8.1 The salary ranges for all nurses in the aforementioned representation unit will be as set forth in Exhibit A which is attached hereto and made a part As reflected in the Exhibits, salaries shall be adjusted as follows:
Effective the first full pay period following Board of Supervisor’s approval of a successor MOU in 2022, there will be a combined equity and cost of living adjustment of eight and one half percent (8.5%).
Effective the first full pay period following Union ratification and Board of Supervisors’ adoption of a successor MOU in 2022, each full time employee in active paid status will receive a lump sum payment of two thousand dollars ($2,000) as a non-discretionary incentive to ratify the agreement. It is the intent of the parties that the lump sum payments will not be treated as salary or wages, as the payments are not provided as compensation for hours of employment or longevity pay. The lump sum payments will not be included in overtime/regular rate of pay calculations, and there will be no roll up effect of the lump sum payments. The County will withhold taxes from lump sum payments in accordance with federal and state requirements. The lump sum amount will be prorated for part time employees.
Effective December 25, 2022, there will be a cost of living increase of three percent (3%).
Effective December 24, 2023, there will be a cost of living increase of four percent (4%).
Effective December 29, 2024, there will be a cost of living increase of four percent (4%).
8.2 The base salaries for the Staff Nurse Series, which includes the classifications listed below, will have an ongoing linkage:
- Ambulatory Care Nurse
- Correctional Health Nurse
- Critical Care Nurse
- Infusion Nurse
- Long Term Care Nurse
- Medical-Surgical Nurse
- Perioperative Nurse
- Psychiatric Nurse
Current salaries for the above classifications are equal. Any future requests for a salary review for any of these classifications will include a salary review of all the linked classifications as listed in this section.
The salary of the Community Mental Health Nurse is aligned with the Public Health Nurse.
Effective the first full pay period following Board of Supervisors’ approval of a successor MOU in 2022, for Nurses and Nurse Practitioners who work Extra Help assignments as Sexual Assault Response Team (“SART”) Nurses at the Keller Center, the following will apply:
(1) The on call pay rate will be twenty-five dollars ($25) per hour for all hours in an on call status, and which shall increase to twenty-eight dollars ($28) per hour for all hours in an on call status during a holiday.
(2)When called to investigate an alleged sexual assault case, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners who work Extra Help SART Nurse assignments will be compensated at a an hourly rate equal to that of Clinical Nurse Step E. SART nurses will receive a minimum of three (3) hours of overtime at this hourly rate when called to investigate a case.
This agreement is intended to amend the May 8, 2018 Side Letter between the parties entitled “Assignments on Sexual Assault Response Team (“SART”) Nurses at the Keller Center”.
8.3 Except as herein otherwise provided, the entrance salary for a new nurse entering County service shall be the minimum salary for the class to which When circumstances warrant, the HRD Director may, upon recommendation of the department head, approve an entrance salary which is more than the minimum salary. The Director’s decision shall be final. Such a salary may not be more than the maximum salary for the class to which that employee is appointed unless such salary is designated as a Y-rate by the Board of Supervisors.
8.4 Public Health Nurses shall be appointed at the “C” step of the salary range if the nurse has a MPH degree and at least one (1) year of experience, or five (5) years of Such experience must be in Public Health Nursing in an official setting.
8.5 Effective April 22, 2018, Nurses who have completed the equivalent of three (3) years of continuous full-time service with the County (6,240) shall receive experience pay in the amount of three percent (3%) of base pay.
Nurses who have completed the equivalent of ten (10) years of continuous full-time service with the County (20,800 hours) shall receive experience pay in the amount of two percent (2%) of base pay for a total of five percent (5%).
Nurses who have completed the equivalent of fifteen (15) years of continuous full-time service with the County (31,200 hours) shall receive additional experience pay in the amount of two percent (2%) of base pay for a total of seven percent (7%).
Nurses who have completed the equivalent of twenty (20) years of continuous full-time service with the County (41,600 hours) shall receive additional experience pay in the amount of two percent (2%) of base pay for a total of nine percent (9%).
Nurses who have completed the equivalent of twenty-five (25) years of continuous full-time service with the County (52,000 hours) shall receive additional experience pay in the amount of two percent (2%) of base pay for a total of eleven percent (11%).
8.6 Permanent and probationary nurses serving in regular established positions shall be considered by the appointing authority on their salary anniversary dates for advancement to the next higher step in the salary schedule for their respective classes based on hours served in that classification as defined All increases shall be effective at the beginning of the next full pay period. Salary range adjustments for a classification will not set a new salary anniversary date for nurses serving in that classification.
(1) After completing one thousand forty (1040) regular hours satisfactory service in Step A of the salary schedule, and upon the appointing authority’s recommendation, nurses shall be advanced to the next higher step in the salary schedule for the class. If a nurse is appointed at a step higher than the first step of the salary range for that class, the first merit increase shall be after completion of two thousand eighty (2080) regular hours of satisfactory service.
(2) After completing two thousand eighty (2080) regular hours satisfactory service in each of the salary step above A, and upon the appointing authority’s recommendation, nurses shall be advanced to the next higher step in the salary schedule for the class until the top step is reached.
(3) If a nurse completes the one thousand forty (1040) or two thousand eighty (2080) hours in the middle of a pay period, they shall be eligible for an increase as follows:
- if the merit increase period is completed during the first week of a pay period, the increase will be effective with the start of the then current pay period.
- if the merit increase period is completed during the second week of a pay period, the increase will be effective with the start of the next pay period.
(4) Upon recommendation of the appointing authority and approval by the HRD Director, nurses may receive special merit increases at intervals other than those specified in this Section. The Director’s decision shall be final.
8.7 Each nurse shall be considered for salary step increases according to the date of that nurse’s appointment, or the revised salary anniversary If a nurse begins service later than the first business day of a biweekly pay period, or has changes which would cause the salary anniversary date to be other than the first business day of a biweekly pay period, then the salary anniversary date shall be determined from the first day of the following biweekly pay period.
Changes in a nurse’s salary because of promotion, upward reclassification, postponement of salary step increase, or special merit increase will set a new salary anniversary date, which date shall be as stated in the preceding paragraph.
Nurses who are rejected during the probationary period and revert to their former classification shall return to the salary anniversary date held in the former class unless otherwise determined by the HRD Director.
The salary anniversary date for a nurse shall not be affected by a transfer, downward reclassification or a demotion.
A permanent nurse accepting provisional employment in a higher or different class in the Classified Service, who reverts to the former class, shall retain the salary anniversary date in the former class on the same basis as if there had been no such provisional appointment.
Upon the appointing authority’s recommendation and approval of the HRD Director, provisional, temporary and extra help nurses shall be advanced to the next higher step in the salary schedule upon completion of the periods of service prescribed in this Section, provided that their service has been satisfactory. Also, upon the appointing authority’s recommendation and approval by the Director, continuous service in a provisional, temporary or extra help capacity shall be added to service in a regular established position for purposes of determining a nurse’s salary anniversary date, eligibility for salary increases, and vacation and sick leave accrual. Such service may not be added if it preceded a period of over 28 consecutive calendar days during which the nurse was not in a pay status, except when the nurse is absent from the position due to an injury or disease for which they are entitled to and currently receiving Workers’ Compensation benefits.
8.8 Salary Step When Salary Range Is Revised
Whenever the salary range for a class is revised, each incumbent in a position to which the revised schedule applies shall remain at the step in the previous range, unless otherwise specifically provided for by the Board of Supervisors.
8.9 Salary Step After Promotion or Demotion
When a nurse is promoted from a position in one class to a position in a higher class, and at the time of promotion is receiving a base salary equal to, or greater than, the minimum base rate for the higher class, that nurse shall be entitled to receive the next step in the salary schedule of the higher class which is at least 5.7% above the rate they have been receiving, except that the next step shall not exceed the maximum salary of the higher class. When a nurse is demoted, whether such demotion is voluntary or otherwise, that nurse’s compensation shall be adjusted to the salary prescribed for the class to which demoted, and the specific rate of pay within the range shall be determined by the HRD Director, whose decision shall be final; provided, however, that the Board of Supervisors may provide for a rate of pay higher than the maximum step of the schedule for the nurse’s class, and designate such rate of pay as a Y rate, and also provided that a nurse demoted as a result of abolition of a position shall be placed at the salary step in the lower class which most closely approximates (but does not exceed) their salary in the higher class.
8.10 ‘‘Y’’ Rate Process
When a nurse is reclassified downward, she/he shall continue in their present salary range, with cost of living adjustments, for two years, at which point their salary shall be frozen (“Y” – rated) until the salary assigned to the lower class equals or exceeds such “Y” rate. The “Y” rate provisions of this section shall not apply to layoffs, demotions, or other personnel actions resulting in an incumbent moving from one position to another.
8.11 Nurse Practitioner Exempt Status
Nurse Practitioners shall have exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and do not receive compensation for hours worked in excess of forty (40) per week.
Effective the first full pay period following Board of Supervisor’s approval of a successor MOU in 2022, full-time regular Nurse Practitioners shall receive the equivalent of five (5) hours per pay period, which shall be prorated for part time regular employees.
Administrative leave can be accrued up to a maximum of two hundred sixty (260) hours, at which point employees shall stop accruing administrative leave until such time the total number of accrued hours is reduced below two hundred sixty (260) hours.
Processes for advanced approvals for time off will not change and the Nurse Practitioners will be expected to follow established policies when requesting to use this time.
In lieu of using administrative leave hours for paid time off, an employee will be permitted to elect to receive cash payment (i.e., “cash out”) of their unused administrative leave hours, subject to the following guidelines:
- An employee’s cash out election must be made in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the County pays the cash out amount to the employee. Such election must be made no later than the close of business on December 31st. An election to cash out (or to not cash out) administrative leave is irrevocable and may not be changed.
- An employee may elect to cash out only administrative leave amounts that the employee is scheduled to accrue in the following year (for example, for full time employees, this will be 5 hours per pay period x 26 pay periods = 130 hours max per year)
- Payments of an employee’s cash out election will be made in the calendar year following election, in the final full payroll period.
- The County’s payment of the employee’s elected cash out amount may not exceed the lesser of (i) the total hours of administrative leave actually accrued by the employee in the year of cash out, or (ii) the employee’s unused administrative leave balance as of the cash out payment date.
8.12 Affiliate Staff Dues
For Nurse Practitioners and Supervising Nurse Practitioners who are required to pay affiliate staff dues to the San Mateo Medical Center, the County agrees to pay the annual affiliate staff dues per employee for the term of this agreement. These funds are in addition to the educational expenses detailed in Section 23.11.