COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Employee and Public Services

DATE:

November 16, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

December 13, 2005

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Mary Welch, Employee and Public Services Director
Nancy Steiger, CEO, San Mateo Medical Center

SUBJECT:

Amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) –San Mateo Medical Center Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientist, Clinical Laboratory Scientist, Cytology Technologist Equities and Differentials

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution authorizing the President of the Board to execute an amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Responsive, effective and collaborative government.

Goal 20: Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain.

By successfully filling these long-standing vacancies, the cost of overtime will be reduced, and the Medical Center will increase its capacity to bring in and bill for tests that are currently being sent to reference laboratories for both the Medical Center and the Burlingame Long Term Care facility.

BACKGROUND:

In 2002, you authorized an MOU with AFSCME that included specific salary amounts and available differentials for classifications represented by AFSCME, including Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientist (formerly Supervising Medical Technologist), Clinical Laboratory Scientist (formerly Medical Technologist) and Cytology Technologist.

The Departments recently met with AFSCME representatives regarding extensive recruitment efforts made to fill vacancies in the classifications of Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientist (SCLS), Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) and Cytology Technologist (CT), and agreed to certain equity increases and differentials that will better meet Medical Center needs as well as attract more applicants.

DISCUSSION:

Due to the national scarcity of qualified medical professionals in the laboratory technologist field, the County’s extensive recruitment efforts to fill three SCLS, five CLS and one CT long-standing vacancies have not been successful. Advertisements have been placed on numerous websites and in various journals. Thousands of mailers have been sent to Lab Scientists in the greater Bay Area. Potential candidates have been contacted. To date, there have been no applications for the three SCLS positions, and very few viable applications for the other positions. Three applicants who were offered positions declined the offer because of the salary.

Although our salaries are somewhat competitive with our comparator counties, we are far behind the local private hospitals. We therefore received authorization from the County Manager’s Office to meet and confer with AFSCME regarding providing financial incentives in order to encourage more qualified candidates to apply for these hard-to-fill positions.

We have met and conferred with AFSCME on the following:

• A 10% equity increase for the classifications of Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientist and Clinical Laboratory Scientist.

• A 16.4% equity increase for the classification of Cytology Technologist.

• Allow for a second Clinical Laboratory Scientist to receive a 5.74% Lead differential, specifically for providing leadership on the evening shift.

• Create differentials for Clinical Laboratory Scientists who are cross-trained and agree to work on the evening or night shift. The differential for being cross-trained in two areas of specialization is 2.5% and the differential for being cross-trained in three or more areas is 5%.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The 10% increase for Clinical Laboratory Scientist and the 16.4% increase for the Cytology Technologist will put their salaries at $37.50/hr, well below the registry cost of $65.00/hr. Additionally, a contract with a registry firm also requires a $5,000.00 per month stipend for each individual.

If all positions were filled by January 1, 2006, the cost of the increased salaries would be $98,423.74 for one-half of the 2005-2006 fiscal year, or $196,847 annually.