DATE: August 22, 2023
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Hollis Magill, Director of Human Resources
John Zanoni, Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator
SUBJECT: Temporary Employee Referral Incentive Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve a temporary Employee Referral Incentive program, effective September 4, 2023, providing a referral incentive payment of up to $1,000 to any eligible, current County employee who successfully refers an individual applicant for employment in a Correctional Officer position.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will implement an Employee Referral Incentive program that will galvanize current County employees to recruit and refer applicants to the Sheriff’s Office, specifically to be hired as Correctional Officers. The referral incentive will be up to one-thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per referral, split into two payments of five-hundred-dollars ($500.00) each, and will be paid by the Sheriff’s Office. The program will remain in effect for a period of six months, with an optional six-month extension if approved by the County Administrative Officer. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If your Board were to not approve this item, this temporary program would not go into effect and referral bonuses would not be issued.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Cost of referral bonuses will be contingent upon employees successfully referring an individual for employment in a Correctional Officer position in the Sheriff’s Office. Sufficient appropriations are included in the Sheriff’s Office Org 3111 FY 2023-24 Recommended Budget.
DISCUSSION:
The Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Human Resources are proposing a temporary Employee Referral Incentive Program in an innovative response to the increased Correctional Officer vacancy rate the County has struggled to address since the pandemic and the Correctional Officer hiring requirements stipulated in the Hall v. County Remedial Plan. This program will incentivize eligible, current County employees to recruit and refer applicants to be hired as Correctional Officers in an attempt to reduce this vacancy rate and increase compliance with the provisions of the Remedial Plan. Several other local public agencies have implemented similar programs to reward employees who act as unofficial recruiters and successfully refer quality law enforcement candidates for hire. It is the recommendation that this program be authorized for a six-month period, with the ability to extend the program for an additional six months with the approval of the County Administrative Officer.
Qualifying employees will receive an Employee Referral Incentive payment in the gross amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), paid in two five-hundred-dollar ($500.00) installments, contingent upon the successful hire of the referred individual as a Correctional Officer, and subsequent completion of the Correctional Officer probationary period. The Employee Referral Incentive is subject to state and federal taxes and any applicable payroll deductions and is non-pensionable.
Qualification for receipt of an Employee Referral Incentive will be based on the following criteria: 1) the referring employee must be an active, regular, full-time County of Fresno employee; 2) the referring employee cannot be an elected official, department head, executive member of the Sheriff’s Office, or specifically identified members of the Department of Human Resources or Sheriff’s Human Resources Unit; 3) the referred individual shall not be a current Sheriff’s Office employee; and 4) the referred individual may only identify one referring employee on their application for employment.
This program will be jointly overseen by the Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Human Resources. The Department of Human Resources will have the authority to resolve any conflict regarding eligibility, disagreement with terms, payment timelines, or other applicable issues related to this temporary program.
CAO ANALYST:
Greg Reinke