Appealing Audit Findings
California Code of Regulations section 17013
If the county wishes to challenge the findings of an audit of its compliance with its approved personnel system, the county may request that the Director of CalHR convene a hearing to resolve the disputed audit findings within thirty (30) calendar days of the issuance of the audit report. The request must be in writing and must include a description of what parts of the audit report are disputed.
After the request has been filed, the county and a representative of CalHR ("the parties") will be notified that a Hearing Officer has been appointed. Within thirty (30) calendar days after the parties are notified of the appointment of the Hearing Officer, the parties must send a written statement of their positions to the Hearing Officer and to each other. After receiving and reviewing the parties' written statements, the Hearing Officer will decide if it is necessary to have oral presentations. If the Hearing Officer does request oral presentations, the Hearing Officer has discretion to determine the scope and manner of the presentations.
Thirty (30) calendar days after receiving all the material requested, the Hearing Officer will prepare a draft determination and submit it to the Director of CalHR (Director). The Director then has thirty (30) calendar days to act on the Hearing Officer's draft determination. The Director may adopt the draft determination or may require that additional information be provided to the Hearing Officer and that the decision be resubmitted to the Director after the receipt and consideration of that new information. If the Director fails to act within those thirty (30) calendar days, the draft decision will be considered adopted by the Director.
The burden is on the CalHR Representative to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the County's personnel system is out of compliance with the federal regulations.
The Director's decision will include a determination of whether the county's authority to operate all or part of its personnel system is rescinded or modified. If the Local Agency is directed to take action by the Director's final order and fails to do so in the designated period, the Director will notify the state officer responsible for administering the Program of his or her decision that the Local Agency is not in conformity with federal requirements.
