SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL

PURPOSE:

To provide departments with short term temporary help during times of peak load, temporary absence or emergency, and to allow the Personnel Department to monitor contracts with temporary services agencies.

LEGAL BASIS:

California Government Code Section 31000.4 defines the legal usage of temporary help firms, limitations and maximum duration of usage.
Contracts with three temporary help firms (Kelly, Olsten and Manpower) define the terms, classification, job requirements, pay to employees and other relevant factors.

POLICY:

It is the policy of the Personnel Department to assist departments in meeting their staffing needs with qualified persons, as quickly as is possible. In some cases the department's need for temporary help is so immediate that hiring from a eligible list is not practical. To solve this problem, we have entered into contracts with three temporary help agencies. 

PROCEDURE:

1. Requesting Temporary Help
   1. When a department has a need for temporary help due to a temporary peak load, temporary absence or emergency, they should notify their Personnel Analyst at the earliest possible time.

   2. Personnel will make every effort to provide timely staffing of the request through the use of an appropriate eligible list. 

   3. If a qualified employee cannot be obtained, and if the department has funds budgeted in Object 02 - account 25126, to cover the cost of a contracted temporary employee, the department should complete the form PER148 (Contracted Temporary Help Request Form) and submit it to Personnel. (Information on proper completion of the form is printed on the back. Information regarding cost of contracted temporary help can change frequently, and is always available from the Personnel Department.)

   4. Orders will be placed by Personnel on a blanket purchase order for each of the three agencies. Personnel will verify that a sufficient amount of money is encumbered for the department to cover the cost of the temporary placement.

   5. The temporary agencies will be instructed to bill the placement with the blanket purchase order number, the department index number and the department name and number.

   6. All bills will be sent to Personnel, who will verify the encumbrances and will forward the bill to the Departmental Personnel Liaison for payment.

   7. Departments will complete the appropriate sub-purchase order paperwork to authorize payment of the bills. 

2. Filling the Request 
   1. When a completed PER148 is received in Personnel, staff will make every effort to place the order to provide adequate advance coordination.

   2. In determining which agency to use, consideration will be made as to recent usage of each agency, to prevent overspending the limit of any of the contracts.

   3. Personnel Staff will calculate the approximate cost based on the information in the request form and the billing rates for the temporary services agency and verify that an appropriate amount has be encumbered in that purchase order for the department.

   4. Personnel will place the order and insure that it has been filled. 

   5. The vendor will contact the department directly for confirmation and will call Personnel to verify the placement.

   6. Personnel will document the placement on the PER148.

   7. When placement is made, Personnel will send a letter to the supervisor of the contracted temporary employee (Attachment I) and the contracted temporary employee (Attachment II), explaining the limits of the arrangement and providing general information about the placement. 

3. Encumbering Money
   1. Departments are surveyed prior to the start of the fiscal year regarding the amount budgeted in line item 25126 allocated for temporary help services.

   2. These amounts are encumbered in the vendor's purchase order by department index.

   3. All county departments who have funds budgeted in 25126 will have at least $1 encumbered in each of the three purchase orders. 

   4. At the time the order is placed/filled, Personnel staff will check the department's encumbrance to determine if it is sufficient to cover the anticipated cost of the order.

   5. On a bi-monthly basis, Personnel will submit a requisition to Purchasing, noting any appropriate changes required considering the vendor providing services, and the money amount determined to be required for appropriate payment for services.

   6. Departmental authorization of payment of bills verifies the appropriate encumbrances in the Department's 25126 Temporary Contract Services account, for the purpose of authorization of encumbrances. Personnel will do any change order requests to add or move money with the purchase orders.

   7. On a quarterly basis, Personnel will prepare a usage report by departments which will show the monies encumbered for each vendor, and the usage by vendor to date. Any differences will be reconciled at that point.

    

4. Billing
   1. When the bill arrives in Personnel, Personnel staff will insure that the amount is appropriate and that the department has sufficient funds encumbered to pay it. 

   2. The bill will be signed as approved by Personnel and forwarded to the Department Personnel Liaison for payment.

   3. If there is not sufficient money encumbered, Personnel staff will coordinate with the Departmental Personnel Liaison to resolve discrepancies as necessary.

5. Monitoring Expenditures
   1. The temporary help agencies will provide monthly reports to Personnel showing the usage for the month. 

   2. Personnel staff will review these reports to monitor the usage and to insure the contract limits are not exceeded. 

   3. Personnel staff will prepare an annual report for the fiscal year that summarize usage of the temporary agencies.