To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Heather Ruiz, Director of Human Resources
Prepared By: Anne Cardwell, Finance Director
TITLE:
Title
Appointment of a Retired Annuitant to Serve as Part-time Employee
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution authorizing the appointment of Jonna Intoschi as a retired annuitant part-time employee (Accounting Supervisor), to be employed within 180 days of the employee’s retirement.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The Finance Department is currently implementing a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System (i.e., Tyler Munis). This system manages all the core functions for the City in the areas of financials, procurement, HR, payroll and revenues. ERP implementations are incredibly resource intensive for organizations, and thus typically occur in a phased approach. Payroll was the first module the City opted to implement, and recently went live in October with the first paychecks produced in the new system. While this is a notable accomplishment, additional post-live tasks for payroll staff still need to be completed and ERP project staff will now need to turn their attention to implementation of the next module, Financials.
Additionally, the City’s Accounting Supervisor, Sheila Esser, recently retired and that position is currently vacant. That position is responsible for oversight of the payroll function for the City. Due to the need for additional payroll related expertise and support, particularly during this time of transition from the prior system to Tyler Munis, staff is recommending bringing on a retired annuitant with knowledge in this specialized area.
The Finance Department explored other options, including hiring a consultant to assist during this transition, however, due to Ms. Intoschi’s high level of technical expertise with public sector payroll and her relatively immediate availability, staff determined hiring her as a retired annuitant would be the most cost effective and efficient approach.
In 2012, the State of California passed the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013, which added Section 7522.56 to the Government Code. This law generally requires that employees retiring from public service under CalPERS must serve a 180-day wait period prior to returning to work as a retired annuitant. However, the Act also states an exception to the 180-day wait period if “the employer certifies the nature of the employment and that the appointment is necessary to fill a critically needed position before 180 days have passed and the appointment has been approved by the governing body of the employee in a public meeting.”
In this case, Ms. Intoschi has the specific skills and knowledge required to perform duties related to payroll and to support the department’s efforts to administer payroll in an accurate and timely manner. This critical need arising out of the timing of the recent retirement of the Accounting Supervisor as well as the implementation of a new payroll system at the same time creates a unique circumstance meriting the exception of the 180-day wait period for this employee.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
The cost for this position can be absorbed by salary savings from the vacant Accounting Supervisor position.
CEQA:
The Community Development Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution authorizing an exception to the 180-day waiting period under Government Code Section 7522.56 to allow a retired annuitant to be appointed within 180 days of the employee’s retirement
EX A - Retired Annuitant Contract - Intoschi
NOTIFICATION:
CalPERS
Post Retirement Administration Unit
Benefits Services Division
PO Box 942711
Sacramento, CA 94229-2711
<BNSD_Post_Retirement_Administration@calpers.ca.gov>