State of California M E M O R A N D U M REFERENCE CODE: PML 96-038 DATE: July 19, 1996 TO: Personnel Officers Employee Relations Officers Departmental Mentor Coordinators FROM: Department of Personnel Administration Office of the Director SUBJECT: Executive Order W-132-96 (Mentoring) CONTACT: Gloria Moore Andrews (916) 324-9373, CALNET 454-9373 Office Vision: DPA(GMANDREW) INTERNET: GMANDREW@SMTP.DPA.CA.GOV This memo only applies to managers, supervisors, confidentials, and other employees excluded from collective bargaining. The Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) will be proposing a similar policy for rank-and-file employees at the bargaining table. Until we reach agreement with the unions, rank-and-file employees are not covered by this policy. The Governor signed Executive Order W-132-96 (copy attached) on April 3, 1996, directing State agencies, departments, boards, and commissions to allow and encourage employees to engage in mentoring activities. Mentoring activities include structured, one-to-one relationships which are focused on the needs of at-risk children or youths (Grades K-12) organized through a bonafide mentoring organization. Eligible excluded employees may receive up to 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 this activity. "Mentoring leave" is paid leave time which may only be used by an employee to mentor. This leave does not count as time worked for purposes of overtime. "Mentoring leave" may not be used for travel to and from the mentoring location. In order to be eligible for "mentoring leave," an employee must: 1. have a permanent full-time appointment; 2. have successfully completed the probationary period for their current position; and 3. have committed to mentor a child or youth through a bonafide mentoring organization for a minimum of one school year. (Most programs are aligned with the child's normal school year; however, there may be some that are less or more. Department management may make exceptions to the one school year commitment based on the mentor program that is selected.) In addition, an employee is not eligible to receive "mentoring leave" if: 1. he or she is assigned to a "post" position in the Department of Corrections or the California Youth Authority; or 2. he or she works in a level of care position in the Departments of Developmental Services and Mental Health or its equivalent in the Departments of Education and Veterans' Affairs. While 24-hour care personnel and post position employees are not eligible for "mentoring leave," it is strongly encouraged that they participate in mentoring activities. An employee must use an equal number of hours of his or her personal time (approved annual leave, vacation, personal leave, personal holiday, or CTO during the work day and/or personal time during non-working hours) prior to requesting "mentoring leave." For example, if an employee requests two hours of "mentoring leave," he or she must have used two verified hours of his or 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. "Mentoring leave" approvals shall be subject to verification of time spent mentoring from the bonafide mentoring organization. Approval of requests are also subject to operational needs of the State, budgetary limits, and any limitations imposed by law. Other leaves (e.g., vacation, annual leave, personal leave) requested by employees to mentor are subject to the same approval requirements in existing departmental policies. Attached are "Guidelines for Identifying Bonafide Mentoring Organizations." This will assist you in determining whether an organization is bonafide or not. If you have any additional questions regarding bonafide mentoring organizations, staff at the Mentor Resource Center, Department of Alcohol and Drug Program, can help you at 1-800-444-3066. The Governor has directed each Department Director to develop an action plan outlining their mentoring goals by August 1, 1996. Part of the action plan must include how mentoring results will be measured, including the number of employees engaged in mentoring and the number of hours mentored. Developing a system to track the use of "mentoring leave" will enable you to identify some of the hours utilized for this purpose. Although Workweek Group (WWG) 4C employees are not required to maintain an hourly accounting of their time, we believe that in order to track the success of the State's mentoring efforts, WWG 4C employees must be required to record their use of "mentoring leave" even if the leave is utilized in less than eight-hour increments. Departmental processes for implementing the use of "mentoring leave" for non- represented employees must be in place no later than January 1, 1997. However, it is strongly recommended that a process be in place this fall to coincide with the mentor recruitment and training efforts that are anticipated to take place. The State Controller's Office Automated Leave System will be able to record employees' use of "mentoring leave." This will make it easier for departments that use the system to retrieve information regarding "mentoring leave" usage. Please note that this program is not the same as the program outlined in the Family School Partnership Act which allows State employees to use 40 hours of accrued leave time each calendar year to participate in the school activities of their own children (PML Memo 95-026). Again, DPA's Labor Relations Division will be working with exclusive representatives to allow rank-and-file employees to be eligible to receive "mentoring leave." When agreements are reached, you will be notified. Until that time, any current policies you may have in place for rank- and-file employees shall continue. Although only excluded employees are eligible to receive "mentoring leave," rank- and-file employees should also be encouraged to participate in departmental mentoring programs. If you have any questions regarding the use of "mentoring leave" or the progress of bargaining regarding "mentoring leave," please contact Gloria Moore Andrews, Labor Relations Officer. David J. Tirapelle Director Attachments to be provided with the hard copy of this PML.