Purpose of Government Code Section 3502.3
The statute aims to increase transparency, improve labor relations, and address staffing challenges in public agencies by ensuring that vacancy and recruitment information is publicly reported and discussed with employee organizations, helping to mitigate the negative effects of understaffing on public services and employee morale
Section 3502.3 requires The City of Fresno to report on vacancies and recruitment efforts at a public hearing at least once per fiscal year, with additional obligations if vacancy rates exceed 20% in a bargaining unit.
Overview
California Government Code Section 3502.3, added by Assembly Bill 2561, mandates that public agencies present the status of job vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts during a public hearing before the governing board at least once per fiscal year.
The presentation must occur prior to the adoption of the final budget to ensure transparency and informed decision-making (California Government Code §3502.3)
Public Hearing Requirements
During the public hearing, the agency must:
• Present the status of vacancies, including the number of posted positions, applicants, interviews, eligibility lists, and conditional offers made. • Discuss recruitment and retention efforts and identify any policies, procedures, or practices that may create obstacles in the hiring process. • Consider potential changes to improve hiring efficiency and working conditions (California Government Code §3502.3)
Role of Recognized Employee Organizations
The recognized employee organization for a bargaining unit is entitled to make a presentation at the same public hearing. This allows employee organizations to provide input on recruitment, retention, and working conditions for positions within their bargaining unit (California Government Code §3502.3)
The following testimonials are cut and pasted from emails by FCEA members who have been impacted by vacancies and short staffing by the City of Fresno. There were quite a few others who shared their concerns but did not want their experiences published for fear of retaliation.
I work in the office of the City Clerk as a Senior Deputy City Clerk, and several people have left this office since I began. I can count 5 people, but the one that had the most impact on me leaving this office was Senior Deputy City Clerk Susan Mac. The position has now been filled, but it was vacant for an extended period to the point of mentally and physically affecting my health. I was given extra duties which meant that I could not complete my original duties as timely as was necessary and was told that overtime was not an option. I was also reprimanded on my yearly evaluation of all the items that were delayed due to extra responsibilities, when I had no problem with achieving my job on a timely basis prior to Susan Mac leaving. However, I feel that there are still vacancies in the department, as this office was a lot larger in personnel when I first began.
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I am a Crime Analyst with the Fresno Police Department. I am sending this email due to the issues we have had in the Crime Analysis Unit. In August of 2024, the Crime Specialists were moved from FPD HQ to the area districts. At this point, we were short one Crime Specialist. We were each assigned logs for our individual districts. After we went to the districts, shortly after, in October 2024, one Crime Specialist in the Southwest District left the police department, which left us with 3. I inherited her assignments and no one else did.
The department then hired a new analyst who then took over for CE district logs but still left us short by one.
In March 2025, the department moved an analyst from a different unit to the Southwest district. We thought there would be some relief, but a little over a month later, that same analyst went out on medical leave for over a year, came back and then quit the department soon afterward.
In July of 2025, Southeast Crime Specialist left the police department, which again left us with 3 Crime Specialists for 5 districts. So, each of us was assigned to our individual districts, plus SW and SE cases. For over a year, I kept track of 8 spreadsheets. In July of 2025, I asked if any new analysts would be hired and I never received a reply. Workload was excessive. When I advised the department that I would be taking FMLA for a couple of days a week for a sick immediate family member, I was advised there would be no one to assist
with my workload, which made me feel very frustrated. Instead, it felt that the workload increased.
In September of 2025, three analysts were moved from the districts back to HQ. We each received new assignments. Assigned logs were changed, but we were now having to ADD ON Aggravated Assaults. Now I have 7 spreadsheets. There are other analysts who work in other units, but they are not subject to assisting us with any of the stats.
Every month we are to prepare monthly crime numbers. CrimeView is a monthly meeting for the staff to go over the current 28-day period vs the previous 28-day period. Some meetings are held on Weds at 1:00 PM and sometimes they are held on Tuesday's at 1:00 PM. No matter what, we are required to have our stats/log sheets updated to the Sunday prior to the meeting. We are expected to go in Monday morning and have all stats ready by 12:00pm so they can be reviewed for Tuesday. We are not allowed to work on Sundays but instead are expected to go in on Monday mornings and update the cases from over the weekend, which is impossible, since we work 4/10's and are off Fri/Sat/Sun's. We are not allowed to switch our days or get any OT. There has been only one time where it was allowed on 12/8/25.
Thank you, and I hope this helps you to understand the stress that we deal with by being shorthanded.
I am an Animal Care Specialist at Animal Center. Staffing is currently one person per pod, with a total of 7 pods. Each pod has about 16- 22 kennels, with a minimum of 16-22 dogs. Along with spot cleans and deep cleans throughout the day, staff also have feedings, secondary tasks, various lobby calls, and behavioral assessments and monitoring for medical issues (both of which are vital). With the lack of trained animal care specialists, staff that are fully trained have extra tasks on their plate. Not all temps are trained for all lobby calls, assessments, and secondary tasks; and if a staff member calls out, the trained animal care staff also have to help take care of the pod that is left empty. Lack of properly trained staff means that some tasks are not completed at all or not fully completed. This means sometimes dogs are not getting any or very little yard time outside of kennel. (Which affects staff mentally due to not being able to give the dogs a better shelter experience before ultimately having to euthanize them.) Dogs suffering from parvovirus and upper respiratory infection are not being caught by staff as quickly as would happen if we were staffed properly.
Long wait times cause potential adopters to leave without having meet and greets and thus increasing our euthanasia rates. Not having the time to fully educate the public that comes to the center outside of assessments also exacerbates the problems here in Fresno. Fully trained animal care staff in kennels also help the dog and cat assessment teams, for example: helping place animals, holding animals for administration, administering intake, placing kennels cards, cat spot cleans/deeps cleans, and cat secondary tasks.
Due to lack of staff, the staff are trying to utilize every second of the day. Sometimes skipping 15-minute breaks and going to the bathroom. Staff are being run into the ground and feel terrible about not being able to do the best job they want to do. Staff have also stated that they feel rushed and pressured so much that the feeling doesn't go away even off the clock. To avoid using overtime staff are encouraged to ask other staff for help, however staff are not always able to help each other with how much they already have on their plate. Other unfilled positions here at Animal Center also have negative impacts.
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From September 2025 through January 2026, a position within our office remained vacant.
During that time, employees were asked to assist with duties that had previously been performed by the vacant position. I volunteered to help support the office by taking on additional responsibilities outside of my normal classification. I was informed that overtime would not be approved, which added additional pressure to complete both my assigned duties and the extra work associated with the vacancy.
After the vacant position was filled in January 2026, I expected that the temporary duties I had been performing would return to the appropriate classification once staffing levels were restored. However, in April 2026, I was asked to continue performing those duties. When I explained that I no longer wished to continue performing work outside my normal classification and wanted to focus on my assigned responsibilities, I was questioned about whether I was refusing a direct order and was told that job descriptions could be changed.
This interaction caused significant stress and made me feel intimidated.
What has been most frustrating is that, after volunteering for months to support the office during a staffing shortage, my concerns were later characterized as a lack of being a "team player" when I declined to continue performing those additional duties. I also became concerned by the expectation that employees in lower-paid classifications absorb the extra responsibilities created by vacancies, while other employees are not similarly assigned comparable increases in workload. This creates a perception of an unequal distribution of work and places pressure on staff in lower classifications to continually take on additional duties in order to be viewed as cooperative or a "team player."
As far as I am aware, we have at least two (possibly even 3) vacancies that have been not been filled. We had two analysts resign and one retired. Since then, the amount of work that I have been asked to take on has increased, and I am covering work for people that are no longer employed. I am under constant stress from trying to meet deadlines for my regularly assigned duties as well as new assignments.
We (myself and others in my unit) collectively have asked for overtime in order to meet deadlines, and we have been told no. We have asked for extra time on work requests and are told no. We are not able to attend training or meetings specifically because we are short-staffed. I asked for coverage when I went on vacation and was denied due to being short staffed. This led to my vacation not being very relaxing, as most of thoughts were about how much work I was going to have to catch up on when I returned to work. When I brought up the amount of work that is being asked of me, and that I am overwhelmed, I was told everyone is busy. I brought up my concerns to a supervisor about the amount of work I had and was asked if this just because I took time off. I am constantly worried that I am going to get in trouble because I have so much work to do. Even one of the vacancies being filled would be extremely beneficial to myself and my coworkers.
In addition to my regular duties as a Community Recreation Assistant, I have been required to take on additional responsibilities due to staffing shortages and vacant positions within the department. These additional duties have gone beyond my normal job responsibilities and have increased my overall workload.
I have frequently been transferred to other sites to provide coverage and assist with staffing needs. When assigned to these sites, I am often expected to step in and manage responsibilities that would normally be handled by the site's regular staff. This has required me to adapt quickly, take on additional tasks, and help maintain program operations while also meeting the expectations of my own assigned position.
These staffing shortages and site transfers have resulted in increased stress, additional responsibilities, and a heavier workload. In many cases, I have been expected to "pick up the slack" caused by understaffing, vacant positions, or employee absences while ensuring that programs continue to operate effectively and safely.
The additional duties and site reassignments have impacted my ability to complete all assigned tasks within normal work hours. If applicable, I have communicated concerns regarding workload expectations, staffing levels, and the challenges associated with balancing my regular responsibilities with the added duties assigned to me.
The ongoing staffing shortages and increased workload have also affected my work-life balance. The need to provide coverage at multiple locations and assume additional responsibilities has created added pressure and stress, which should be considered when evaluating my workload and overall job performance.
I am committed to supporting the department and providing quality service to participants and families; however, the continued assignment of additional duties, site transfers, and staffing-related responsibilities has significantly increased the demands of my position.
Hello, I am a Billing System Specialist in UB&C/Finance. I am having to do so much extra work because of vacancies in the department I hardly know where to begin. Our Accountant Auditor II left UB&C in December and her position has not been filled. While some of her duties have been passed to others, I inherited managing the STEP program from her. STEP is extremely time consuming, and as I've learned more about it, it is clear, to me at least, that it has been mismanaged for quite some time. STEP is how the City of Fresno bills wastewater facility charges (something that would normally be on a building permit). I can only guess at the amount, but I suspect there are dozens if not hundreds of new developments in the past 10 years that have not been added to the STEP program as they should, I do not have the time to do the research required to correct this currently in conjunction with my other duties. There has been talk about giving oversight of the program back to DPU, but nothing concrete has happened. It comes up about once a month in a meetings. I also had to take over managing all of our E-Accounts (mobile homes, winter reads, etc.) that she used to manage as well as our Pinedale/Bakman/Clovis accounts. This is more in line with my regular duties but is also additional work and time consuming.
Also, Nicole Fields - Customer Service Clerk II who manned our Commercial Billing desk, left last October. Her duties have been handed over to myself and one other employee who now have to do them in addition to our regular work. The other person is also required to be on phones, sometimes all day. As such I continue to regularly issue our AMR service orders, FT service orders, assist in billing review, and enter BOD/TSS readings, all of this is in addition to my regular duties. I used to feel like this department was pretty stable, but now it has become very unstable, with the only emphasis on answering phones and very little emphasis given to devoting staff time to all the complex functions of a billing department. This is what losing all your best people and long term vacancies creates.