HomeMy WebLinkAboutC21525 Membership in the Coachella Valley Employmnt Relations ConsortiumCITY OF PALM DESERT
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
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REQUEST: Approve by minute motion the renewal of the contract with the law
firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW), to maintain the City's
membership in the Coachella Valley Employment Relations
Consortium, and authorize the City Manager to sign this contract.
SUBMITTED BY: Lori Carney, Human Resources Manager
DATE: July 14, 2011
CONTENTS: Contract No. C21525 Coachella Valley Employment Relations
Consortium
Recommendation:
By Minute Motion: Approve Contract No. C21525 with Liebert
Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) for membership in the Coachella Valley
Employment Relations Consortium. Funds are available in Account #
110-4154-415-3121
Executive Summary:
The City of Palm Desert is a long-standing member of the Coachella Valley
Employment Relations Consortium. Membership entitles City employees to
attend up to five full days of training in management and employment relations
here in the Coachella Valley. The consortium is comprised of most of the other
valley cities, Coachella Valley Water District and other special districts.
Membership in the consortium provides the City with several advantages:
It offers specialized training for our Human Resources staff that is
essential in keeping the City in compliance with the ever -changing rules
and regulations that govern employment practices.
Staff Report
LCW Coachella Valley Employment Relations Consortium
Date of Meeting
Page 2 of 3
• It provides other City executives, managers, and supervisors with
important training in employment practices that is useful in the
performance of their daily duties.
It entitles members to receive basic legal advice from LCW partners and
associates at no additional charge.
• It is the only organized forum for Coachella Valley Human Resources
professionals to discuss common issues and share innovations.
Training sessions scheduled for 2011/2012 include:
o Managing the Marginal Employee
o Performance Management: Evaluation, Documentation and
Discipline
o Embracing Diversity
o Privacy Issues in the workplace
o Public Sector Employment Law Update
o Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves
o Ethics in Public Service (complies with AB1234)
o Difficult Conversations
o Terminating the Employment Relationship
o Front Line Defense (for front line supervisors)
Staff Report
LCW Coachella Valley Employment Relations Consortium
Date of Meeting
Page 3 of 3
Fiscal Analysis:
$3,960.00 (Funds have been requested in the 2011/2012 Human
Resources Department's City Wide Training account (110-4154-415-3121)
Submitted by:
Lori Came , uman Resources Manager
PaKS. Gibson, Director of Finance
Approval:
Wohlmuth, City Manager
CITY COUNCIL ACTION
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Original on File with City Clerk's Office
LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE
A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORPORATION
6033 W. Century Boulevard, Suite 500
Los Angeles, California 90045
TeL (310) 981-2000 • Fax: (310) 337-0560
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June 8, 2011
Lori Carney
Human Resources Manager
City of Palm Desert
73-510 Fred Waring Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92260-2578
Re: Coachella Valley Employment Relations Consortium
Dear Ms. Carney:
We are looking forward to another successful year with the Coachella Valley Employment Relations
Consortium. The consortium committee has selected a wide variety of topics for your managers and
supervisors. We are pleased to provide the consortium with five days of training, our monthly Client Update,
and telephone consultation.
The workshops chosen for the upcoming training are listed on the enclosed planning meeting notes. We
will send a detailed schedule of the workshops in the next few weeks.
Enclosed is an Agreement for Special Services. Please execute and return a copy to our office.
Contracts are being sent now so that those agencies that wish to pay all, or part, of the enclosed invoice during
the current fiscal year may do so.
We appreciate your participation in the consortium and hope that you will take advantage of the member
benefits including consortium calls, local training and the ability to send employees to other consortium
workshops. If you have any questions about the consortium or our other training programs, please contact
Cynthia Weldon, Director of Marketing & Training at (310) 981-2055 or cweldonC&_lcwlegal.com.
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Sincerely,
LIEBER 'SIDY HITMORE
BY:
S ott Tie emann
Managing Partner
Enclosures
L s ANGELES • SAN FRANcisco • FRESNO
Contract No. C21525
AGREEMENT FOR SPECIAL SERVICES
This Agreement is entered into between the CITY OF PALM DESERT, A Municipal Corporation
hereinafter referred to as "City," and the law firm of LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE, A Professional
Corporation, hereinafter referred to as "Attorney."
WHEREAS City has the need to secure expert training and consulting services to assist City in its
relations and negotiations with its employee organizations; and
WHEREAS City has determined that no less than twelve (12) public agencies in the Coachella Valley
area have the same need and have agreed to enter into identical agreements with Attorney; and
WHEREAS Attorney is specially experienced and qualified to perform the special services desired by
the City and is willing to perform such services;
NOW, THI;REFOR> , CiLy and Attorney agree as follows:
Attorney's Services:
During the year beginning July 1, 2011, Attorney will provide the following services to City (and the
other aforesaid public agencies):
Five (5) days of group training workshops covering such employment relations subjects as
management rights and obligations, negotiation strategies, employment discrimination and
affirmative action, employment relations from the perspective of elected officials, performance
evaluation (administering evaluations), grievance and discipline administration for supervisors and
managers, planning for and responding to concerted job actions, current court, administrative and
legislative developments in personnel administration and employment relations, etc., with the specific
subjects covered and lengths of individual workshop presentations to be determined by City and the
other said local agencies.
It is expressly understood that the material used during these presentations, including written
handouts and projected power points are provided solely for the contracted workshops. This
agreement warrants there will be no future use of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore material in other
trainings or formats without the expressed written permission of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore. Any
such us-,. :`ilil i:vI'ist.IUE :a'v'iv.aiioIi of,tthis F1gri:%iiient and
c;Opyiighl pTUviSI0i1S.
2. Availability of Attorney for City to consult by telephone.
3. Providing of a monthly newsletter covering employment relations developments.
Fee:
Attorney will provide these special services to City for a fee of Three Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty
Dollars ($3,960.00) payable in one payment prior to August 1, 2011. They fpaid der l�ugust ;1, �{i;i;1=
Contract No. C21525
Said fee will cover Attorney's time in providing said training and consultative services and the development
and printing of written materials provided to attendees at the training programs.
Additional Services:
Attorney shall, as and when requested by City, make itself available to City to provide
representational, litigation, and other employment relations services. The City will be billed for the actual
time such representation services are rendered, including reasonable travel time, plus any necessary costs and
expenses authorized by the City.
The range of hourly rates for Attorney time is from One Hundred Eighty to Three Hundred Dollars
($180.00 - $300.00) per hour for attorney staff and from One Hundred Five to One Hundred Forty Dollars
($105.00 - $140.00) per hour for services provided by paraprofessional staff. Attorneys and paraprofessional
staff bill their time in minimum units of one -tenth of an hour. Communications advice (telephone, voice -
mail, e-mail) is billed in a minimum increment of three -tenths (.30) of an hour. Attorney reviews its hourly
rates in an annual basis and if appropriate, adjusts them effective July 1.
Independent Contractor:
It is understood and agreed that Attorney is and shall remain an independent contractor under this
Agreement.
Term:
The term of this Agreement is twelve (12) months commencing July 1, 2011. The term may be
extended for additional periods of time by the written consent of the parties.
Condition Precedent:
It is understood and agreed that the parties' aforesaid rights and obligations are contingent on no less
than twelve (12) local agency employers entering into a substantially identical Agreement with Attorney on
or about July 1, 2 11.
Dated: t LIEBE CASSIDY WHITMORE
A Pro G orpol CorpiiraiiUn
Dated: CITY OF PALM DESERT
A Municipal Corporation
LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE
A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORPORATION
6033 W. Century Boulevard, Suite 500
Los Angeles, California 90045
Tel: (310) 981.2000 • Fax: (310) 337-0560
www.latdegaLccnn
INVOICE
June 8, 2011
Lori Carney
Human .ResourcPv Manager
City of Palm Desert
73-510 Fred Waring Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92260-2578
(ER020-004)
INVOICE NUMBER: 132287
COACHELLA VALLEY EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS CONSORTIUM
Membership: 07/01/11 through 06130112
TOTAL AMOUNT DUE: $3,960.00
If paid after August 1, 2011 amount due is $4,060.00
(Includes $100.00 late fee)
LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE
EMPLOYMENT LAW I LABOR RELATIONS I EDUCATION LAW I MANAGEMENT TRAINING
Coachella Valley ERC
201112012 Planning Meeting Notes
May 19, 2011
I. Comments
• Workshops went well this year.
• Consortium suggests presenter bring a flash drive with the presentation as a back-up.
• There were some workshop that needed additional materials.
• Some members propose not having required training (i.e. harassment and ethics)
through the ERC since it is available through other resources like insurance carriers,
online etc. The group discussed and agreed to look at this on a year by year basis.
• LCW did let the group know that a Bullying Component was being added to the LCW
Harassment workshop.
• Group enjoyed Steve's roundtable presentation.
• Consortium call service is going well.
• Members showed an interest in the Liebert Library service.
• The group is interested in trying webinars in the upcoming year.
IL Services Explained
• Consortium calls can be placed to any of the LCW offices: Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Fresno or San Diego. Members may ask for a specific attorney, such as Peter Brown
for FLSA questions, or any available attorney. Questions may also be submitted by
email directly to the attorney or to info@lcwlegal.com.
• LCW has multiple monthly newsletters: Client Update, The Briefing Room (geared
towards law enforcement) and Fire Watch (geared towards Fire Safety Personnel).
Consortium members may request to receive any or all of these publications. The
newsletters are sent either via surface mail or via email. The email comes from
Newsletter@lcwlegal.com so please ensure that this email address is accepted by your
system.
• LCW provides a guide as to who should attend the workshops and requests that
agencies use their best discretion when registering employees for the session as the
composition of the audience can impact the message and tone of the workshop.
Los Angeles I Fresno I San Francisco I San Diego
www.lcwleaal.com
LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE
EMPLOYMENT LAW I LABOfi RELATIONS I EDUCATION LAW I MANAGEMENT TRAINING
Coachella Valley ERC
201112012 Planning Meeting Notes
May 19, 2011
• Consortium Workshops across the State: ERC members are able to attend other
Consortiums' workshops. If you are interested in attending, you must contact Sandy
Conway two weeks prior to the scheduled workshop. Once all the registration sheets
are received from the members of that Consortium, members from other Consortiums
may attend, space permitting. There is no cost to attend another Consortium's
workshop, unless they require a per person/refreshment fee.
• WWW.LCWLEGAL.com: LCW's website is fully searchable for specific articles and content
appearing in our monthly newsletters and our annual Legislative Round -Up. Once on
our site, click on "search" under "News and Publications" and enter key words relating
to the specific subject or bill you're seeking information on. For example, if you'd like
information regarding bill AB 1825, simply type in `AB 1825' in the search box and the
information you need appears.
• Social Media - ERC Members can now follow us on Twitter and our Labor and
Employment blog. Twitter followers receive instant tweets to our alerts of firm
publications, blog posts, attorney authored articles and upcoming speaking
engagements, events and seminars. http•//twitter.com/ICWlegal. Blog subscribers
receive weekly updates on fresh and new labor and employment issues from
http://www.caipublicagencylaborem.r)loymentb.loP-,com.
• Individual/customized training:
o Includes the incorporation of your policies and procedures, as well as an original
set of materials for your reproduction.
o Any of the workshops listed on the Master Workshop Topics list can be
presented outside of the consortium to one specific agency or a group of
agencies to share the cost. Our rate for a three-hour, half day session ranges
from $1,600 - $2,000 while a six -hour, full day session ranges from $2,500 -
$3,000. If you schedule two half day sessions on the same day, we will honor
the full day rate.
o LCW can send an e-mail to other agencies if a request for an individual
workshop has been made and the agency requesting the workshop wishes to
combine with other agencies. For more information, contact Anna Sanzone-Ortiz
at (310) 981-2051.
III. Workshops for 2011/2012
Managingthe Marginal Employee (half day)
Performance Management: Evaluation, Documentation and Discipline (half day)
Embracing Diversity (half day)
Los Angeles i Fresno I San Francisco I San Diego
www.lcwleaal.com
LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE
EMPLOYMENT LAW I LABOR RELATIONS I EDUCATION LAW I MANAGEMENT TRAINING
Coachella Valley ERC
201112012 Planning Meeting Notes
May 19, 2011
• Privacy Issues in the Workplace (half day)
• Public Sector Employment Law Update (half day)*
• Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves (half day)
• Ethics in Public Service (half day)
• Difficult Conversations (half day)
• Terminatingthe Employment Relationship (half day)*
• Front Line Defense (half day)
* These two topics will be conducted via Webinar.
❖ Please note that LCW will be updating workshop titles. The title of the workshop may
change but the content discussed at the planning meeting will remain as discussed.
• Workshop hosts:
o Cathedral City (no Wednesdays), Coachella Valley Water District (no Tuesdays)
La Quinta (no Tuesdays) and Palm Desert have volunteered to host.
o Hosting requires the agency representative(s) to arrive early, distribute material,
staff the registration desk, box up any extra material to give to the presenter,
and collect evaluation forms and sign -in sheets.
o Non -host agencies may volunteer to assist with registration or refreshments by
contacting the host agency directly.
• Workshop scheduling:
o The group would like to continue holding workshops on either Tuesdays or
Wednesdays.
IV. Rate
• Membership fee is $3,960.
• A $100 late fee applies after August 1, 2011.
• Invoices and contracts will be sent immediately so that any agency wanting to pay all or
part of their membership fee from this year's budget may do so.
Los Angeles I Fresno I San Francisco I San Diego
www.lcwlecial.com