State Bar

Overview

Local 1000 Reaches Tentative Agreement for New Contract

Contract Ratification Voting Underway – Read the agreement summary below and cast your vote today. You must be a Local 1000 member to participate.

Click here to participate in the State Bar ratification vote.

l. Tentative Agreement Summary:

a. COLAs: Our bargaining survey identified salary increases for all as the number one priority of our members, and negotiated historically high COLAs for both Units:

  • 5% in Year 1, effective January 1, 2023
  • 2.5% in Year 2, effective January 1, 2024
  • 2.5% in Year 3, effective January 1, 2025 

 b. Special Salary Adjustments/Range Adjustments, and Reclassifications: On top of these COLAs, we negotiated reclassifications, special salary adjustments and range adjustments for the following classifications:

1. Attorneys:

  • New Attorney I, Attorney II, Attorney III, Attorney IV, and Attorney V classifications will be created, creating more promotional opportunities for Attorneys
  • Current Attorneys will become Attorney IIs and receive a 2.5% salary/range increase
  • Current Senior Attorneys will become Attorney IIIs and receive a 5% salary/range increase
  • New Attorney IV and V classifications will provide more opportunities for promotion and salary advancement for experienced Attorneys
  • The Bar will  fill a minimum of 10 Attorney IV positions via promotion of Attorneys or transfer of Supervising Attorneys
  • Supervising Attorneys will receive a 5% salary increase, and the salary range for Supervising Attorneys will be adjusted upward

2. General Unit:

  • Probation Case Specialists will become Program Case Coordinators, and will receive a 2.5% salary increase and an 11.1% range increase
  • Public Service Representatives:
    • PSR Is and IIs – 29% salary increase
    • PSR IIIs – 23% salary increase
  • Clinical Rehabilitation Coordinators will become Clinical Monitoring Analysts and receive a 13.7% range increase
  • Current Office Assistants, Program Assistants, and Administrative Assistants will become part of the new Program Specialist Series, resulting in range changes for some classifications and more promotional opportunities for all.
    • New Program Specialist I, Program Specialist II, and Program Specialist III classifications will be created, creating more promotional opportunities for affected classes
    • Current Program Specialists will become Program Specialist IIIs
    • Current Senior Administrative Assistants will become Program Specialist IIIs and receive a 2.73% range increase
    • Current Administrative Assistant IIs will become Program Specialist IIs, except that any red-circled Administrative Assistant IIs will become Program Specialist IIIs
    • Current Program Assistant IIIs will become Program Specialist IIs, and receive a 3.02% range increase
    • Current Administrative Assistant Is will become Program Specialist Is
    • Current Program Assistant IIs will become Program Specialist Is and receive a 4.07% range increase
    • Current Office Assistant IIs will become Program Specialist Is and receive an 11.43% range increase
  • Current Administrative Supervisors will become Program Supervisors, and receive a 21% range increase
  • Court Specialists will become Court Clerks

3. Red-Circled Employees:

  • Red-Circled Employees whose salary already exceeds the maximum of the salary range for their classification will receive a lump sum payment equivalent to 2.5% of their annual salary in January 2023. With the COLAs and other salary/range adjustments in this MOU, there will be very few if any red-circled employees by 2025.

4. Vacation Days, Personal Days, and other Benefits:

  • Employees with less than 3 years of service will receive 5 additional vacation days- for a total of 15 vacation days- annually
  • Employees with 10 or more years of service will receive 2 additional personal days- for a total of 6 personal days- annually
  • Employees will be able to use personal days for any reason, essentially making personal days interchangeable with vacation days
  • Employees will be able to accrue up to 60 days of vacation, doubling the previous cap on vacation accruals
  • Employees will have the option to cash out up to four weeks of vacation annually, one more week than previously permitted
  • A new paid holiday, Juneteenth, was added to the MOU
  • Employees will have greater flexibility in using bereavement leave
  • Employees  will have greater flexibility in donating catastrophic leave, including the ability to earmark a donation for a particular recipient
  • Records of verbal counseling will not be placed in employees’ Official Personnel Files
  • The Bar will have the option to waive education and experience Minimum Qualifications in order to promote employees from entry- to journey-level positions, and upon successful completion of a Training and Development assignment

5. Other Contract changes:

  • Written warnings may be used for progressive discipline for up to three years
  • Initial probationary periods for General Unit increased to 12 months
  • Probationary periods may be extended due to absences or other reasons
  • HR will notify employees whenever any document is removed from the employee’s OPF
  • The Bar may appoint up to 25 long-term casual employees for special projects of limited duration
  • Step III grievance timeline increased to 15 working days
  • Timeline for filing a grievance regarding a performance evaluation increased to 30 days
  • Acknowledgement that employees have a right to Union representation in the interactive process when requesting reasonable accommodations
  • Employees may request exceptions to normal working hours, and such requests will not be unreasonably denied
  • Leave of absence language was clarified to broaden applicability
  • Child bonding leave must be used concurrently with a leave of absence
  • Absence from duty without leave for five consecutive working days shall be considered automatic resignation, subject to the grievance and arbitration process
  • Employees who work 2-3 days per week in the office will receive a reduced transit subsidy of $75, employees who work less than 2 days per week in the office will receive no subsidy, and employees who work 4-5 days per week in the office will receive an increased subsidy of $175.

Click here to read the entire tentative agreement.

ll. Voting Information:

All voting will be held electronically. You can vote in the Ratification Election from Monday, December 12, at 1:00pm until Friday, December 16, at 1:00pm. Information on the voting process will be provided on Monday, Dec. 12.

Click here to participate in the State Bar ratification vote.

You must be a member of Local 1000 to participate in the ratification vote.

Click here to become a member of SEIU Local 1000.

Questions about the Tentative Agreement or Ratification Election should be directed to your Bargaining Team:

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State Bar Board of Trustees Approves Tentative Agreement and Announces New, Improved Remote Work Policy!

The State Bar Board of Trustees voted December 22, 2022 to approve the Tentative Agreement.  This concludes a bargaining process that began in March, and locks in wage and benefit improvements that your Bargaining Team fought for over the course of the past eight months! 

The new contract will go into effect January 1, 2023, but the Bar has confirmed that all salary adjustments in the new MOU will be effective December 26, 2022. The complete contract will be available on the SEIU Local 1000 website soon. Scroll down on this page to read a summary of the Tentative Agreement.

Additionally, your Bargaining Team and the State Bar have concluded bargaining over effects of the new Remote Work Policy that was announced today. The new policy includes improvements that many members had voiced support for. Many employees will now be required to come to the office one day per week, as opposed to two days per week under the previous policy. The Union and the State Bar also settled a dispute about whether employees with Bar-issued cellphones or internet devices would qualify for a remote work subsidy; these employees will receive a $25 monthly subsidy going forward. Remote-working employees will also receive an increased annual subsidy of $250 for work-related equipment and supplies.

FAQs Regarding the New MOU and Remote Work Policy:

Q: If I’m getting a special salary adjustment in addition to the 5% general salary adjustment, is the special salary adjustment calculated before or after the general salary adjustment?

A: General and special salary adjustments are calculated at the same time, as percentages of current salary. For example, a hypothetical Attorney whose annual salary is currently $100,000 stands to receive a 5% general salary adjustment, as well as a 2.5% special salary adjustment, for a total adjusted annual salary of $107,500 effective December 26, 2022.

Q: If I’m “topped out,” meaning my annual salary is currently the maximum of the salary range for my position, will I receive general and/or special salary adjustments in the new contract?

A: Yes, any currently topped out employee will receive the 5% general salary adjustment effective December 26, 2022, as well as any applicable special salary adjustment for the employee’s classification. For example, an Attorney whose annual salary is currently topped out at $158,020, will receive a 5% general salary adjustment and a 2.5% special salary adjustment, for a total new annual salary of $169,871.50, effective December 26, 2022. 

Q: If I’m topped out, will I remain topped out under the new contract?

A: Generally, yes. Topped out employees will remain topped out, and will receive future general salary adjustments, unless your classification will have a higher salary range in the new contract. Examples of classifications that will have higher salary ranges under the new contract include employees who are currently in the following classifications: Probation Case Specialists, Clinical Rehabilitation Coordinators, Senior Administrative Assistants, Program Assistant IIs and IIIs, Office Assistant IIs and Administrative Supervisors. Employees who are currently topped out in these classifications will have opportunities for future salary advancement under the new contract.

Q: What are “red-circled employees?”

A: Red-circled employees are employees whose annual salary exceeds the maximum of the salary range for their classification, generally as a result of re-classification in prior contracts. This is a small group of employees, and the current contract doesn’t create any new re-circled employees.

Q: If I’m red-circled, how do I know if I’m receiving any salary increase, or a lump sum payment, in the new contract?

A: Whether red-circled employees receive a salary increase or lump sum payment depends on whether their salary will still exceed the maximum for the range of their classification once the new contract takes effect. 

If, after the salary adjustments in the new contract are applied, a red-circled employee’s salary is still higher than their adjusted salary range, the employee will receive a one-time 2.5% lump sum payment. 

If the new salary adjustments bring the red-circled employee’s salary within the new salary range, the employee will receive a salary adjustment equal to the difference between their current salary and the adjusted maximum of the salary range. 

The Union will reach out directly to red-circled employees in the coming weeks to clarify the effects of these changes on each individual employee.

If you have any questions not addressed here, please reach out to the Union or your Bargaining Team!

Andrew Vasicek – andrewvasicek@gmail.com
Shataka Shores – shataka.shores@yahoo.com
Lita Abella – lita.abella@gmail.com
Ivy Cheung –  ilcheung@yahoo.com
Jennifer Cantore – jencantore@yahoo.com
Brian Hoeber – bhoeber@seiu1000.org

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Members vote to ratify new contract!

State Bar members have voted overwhelmingly to ratify the tentative contract agreement. 96.8% of the participating members in the Attorney Unit and 94.3% of the members General Unit cast “yes” votes in favor of ratification.

Thank you for voting, and thanks to the Bargaining Committee for their hard work in negotiating our new contract!

The Board of Trustees will vote to approve the Tentative Agreement at their next meeting on December 22nd. After approval, the new Tentative Agreement is expected to go into effect January 1, 2023. 

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State Bar

The State Bar General Unit includes all non-attorney classifications at the State Bar of California, including legal secretaries, investigators, paralegals, program analysts, IT and finance staff, administrative assistants, and court specialists. 

The State Bar Attorney Unit includes all attorney classifications at the State Bar: