State of California

  M E M O R A N D U M

  REFERENCE CODE:
  2001-048

  DATE:
  October 25, 2001

  TO:
  Personnel Officers
  Employee Relations Officers

  FROM:
  Department of Personnel Administration
  Classification and Compensation Division

  SUBJECT:
  State Restriction of Appointments (SROA) Program

  CONTACT:
  Jerri Judd, Manager, Personnel Services Branch
  (916) 324-0439
  FAX:  (916) 327-1886
  Email:  JerriJudd@dpa.ca.gov


  With the announcement that departments are to prepare for 
  statewide budget reductions (Executive Order D-48-01 and 
  Management Memo 01-21), the Department of Personnel 
  Administration (DPA) is taking steps to assist departments 
  in the placement of employees who may be subject to layoff.  
  Consequently, we are re-establishing the State Restriction 
  of Appointments (SROA) office in DPA.
  
  The SROA Program is intended to provide job placement 
  assistance to employees who are facing layoff.  Since June 
  1991, the SROA process has moved thousands of employees who 
  would have been laid off to positions with secure funding.  
  The SROA is utilized to coordinate efforts between 
  departments undergoing staff reductions and departments 
  that may be in a position to accept new staff.  This memo 
  outlines the methods that departments are to use in this 
  process.
  
  Staffing Reductions
  
  The following list contains some of the steps that should 
  be included in the planning and implementation of staffing 
  reductions.
  
  1.  Identify the specific positions that are to be 
  eliminated, and determine if it will be necessary to 
  conduct layoffs.  (Are positions vacant or filled?  
  Can transfers be made to other positions?  Are 
  employees interested in other mitigating options, as 
  described in PML 2001-050?) 
  2.  Identify the area of layoff.  Decisions made regarding the area of 
  layoff are probably the most sensitive, critical ones in the 
  layoff process because they determine (1) which employees will be 
  included in the layoff process; and (2) the rights of employees 
  who are adversely impacted by the layoff.  For example, the 
  decision to conduct a layoff on a statewide or geographic basis, 
  and including only certain classes, determines which employees 
  may be adversely impacted.  Also, decisions regarding demotional 
  patterns, including personal demotional patterns, greatly impact 
  employees' opportunities and rights to demote in-lieu-of layoff.  
  The area of layoff includes the classes in which layoffs will 
  occur, the number of positions, the primary and secondary 
  demotional patterns (including personal demotional rights), and 
  the geographic area.
  
  3.  Prior to submitting requests for seniority scores to the 
  Classification and Compensation Division (CCD), ensure that all 
  dates and hours of intermittent service are entered into affected 
  employees' work histories.
  
  4.  Prior to submitting requests for seniority scores, survey all 
  affected employees to determine if prior service has been 
  credited to them.  
  
  5.  Meet with DPA [CCD analyst and the assigned Labor Relations 
  Officer (LRO)] for approval of the layoff plan, including the 
  area of layoff, the inclusion of appropriate employees on SROA 
  lists, the computation of seniority scores, and steps to be taken 
  to mitigate the effects of the lay off in conformance with the 
  applicable bargaining unit contract.  (Refer to Section III of 
  the SROA Manual to determine eligibility for placement on SROA 
  lists and applicable contract sections.) 
  
  6.  Survey employees, if not done at time of employment, to identify 
  qualifying military service.
  
  SROA Program
  
  The following are reminders for those departments that are reducing 
  staff and those that are accepting new staff regarding the SROA 
  Program.
  
  1.  Departments that are reducing staff should remember that only 
  those employees actually in jeopardy of job loss should be placed 
  on SROA lists.  (Refer to SROA Manual Section III.B.2. for the 
  formula that is normally used to determine the number of 
  employees who are to be placed on SROA lists.)  This is essential 
  to the success of the SROA Program because it ensures that 
  employees on SROA lists are seriously looking for new employment 
  and are not merely shopping for the "perfect" jobs.  Flooding the 
  lists with senior employees, whose jobs are not in danger, 
  frustrates departments that conduct interviews and offer jobs 
  that are repeatedly turned down.
  
  2.  Departments that are accepting staff will be required to make 
  every effort to recruit from the SROA list.  The SROA exemption 
  process will be very restrictive.
  
  For more detailed information on layoff and the SROA Program, 
  departments that subscribe to the Personnel Information Exchange 
  (P.I.E), available on the DPA Web site, can access the Layoff and SROA 
  Manual using the following links:  
  
  http://www.dpa.ca.gov/pie/procedur/sroa/httoc.htm (SROA Manual)
  
  For those departments that do not have P.I.E. access, contact your 
  headquarters personnel office for a copy of the Layoff and SROA 
  manuals or contact the SROA Unit at DPA and we will provide you with a 
  copy.
  
  Questions regarding planning for staffing reductions should be 
  directed to your department's Classification and Compensation Division 
  analyst at DPA and questions specific to SROA should be directed to 
  the SROA Unit at DPA.  
  
  
  
  
  Michael T. Navarro, Chief
  Classification and Compensation Division