FROM: Colin Bishop, Chief of Member Services
SUBJECT: Returning Retiree Certification: Tamara Novotny-Kaup
RECOMMENDATION:
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Approve the request to extend employment of Tamara Novotny-Kaup from February 6, 2020 to February 5, 2021 because an extreme necessity exists to continue the retiree's employment beyond the 18-month limit, and thus the standards of SBCERA Board Benefits Policy No. 032: "Retirees Returning to Work," have been met.
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BACKGROUND:
Ms. Novotny-Kaup retired on March 22, 2014 and has been re-employed for two (2) years as a Sheriff's Communication Dispatcher II for the County of San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.
Her initial post-retirement employment began in January 2018, after the implementation of the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), which placed additional restrictions on retirees returning to work. In April 2018, the Board approved an updated version of its policy on "Retirees Returning to Work," which changed some of the processes for reviewing and permitting extensions for the re-employment of retirees, notably adding a provision for Board approval when the period of employment was either not specified or greater than 18 months.
The department is now making a request for extension which would cover the period of time from February 6, 2020 through February 5, 2021. This recent request outlines the critical shortage of Dispatchers despite aggressive recruitment efforts over the past year. During this time, the department had 370 applicants referred to them and interviewed 282 applicants. Of those, 47 were hired, including 6 Dispatcher 1 Trainees on January 6, 2020. The next Sheriff's Dispatch Academy is scheduled to start March 14, 2020 and there are additional applicants in the background check process. Despite several mass interview events and continuous recruitment efforts for dispatchers over the past year, the department still has 32 vacant Dispatcher positions amounting to nearly ...
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