​Delegation Project Frequently Asked Questions

​No. The CEA salary cap is limited to classification code 7500 CEAs and does not include any pay differentials received by the CEAs. Pay differentials are not counted for or against the CEA salary cap.

​Government Code 12439 applies to positions. The “CEA concept” is distinct from the position. The CEA concept comprises the body of duties and scope of policy responsibility that the State Personnel Board (SPB) approved as meeting the CEA category definition. A CEA concept itself is not tied to a particular position at the time of its establishment by the five-member board. If a department loses the funding for a vacant CEA position after six months, that sweep of funds does not remove the authority SPB granted the department to have a person in the CEA classification perform that specific body of work. In other words, the concept survives even if funding changes.

​PMD considers a CEA concept to be “inactive” if it remains unfilled for six months or more. Inactive CEA concepts continue to count toward the CEA salary cap for up to five years. When a CEA concept has been unfilled for five years, CalHR considers the CEA concept “abolished” by default and will no longer count that CEA concept toward the department’s CEA salary cap.

​When a CEA position is converted to an Exempt, PMD may issue an addendum that lowers the department’s overall salary cap by removing the converted CEA concept. The department should not use the salary cap dollars associated with that converted CEA concept to enable increases for the other remaining CEAs. Contact the department’s assigned PMD consultant for further instruction.

​​To address the critical need for succession planning, departments may allow an overlap of employees in a CEA concept while the outgoing incumbent orients and mentors the new appointee. The duration of the overlap for such knowledge transfer may last up to four months. During the overlap period, departments should put the new appointee’s name in the incumbent column of the monthly CEA reporting worksheet, and put the outgoing CEA incumbent’s name in the comments column of the report, with a note indicating the overlap is due to knowledge transfer. Only the new appointee’s salary will be counted against the department’s cap during that period.

​Yes. A delegated department may provide a CEA an increase of greater than five percent if the department can accommodate the increase without exceeding its PMD-established salary cap. However, a five percent increase is a best practice that helps departments maintain equity and enables departments to consider future CEA salary movement needs while remaining within the established salary cap. The department must justify and document its internal approval of the salary exception using the CalHR 881 form for its records and in case of an audit. Departments must manage their own CEA salary program responsibly within their salary cap. Per the CEA Delegation Agreement, CEA salary adjustments made under delegated authority shall not result in increases to the department’s budget or to the department’s overall CEA salary cap.

​Yes. A delegated department may negotiate pay upon appointment of a CEA in excess of what is described in CCR 599.991 if the department can accommodate the increase without exceeding its PMD-established salary cap. The department must justify and document its internal approval of the salary exception using the CalHR 881 form for its records and in case of an audit. Departments must manage their own CEA salary program responsibly within their salary cap. Per the CEA Delegation Agreement, CEA salary adjustments made under delegated authority shall not result in increases to the department’s budget or to the department’s overall CEA salary cap.

​Yes. A delegated department may pay a CEA above the max of its level if the department can accommodate the increase without exceeding its PMD-established salary cap. The department must justify and document its internal approval of the salary exception using the CalHR 881 form for its records and in case of an audit. Departments must manage their own CEA salary program responsibly within their salary cap. Per the CEA Delegation Agreement, CEA salary adjustments made under delegated authority shall not result in increases to the department’s budget or to the department’s overall CEA salary cap.

​Yes. A delegated department may pay a CEA that is not an attorney, engineer or physician above the max of Level C (into what has historically been considered the “restricted zone”) if the department can accommodate the increase without exceeding its PMD-established salary cap. (As of June 9, 2015, the maximum of the CEA pay range is $14,058 per month. This may be adjusted in the future as a result of general salary increases.) The department must justify and document its internal approval of the salary exception using the CalHR 881 form for its records and in case of an audit. Departments must manage their own CEA salary program responsibly within their salary cap. Per the CEA Delegation Agreement, CEA salary adjustments made under delegated authority shall not result in increases to the department’s budget or to the department’s overall CEA salary cap.

​A retired annuitant should only be appointed to a class that is appropriate for the duties to be performed. Per the Classification and Pay Guide, Section 400, a retired annuitant may only be appointed to a CEA position if the position’s concept has been established by the State Personnel Board and the retired annuitant is to perform the specific approved duties of that CEA concept. A retired annuitant must have reinstatement eligibility for any classification to which he or she is appointed, as outlined under Government Code 19144. PMD recommends making any such appointment as brief in duration as possible to meet organizational needs.

​Yes. PMD will issue an addendum to the delegation agreement, amending the salary cap to accommodate the new CEA. Departments must complete the CalHR 881 form, including the proposed level and salary, and submit the new CEA request package to the assigned PMD consultant to establish a new CEA. Once the new CEA is approved, the department will receive a salary cap addendum.

​CalHR’s historical policy and past practice has been that compaction exists where a CEA’s negotiated maximum salary is not 2.5% to 5% greater than the maximum salary of the highest subordinate classification reporting to the CEA.

In addition to the compaction differential listed above, per the CEA Delegation Agreement, there are additional considerations that need to be made in order to confirm that a compaction differential is appropriate:

1. Salary compaction for a CEA only occurs in cases where the CEA carries the same technical/professional responsibility, including the possession of the required licensure/certifications, as the employee(s) who report directly to them. For example, if a CEA is only providing administrative oversight, it would not be appropriate to provide the CEA a salary increase based on compaction with a higher paid subordinate classification.
2. Departments shall not intentionally create salary compaction via a reorganization or other means to inflate the level allocation or salaries if there is no documented, legitimate business need driving the reorganization or request.
3. A CEA may report to a CEA of the same level as long as a compaction differential of at least 2.5% to 5% is maintained, and all other compaction considerations are met.
   

If a department is seeking a salary increase for a CEA due to compaction, and are not requesting an increase to their CEA salary cap, departments shall document the increase on the CalHR-881 and report the increase on their Delegation Report.

If a department is seeking a salary increase for a CEA due to compaction, and are also requesting an increase to their CEA salary cap, departments shall send the request to their PMD Consultant for approval. The request should include the completed CalHR-881, the current organization chart, and the proposed organization chart (if applicable). CalHR may approve a higher negotiated maximum salary due to compaction.

If you are considering a salary adjustment due to compaction, please contact your PMD Consultant for further information.

​No. As no action needs to be taken on the employee’s work history, the final determination letter does not need to be sent to the State Controller’s Office.

​No. The “action” referred to in Government Code 19257.5 means that the final determination letter must be dated and mailed one day before the one-year anniversary of the unlawful appointment effective date. PMD recommends mailing unlawful appointment determination letters with a certified “return receipt.”

​No. Delegated departments do not have the discretion to “ignore” an unlawful appointment when they become aware of it. By signing the Unlawful Appointment Investigation Delegation Agreement, delegated departments agree to “comply with the laws and rules governing equitable administration of the civil service merit system.” CalHR’s training website provides more information on the merit system.

​If the employee is new to state service, yes, the department may have to key the unlawful appointment in order to pay the employee for the work already performed. If the employee is already a state employee, the department may be able to use alternative means, such as an out-of-class assignment, to pay the employee for the work performed rather than knowingly keying an unlawful appointment. If a department has other means to pay the employee but knowingly keys the unlawful appointment anyway, the appointment will likely be considered to have been made in bad faith by the department.

​No. The department must investigate the potential unlawful appointment and then take action as it would for any other unlawful appointment. Terminating the limited-term appointment alone does not void the appointment and could inappropriately enable the employee to use the limited-term unlawful appointment experience to qualify for promotional examination and appointments.

​Delegated departments do not have authority to investigate other departments’ unlawful appointments. The discovering department should inform its PMD consultant and PMD will refer the matter to the appropriate department for investigation.

​Yes. Once a delegated department has discovered a potential unlawful appointment, even if it is more than one year old, the department has a responsibility to investigate and resolve the potential unlawful appointment. This is the same standard that PMD and SPB upheld prior to delegation. The one-year statute of limitations on unlawful appointments found in Government Code 19257.5 applies only to appointments made and accepted in good faith. Therefore, an investigation must still be conducted to determine whether good faith existed when the appointment was made and accepted. If the appointment was not made and accepted in good faith, the one-year statute of limitations does not apply and the appointment must be voided under California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Section 266.

​No. When voided, the unlawful appointment is treated as if it never occurred for all aspects of the appointment except what is defined as “compensation” by California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Section 9. “Compensation” as used in Government Code Section 19257 does not include tenure in a position, seniority credits, permissive reinstatement, eligibility, mandatory reinstatement rights, eligibility to take promotional examinations, career credits, permanent or probationary status and service toward completion of the probationary period; nor continuity of service when used to determine the employee's right to or eligibility for any of the foregoing.