The SEIU Local 1000 Team met with the Employment Development Department (EDD) on Monday, March 14, 2022, to discuss the hiring process that current limited term (LT) employees working as Employment Program Representatives (EPR) can go through to apply to be hired on as a permanent intermittent (PI) EPR. We wanted to ensure we have a strong sense of how the process will look and how many positions will be available for application.
The SEIU Local 1000 Team met with the Employment Development Department (EDD) on Monday, March 14, 2022, to discuss the hiring process that current limited term (LT) employees working as Employment Program Representatives (EPR) can go through to apply to be hired on as a permanent intermittent (PI) EPR. We wanted to ensure we have a strong sense of how the process will look and how many positions will be available for application.
The application period opened on Friday, March 4 and is open through Friday, March 18. This process is open to current LT EPRs only. The Department is not taking external applications for this process. The Department is also still determining an exact number of PI positions that they are looking to fill but estimate that they have enough positions for roughly 25% of the current LT employees to be hired as PI employees in the EPR classification.
The location of these position assignments will be determined based on Department need, and because the EPRs will remain teleworking for the time being, not all worksite assignments will be local to the employee’s home. Employees not assigned to a worksite near their home will also be assigned an alternate worksite that they report to pick up equipment or take care of any other duties required to be carried out in person.
Interested employees will go through a traditional interview process that will likely be carried out virtually. Applicants will be screened and the local Employment Program Manager (EPM) 1s will be involved in the hiring process. As part of this process, the Department will consider the work that the applicants have already been performing as an LT – including consulting with the employee’s current supervisor as well as an additional party to verify the work product. Applicants will be able to request a worksite assignment local to their homes during the interview process, though that placement is not guaranteed. Applicants who are not hired as a PI will work the rest of their current LT term.
Our Team also asked about how important information related to PI positions and the time base worked as a PI is being provided to employees beyond the FAQs. We encouraged the Department to distribute this information to all LT employees who are eligible to apply for these positions again to ensure that all applicants have clear expectations on what a PI position will entail in terms of a new probationary period, timeline for benefits, and restriction on number of hours worked in a single year.
Our Team also is aware that some impacted employees have been discouraged from applying by their supervisors – statements like these have not been sanctioned by the Department. We encourage anyone interested and eligible to apply for one of these positions regardless of any statements made by your supervisors, especially now that we can verify that the process for review of work experience will not be solely based on statements made by an employee’s current supervisor.
We are awaiting additional information from the Department with final numbers on how many positions they will be filling when they receive updated funding information and hope to have that answer soon. We will keep interested employees updated as we learn more and as the application and hiring process progresses. If you have immediate questions please direct them to your Bargaining Unit 1 Chair, your DBUR, or your Job Steward. You may also email questions about this issue to [email protected]