining Unit 75, Health Professionals, shall utilize the following for comparable agency purposes:

Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Napa County, Sacramento County, San Luis Obispo County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County, and Solano County, shall all be included as comparable agencies.

The benchmark market average will henceforth be determined by ascertaining the total compensation of each benchmark classification within each agency within the composite list of ten agencies then removing the agency with the highest and the agency with the lowest total compensation per benchmark classification. If less than six match classes exist, the counties with the highest and lowest total compensation will not be removed from the calculation.

For purposes of understanding market data in applicable classification studies, the top-step salary of comparable job classifications within the composite list of ten agencies will be determined, then the agency showing the highest and the agency showing the lowest top-step salary will be removed from the calculation. At least four match classes must exist in the calculation in order to conclude there is sufficient market data.

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