Palm Desert Municipal Code Art. III Types of Employment

The city has the following types of employment appointments, which may be full-time or part-time; temporary or seasonal.

(Ord. 1237 § 2, 2012)

Regular Full-Time Employment.

Employees are those who successfully complete the probationary period and who regularly work forty hours per week, the maximum number of hours scheduled by a department or division. Regular full-time employees receive all benefits outlined in the labor group bargaining agreements and in the municipal code, unless otherwise stated.

Regular Part-Time Employment.

Employees who are regularly scheduled to work twenty hours per week or more and who successfully complete the probationary period.

Regular part-time employees, provided they are employed on a basis of twenty or more hours per week, are eligible for vacation, sick leave, other leaves of absence credits, and CalPERS service credit, proportional to their assigned work hours. They are eligible for holiday pay in accordance with municipal code Section 2.52.700, Holidays.

Regular part-time employees (regularly scheduled for less than forty hours per week) will be eligible to receive fixed cost benefits such as health, dental, vision, long term disability and life insurance plans at a rate proportional to the hours they are scheduled to work unless otherwise provided for in a labor or employment agreement approved by the city council.

At-Will Employee.

"At-will" refers to any city employee hired after May 1, 2012, who: (1) does not hold regular status; (2) serves at the pleasure of the council, city manager or appointment authority; and (3) can be terminated at any time without cause and without the opportunity to appeal.

Acting Employees.

Acting employees are regular employees temporarily assigned to a position and who perform all the duties of a position other than the position the employee normally occupies. An acting employee can be removed from his or her acting position, and returned to his or her regular position, at any time without cause and with no right of appeal or hearing.

An employee appointed in an acting capacity shall receive the salary equivalent to Step 1 of the acting position, providing it is at least five percent higher and providing that the employee serves in the higher classification for at least thirty consecutive calendar days.

Acting appointments shall be made on a temporary, at-will basis. When the employee is relieved of the acting appointment, the employee shall be reinstated, without right of appeal, to the former position and the salary adjusted to the salary range of the former position at the appropriate step as if the temporary appointment had not occurred.

Temporary, Provisional or Seasonal Employees.

An employee who is assigned to work on a particular project or on a job of limited or definite duration, less than nine hundred ninety-nine hours annually, is a temporary, provisional or seasonal employee. A temporary, provisional or seasonal employee: (1) does not hold regular status; (2) does not serve a probationary period; (3) can be dismissed from city employment at any time without cause, right to appeal, grievance or hearing; and (4) is not entitled to earn, accrue, or participate in any city employee benefit plans, or paid or unpaid leaves, except as required by law.

Probationary Employees.

Probationary employees are employees who are newly hired and subject to a period of six months (one thousand forty hours) probation, which is also referred to as a probationary period.

The work and conduct of probationary employees will be subject to close scrutiny and evaluation. The probationary period is part of the selection process, and shall be considered to be a working test period during which an employee is required to demonstrate fitness for the appointed position by actual performance of the duties of the position.

At all times during the probationary period, employment with the city is considered to be at-will and the employment relationship may be terminated at any time for any reason by either party. As such, probationary employees serve at the will of the city and are subject to termination without cause and without the right of appeal or hearing, prior to the expiration of this period.

A probationary employee shall be evaluated by his or her supervisor at the end of the first three months of the probationary period. The evaluation will include a recommendation as to whether or not the employee should continue with the remaining three months of the probationary period.

Prior to the end of the six-month (one thousand forty hours) probationary period, the employee's supervisor will evaluate the employee's performance. If the supervisor's evaluation indicates that the employee is performing satisfactorily after his or her six months' probationary period, or has remedied any noted performance issues, and is continuing to perform satisfactorily, the supervisor shall submit a recommendation to the department of human resources that the employee has successfully completed his or her probationary period and should become a regular employee.

Copies of all evaluations made at any point during and at the conclusion of the probationary period shall be forwarded to the department head and the human resources department for inclusion in the employee's personnel file.

Probationary employees are eligible to be paid for recognized holidays. They will also accrue sick, vacation and floating holiday benefits.

The probationary period is not subject to extension except when the employee is on military leave, as described herein, or on another type of approved leave in which case the city manager will approve whether or not the period may be extended for the period of such leave.

Probation Period for Promoted Regular Employees. Regular employees appointed to a new position due to promotion will serve a three-month probationary period, with an interim review at six to eight weeks, unless they served in the position in an acting capacity for at least three months prior to their promotion.

During this probationary period, the city has the discretion to move the employee back to his or her prior position at will and without right of appeal if it determines that it is in the best interest of the city or if it determines that the employee is unable to satisfactorily perform the new position.

Transferred or promoted employees, although evaluated according to this policy, remain eligible for all benefits while demonstrating their ability to perform their new jobs.

FLSA Exempt Status.

Exempt Personnel, Group A. Certain positions are designated as being exempt from overtime provisions. Such positions are typically those held by managers, directors, high-level administrators, or professionals, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. These positions shall be identified by resolution. Among other things, positions requiring attendance at numerous extra hour meetings and conferences are designated as Exempt Personnel, Group A.

Exempt Personnel, Group B. Certain positions are designated as being exempt from overtime provisions. Such positions are typically those held by managers, directors, high-level administrators, or professionals, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. These positions shall be established by resolution. Among other things, positions requiring attendance at occasional extra hour meetings and conferences are designated as Exempt Personnel, Group B.

(Ord. 1237 § 2, 2012; Ord. 1260 § 1, 2013; Ord. 1319 § 1, 2017; Ord. 1372 § 4, 2021)