California Code of Regulations › Title 2 - Administration › Division 1 - Administrative Personnel › Chapter 3 - Department of Human Resources › Subchapter 1 - General Civil Service Rules › Article 4 - Employee Merit Award Program › Section 599.661 - Employee Suggestion Procedures

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Suggestions must be submitted in writing
					 to the agency responsible for making the changes recommended in the
					 suggestion(s). Suggesters will be responsible for submitting the suggestion to
					 the appropriate agency for review when the idea affects only one agency, or to
					 the Department when multiple agency review is required. All suggestions must be
					 submitted on an Employee Suggestion form (STD 645 Rev 9-89).
(b) Suggestions must be signed. However, the
					 suggester's name may, as designated by the employee on the Employee Suggestion
					 form (STD 645 Rev 9-89), remain confidential during the evaluation process. The
					 identity will be revealed when the idea has been adopted, as the suggester's
					 job responsibility must be assessed in relation to the suggestion before an
					 award can be made.
(c) Suggestions
					 that do not meet eligibility requirements shall be disallowed. If there is
					 controversy regarding eligibility of a suggestion, it shall be referred to the
					 director or designee for review of the decision that disallowed the
					 suggestion.
(d) The agency's Merit
					 Award Administrator, or Merit Award Program staff if the suggestion affects
					 multiple agencies, shall receive, record and acknowledge receipt of suggestions
					 in writing to the suggester within 10 working days of receiving the suggestion,
					 and shall notify suggesters of any undue delay in the consideration of their
					 suggestions. Each new suggestion will be assigned a number for reference during
					 the evaluation process, and such number shall be included in the
					 acknowledgement to the suggester.
(e) Suggestions shall be referred for
					 evaluation within 10 working days of receipt of the suggestion. The suggester
					 shall be provided with a status report on the progress of the evaluation at
					 least once every quarter until a final decision is made.
(f) The findings and recommendations of the
					 evaluating agency shall indicate whether a suggestion has been adopted; the
					 date on which it was placed in effect, or estimated date of implementation; any
					 actual or estimated reduction, elimination, or avoidance of expenditures or
					 improvement in operations made possible by the suggestion; the availability of
					 funds for payment of proposed awards of $1,000 and over; or the reasons, in
					 detail, why the suggestion could not be adopted.
(g) The Merit Award Administrator, or the
					 Department if the suggestion affects multiple agencies, shall review the
					 evaluating agency's findings and recommendations and may obtain additional
					 information or take such other action as needed for prompt, thorough, and
					 impartial consideration of each suggestion.
(h) For each suggestion eligible for an
					 award, the Merit Award Administrator, after taking into consideration staff
					 recommendations, and the objectives of the Merit Award Program, shall formulate
					 an official recommendation to the agency's director describing the merits of
					 the suggestion, and the amount of the recommended award, in accordance with
					 these regulations. The Department shall review suggestions evaluated and
					 adopted by multiple agencies, or awards exceeding $5,000, and shall formulate
					 an official cash award recommendation to the Merit Award Board.
(i) The agency director of the employing
					 agency shall, upon approval of a suggestion, authorize a cash award, in
					 accordance with these regulations.
(j) The Department shall, upon approval of a
					 suggestion by the Board, authorize a cash award, in accordance with these
					 regulations.
(k) The Merit Award
					 Administrator, or the Department if the suggestion affects multiple agencies,
					 shall notify the suggester of the action taken as soon as a suggestion has
					 received final consideration.
(l)
					 Final reports on all suggestions shall be processed as follows:
(1) Reports of non-adoption shall be sent
					 directly to the suggester by the evaluating agency, or the Department if the
					 suggestion affects multiple agencies.
(2) Reports of adoption and recommended award
					 shall be sent directly to the suggester by the evaluating agency, or the
					 Department if the suggestion affects multiple agencies. If the suggestion is
					 adopted by an agency other than the one where the suggester is employed, a copy
					 of the report shall also be transmitted to the employing agency's Merit Award
					 Administrator for processing the recommended award, in accordance with these
					 regulations. The adopting agency(s) shall reimburse the employing agency for
					 the amount of the award if the award is $55 or over.