Greetings, UPE Family! On August 20, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met with Labor Relations and the Department of Health Services, Public Health Division regarding the revision of the Employee Safety Policy. After the meeting, UPE determined that the revision of the policy had little to no impact on the membership. There were small grammatical and formatting issues that need to be addressed prior to publishing and implementation. UPE requested to receive a copy of the final

Greetings, Union Sisters and Brothers, On August 12, 2026, your 005 board members and subject matter experts met with DHA management regarding the CMISP line function at East Commerce, following the closure of 28th Street. We met with management regarding the transfer of this duty earlier this year, and we were told that all members in the BCW unit at East Commerce would be trained to assist the current staff with this phone line. That did not happen until now, 6 months later

Greetings UPE Family! On August 5, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met with Labor Relations and Employment Services regarding the Child Development Specialist Class Study. Previously, the CDS I and II classes were separate and had a one (1) year probationary period; they are now tied together as CDS I/II, as all other classifications that have a level I and II are, and the probationary period is now six (6) months. This creates a clearer pathway for CDS I’s to promote to C

Greetings UPE Family! On August 4, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met with the department regarding the closure of the Ombudsperson’s Office within DCFAS. The work was shifted to its respective divisions within the Office Technical (005) bargaining unit. At the start of the meeting, the department presented year-to-date data regarding call volume. The most impact was within CPS (Child Protective Services), which your UPE team found to be of minimal impact. UPE requested that

Greetings, Union Sisters and Brothers, On August 6th, 2026, your UPE 008 board members met with DHA management to continue our discussion on Welfare-to-Work (WTW) sanction and exempt cases. After 45 days, sanction cases will go to the continuing case bank, and exempt cases will go to the continuing bank after 90 days. If, after 90 days, staff still want to monitor their case, they can let their supervisor know. This will help to reduce staff handoffs and additional work whe

On July 10, 2026, UPE spoke before the Sacramento County Civil Service Commission in opposition to the Collection Service Agent Series Class Study. In particular, UPE objected to the creation of a lower-paid classification that will duplicate the collection duties of current Collection Service Agents and potentially undermine the ability of Collection Service Agents to meet minimum requirements and/or qualify for the 9.2% differential. The Civil Service Commission was recept

On June 10, 2026, UPE began meeting and conferring with the Department of Finance over changes to the Performance Standards used in Consolidated Utilities and Billing Service (CUBS). Performance Standards have long existed in CUBS, but the standards and underlying criteria have not been updated since the 1990s, according to CUBS leadership. UPE has been pushing the Department to re-evaluate the Performance Standards during the ongoing meet and confer over the UBSR Class Study

UPE met and conferred with Sacramento County regarding its proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy and updates to the Wireless Communication Devices Policy. As a result of UPE's advocacy, the following employee protections were included in the Wireless Communication Devices Policy: * Employee Privacy: County-issued wireless devices will not be used to monitor or track employees, and any location data associated with the devices will not be used for disciplinary purposes.

Greetings, Union Brothers and Sisters, Your negotiations team met with the department because the Research, Fulton & Susie Gaines bureaus have run out of space for employees. The department’s proposed solution was to uproot seasoned workers at Research & Fulton from their permanent private workspaces and force them to occupy interview booths. Susie Gaines will be forcing outstation workers to give up their bureau workspace and permanently remain at their outstation locations.

Greetings UPE Family! Tuesday, July 21, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met with the department regarding the current vacation restrictions. First things first, the department (so they say) has no clue as to when ILT for CARES will even start. They say that the state keeps pushing the date, even though the implementation date is still on track for October 26, 2026. They also say that vacations will be granted or denied by the supervisor on a case-by-case basis depending on t

On 7/17/26, your 008 board members met with DHA Fulton management to discuss the bureau absence reporting procedure. Staff had differing call-in times, some calling in 1 hour before their start time, some 30 minutes before, and some at 7:15 am. All of a sudden, they want everyone to call in at 7:15 am, when some people start at 9 am. This is unreasonable. We proposed that those at Fulton be able to call out 30 minutes prior to their shift. The department counter-proposed 1 ho

On June 2, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met with Labor Relations and members of management to discuss the implementation of a new time clocking and scheduling system. The purpose of these meetings is to identify any potential impacts on “terms and conditions of employment” for our members at the Treatment Center. During the discussion, one potential concern was identified regarding clocking in and out for breaks and meal periods. This issue relates to SB 1334, which is i

Greetings, union brothers and sisters, Your 008 and 005 negotiations team met with the department over the implementation of CORE. UPE continued to try to convince the department to offer additional training in a traditional induction-style classroom. The department is proposing that HSS staff take 5 days’ worth of WBTs (web-based training modules) at their desks, followed by a week of self-taught case practice. Not only is this style of training inadequate, but much of the

On May 19, 2026, UPE met again with DHA regarding ongoing issues at Susie Gaines Mitchell (SGM). UPE again brought up the lack of interview space. The Department stated that they recently added another CSR interview room. The Department also made clear that no interview rooms are assigned to individuals, with very few exceptions. UPE requested that the Department place reserved signs on the doors of reserved rooms to avoid confusion among staff. Nearly all rooms are assigned

Greetings, union brothers and sisters, Your 008 and 005 bargaining units met with the department again regarding the proposal of CORE. We continue to fiercely advocate for much longer training than what the County is offering for Cal Works. We made several proposals to expand the duration and to add additional content. The department did agree to hold our members harmless for 1 year as it relates to errors and omissions, and 6 months if members fail to keep up with their ass

Greetings, union brothers and sisters, Your 008 and 005 negotiation team met with the department regarding CORE. A pattern is emerging: the department continues to arrive at these meetings with unrealistic timelines and expectations for implementing this major overhaul of our operations. The most offensive and insensitive proposal the department made is that all MACF workers will be cross-trained in CW for a mere 2 weeks. Of the proposed 2 weeks being offered, 1 week is virt

UPE met and conferred with representatives from the Department of Finance regarding the class study for Collection Service Agents. As a part of the study, the Department is planning to create a new entry-level classification called the Collection Service Clerk. This position is designed to provide people without collection experience a chance to gain experience while working at Revenue and Recovery. This would then allow them to promote to Collection Service Agent. The new po

On April 17, 2026, UPE 005 representatives met with Sacramento County over four new proposed County-wide policies: Incompatible Activities, Nepotism, Pre-Employment Checks, and a County Code of Conduct. Incompatible Activities requires members to disclose any outside employment that may conflict with their County employment. The Pre-Employment Checks relate to what criminal history information DPS can and cannot disclose to hiring Departments while considering new candidates.

On April 17, 2026, UPE 005 representatives met with Sacramento County over four new proposed County-wide policies: Incompatible Activities, Nepotism, Pre-Employment Checks, and a County Code of Conduct. Incompatible Activities requires members to disclose any outside employment that may conflict with their County employment. The Pre-Employment Checks relate to what criminal history information DPS can and cannot disclose to hiring Departments while considering new candidates.

Greetings, UPE 005 brothers and sisters! On April 23, 2026, UPE met with the County and Labor Relations to discuss the Financial Account Adjustment Policy. This is a new policy that covers financial adjustments that may be made by the accounting section. These duties include, but are not limited to, adding or reversing charges, assessing delinquency fees, and writing off uncollectable accounts. The policy also speaks to desk procedures being written, including, but not limit