City of East Palo Alto
and
East Palo Alto Police Officers Association
Sideletter Agreement: Recruitment and Retention Bonuses . 1
1. This Sideletter confirms the understanding between the City of East Palo Alto (“City”) and the East Palo Alto Police Officers Association (“POA”) regarding hiring incentives for new police officer candidates.
2. This Sideletter is effective retroactive to the date of City Council adoption of the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and POA (“MOU”) in 2022.
3. Recruitment Bonus (New Hires Only). The parties agree that the City, within its sole discretion, may provide newly-hired employees, upon appointment to the classification of Police Officer, with the following recruitment and retention bonuses, totaling thirtythousand dollars ($30,000). “Newly-hired employees” means individuals appointed to the classification of Police Officer after adoption of the MOU. Newly-hired employees will not qualify for the lump sum payment in Article 9 of the MOU. a) A ten thousand dollar ($10,000) one-time lump sum payment (recruitment bonus first payment), payable the first full pay period after the employee successfully completes all elements of the Department-prescribed Field Training Program. The Parties intend and understand that this lump sum payment is non-pensionable and will not be reported to CalPERS. The parties also agree and understand that, since this payment is discretionary, it will not be considered part of the regular rate of pay. b) A ten thousand dollar ($10,000) one-time lump sum payment (recruitment bonus second payment), payable the first full pay period after the employee successfully completes their probationary period, including any extension thereof, pursuant to Article 17 of the parties’ MOU. The Parties intend and understand that this lump sum payment is nonpensionable and will not be reported to CalPERS. The parties also agree and understand that, since this payment is discretionary, it will not be considered part of the regular rate of pay. c) A ten thousand dollar ($10,000) one-time lump sum payment (recruitment bonus final payment), payable the first full pay period after the employee has completed thirty-six (36) months in paid status (and excluding any time the officer spends on administrative leave) the classification of Police Officer for the City of East Palo Alto, so long as the employee’s most recent performance evaluation was satisfactory or better. The Parties intend and understand that this lump sum payment is non-pensionable and will not be reported to CalPERS. The parties also agree and understand that, since this payment is discretionary, it will not be considered part of the regular rate of pay.
4. To qualify for the bonuses identified in Paragraph 3(a), (b), or (c), the employee must be employed on the date of the payment and must not have had any break in service from their initial hire date until the payment of the bonus.
11/10/2022
11/14/22