State of California

  M E M O R A N D U M

  REFERENCE CODE:
  2001-044

  DATE:
  October 19, 2001

  TO:
  Accounting Officers
  Employee Relations Officers
  Mentor Coordinators
  Personnel Officers

  FROM:
  Department of Personnel Administration
  Policy Development Division

  SUBJECT:
  Mentoring Leave - Excluded Employees and Bargaining Units 
  10, 12, 16, 18, and 19

  CONTACT:
  Charlotte Gehringer, Personnel Management Analyst
  (916) 323-6938
  FAX:  (916) 324-9393
  Email:  CharlotteGehringer@dpa.ca.gov


  The Department of Personnel Administration has changed the 
  criteria governing mentoring leave.  These changes, which 
  are effective October 1, 2001, apply to excluded employees.  
  The provisions have also been agreed to with Bargaining 
  Units 10, 12, 16, 18, and 19.  
  
  Mentoring leave formerly required permanent, full-time 
  appointment.  However, probationary employees can 
  participate if they have completed a civil service 
  probationary period and have permanent civil service 
  status.
  
  Because of the former full-time requirement, permanent 
  part-time and permanent intermittent employees were not 
  included in mentoring leave.  However, these employees may 
  now receive a prorated amount of mentoring leave based upon 
  their time base if they have completed a civil service 
  probationary appointment.  For example, a half-time 
  employee is eligible for twenty (20) hours of "mentoring 
  leave" per calendar year, and an intermittent employee 
  working a monthly equivalent of 160 hours may earn 3.33 
  hours of mentoring leave.
  
  State Bargaining Units that have agreed to mentoring leave 
  provisions should refer to the mentoring leave provisions 
  in their most recent collective bargaining agreement. 
  Participation in mentoring leave requires that the employee commit to 
  mentor a child or youth through a mentoring organization that meets 
  the Quality Assurance Standards established by the California 
  Mentoring Initiative Office, Department of Alcohol & Drug Programs.
  
  The attached "Mentoring Leave Criteria" reflects the foregoing 
  changes.  For information regarding the application of new mentoring 
  provisions, please contact the DPA Labor Relations Division at 
  (916) 324-0476 and ask for the Labor Relations Officer assigned to the 
  appropriate bargaining unit.
  
  
  
  
  Bob Painter, Chief
  Policy Development Office
  
   
  Mentoring Leave Criteria
  (Revised 10/1/01)
  
  
  A.  Eligible full-time employees may receive up to forty (40) hours of 
  "mentoring leave" per calendar year to participate in mentoring 
  activities once they have used an equal amount of their personal time 
  for these activities.  "Mentoring leave" is paid leave time, which may 
  only be used by an employee to mentor.  Mentoring Leave does not count 
  as time worked for purposes of overtime, and this time may not be used 
  for travel to and from the mentoring location.
  
  B.  An employee must use an equal number of hours of his/her personal 
  time (approved annual leave, vacation, personal leave, personal 
  holiday, or CTO during the workday and/or personal time during 
  nonworking hours) prior to requesting "mentoring leave."  For example, 
  if an employee requests two (2) hours of "mentoring leave," he/she 
  must have used two (2) verified hours of his/her personal time prior 
  to receiving approval for the "mentoring leave."  "Mentoring leave" 
  does not have to be requested in the same week or month as the 
  personal time was used.  It does, however, have to be requested and 
  used before the end of the calendar year.
  
  C.  Prior to requesting mentoring leave and in accordance with 
  departmental policy, an employee shall provide his/her supervisor with 
  verification of personal time spent mentoring from the mentoring 
  organization.
  
  D.  Requests for approval of vacation, CTO, and/or annual leave for 
  mentoring activities are subject to approval requirements in this 
  Contract and in existing departmental policies.  Requests for approval 
  of mentoring leave are subject to operational needs of the State, 
  budgetary limits, and any limitations imposed by law.
  
  E.  In order to be eligible for "mentoring leave," an employee must:  
  1) have a permanent appointment, OR a probationary appointment, having 
  successfully completed a probationary period in another class, 
  obtaining permanent civil service status; AND 2) have committed to 
  mentor a child or youth through a mentoring organization that meets 
  the quality assurance standards, for a minimum of one school year.  
  NOTE:  Most programs are aligned with the child's normal school year.  
  However, department management may make exceptions to the school year 
  commitment based on individual mentor programs.
  
  F.  Permanent part-time and permanent intermittent employees may 
  receive a prorated amount of mentoring leave based upon their time 
  base.  For example, a half-time employee is eligible for twenty (20) 
  hours of "mentoring leave" per calendar year.  An intermittent 
  employee working a monthly equivalent of 160 hours may earn 3.33 hours 
  of mentoring leave.
  
  G.  An employee is NOT eligible to receive mentoring leave if:  
  1) he/she is assigned to a "post" position in the Department of 
  Corrections or Youth Authority; or 2) he/she works in a level of care 
  position in the Departments of Developmental Services, Mental Health, 
  Education, and Veterans' Affairs.