Placer Court notified UPE on June 10, 2024, of wanting to issue one-time monies to the bargaining unit. On June 26, 2024, UPE and members from the bargaining unit met with Court management to discuss “one-time money” for both Court Reporters and the rest of the employees represented by UPE.
Senate Bill 154 allocates funding for the recruitment and retention of Court Reporters due to a shortage of licensed, certified Court Reporters in California. SB 154 has been in place for the past couple of years, and Placer Court has been receiving $261,509.27 every year; however, Placer Court never allocated any monies towards current Court Reporters for retention purposes and sending most of these monies back to the State. Placer Court notified UPE that they now would like to allocate $5,000 for each Court Reporter, still sending most of the monies back to the State. At the table UPE proposed for each Court Reporter currently employed with Placer Court to receive $15,000. After an intense back-and-forth but productive conversation with your Court CEO, it was agreed that each Court Reporter would receive $15,000.
Placer Court also proposed a 2% one-time retention stipend of their annual salary for all other court employees in the bargaining unit. During discussions at the table, the court realized the tax implications of these monies and agreed to increase the one-time stipend to 2.28%.
These monies come with no strings attached, no contract extensions, and no givebacks!
Thank you, Renee Graham, Lacy Rees, and Linda Dunbar-Street, for participating in this meeting.