The State of California should aggressively intervene to stop violations and calculate back pay due to hundreds improperly retained in temporary employment, a July 10 report to the State Audit Board says.
RIVERSIDE—Data provided by the County of Riverside shows the County Human Resources Department has illegally extended the employment of hundreds of temporary workers over the past four years, according to a report submitted to the Bureau of State Audits.

The County’s salary ordinance specifies that the Board of Supervisors is to vote in an agendized, public session on any temporary employee assignment lasting more than 1,000 hours in a year (known as the “1,000 hour rule”). State code explicitly orders that public employees should not be kept as temporary appointments for more than a year.

Yet a review of County of Riverside public documents shows only three cases since 1999 in which the Board of Supervisors followed required procedure to extend the employment of a temporary County worker. At least 811 and as many as 1,659 temporary County employees worked more than  1,000 hours in a fiscal year since 2005, with no approval from the Board.

“This is about public transparency,” said Steve Askin, director of the Center for Public Accountability at SEIU Local 721, which represents more than 80,000 public employees throughout California. “The County Human Resources department, led by Ron Komers, has violated local and state regulations hundreds of times by extending the employment of temporary employees without the Board’s approval, out of public sight. It needs to stop.”