Compelling Management Need Assignments

Temporary assignments that may be made to meet urgent and nonrecurring program or departmental needs of limited duration.

(Revised: 01/2021)

Definition

Compelling Management Need Assignments (CMNA) are temporary assignments that may be made to meet urgent and nonrecurring program or departmental needs of limited duration that have a broad and significant impact on departmental operations and efficiency.

Authority

Per Government Code (GC) Section 19050.8, State Personnel Board (SPB) and Department of Human Resources have delegated appointing powers the authority to make temporary assignments or loan of employees within an agency or between agencies for a period not to exceed two (2) years to enable an agency to obtain expertise needed to meet a compelling program or management need.

Policy

It is the policy of the Department of General Services (DGS) that CMNAs may be considered in order to meet urgent and nonrecurring program or departmental needs of limited duration and ensure that all laws and rules prescribed by the SPB regarding the appointment process are adhered to.

It is also the policy of DGS to not preclude an employee who is on a CMNA from promotion.

Process

CMNA may involve either special projects or assignments that require a breadth and depth of demonstrated expertise or a level or response that cannot be obtained under normal staffing procedures or staffing situations that require temporary reassignments to prevent or alleviate a negative impact upon departmental operations and efficiency.

An employee in a Career Executive Assignment (CEA) may be placed in a CMNA, so long as the reassignment does not result in another employee being appointed to the CEA position during the term of the assignment.

The program may assign or loan an employee to a different jurisdiction or receive an employee from a different jurisdiction for all purposes described in the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 2, Section 442.

The program shall maintain documentation that the department's management needs cannot be met through the existing organizational structure, that the employee possesses the required expertise, and that the employee has voluntarily consented to the assignment.

Eligibility

No limits are placed on the employee’s ability to perform duties that are at a level above or below the employee’s classification of appointment. This is to ensure that flexibility exists to make the best job to person match in selecting employees for these unique and highly individualized temporary assignments. However, CMNA shall be limited to employees who have permanent or probationary status in their current class.

If a probationer is selected for the assignment and the assignment is within the scope of the employee’s appointment classification, the employee shall continue to serve the probationary period and be evaluated as required by applicable laws and rules. If a probationer is selected for the assignment and the assignment is outside the scope of the probationer’s appointment classification and the required number of probationary hours have not been worked in the appointment classification, the probationer upon return to their appointment classification shall continue on probation until they have worked the required number of hours. If the appointing power finds that an extension of time is needed, the appointing power may seek an extension as provided in CCR, Title 2, Section 321.

Selection

Before selecting an employee, the program shall consider and document other management options, such as devising and implementing new workflow, workload, or staffing strategies or hiring by way of transfer, reinstatement, or list appointment.

Once it has been determined that CMNA is the only viable option, the opportunity shall be posted in a manner designed to provide fair, equitable notice to all eligible candidates and advertised for a minimum period of three business (working) days.

The process may include interviews, standardized performance tests, written tests, role-plays, simulations, as well as any other selection instrument or procedure designed to objectively and fairly evaluate and compare each employee's qualifications to be successful in the assignment.

Duration

CMNA assignments may be made for a period not to exceed two (2) years.

Demotional Assignments

Most “demotional” assignments will involve managers performing staff work that requires experience and insight that is simply not available among the regular journey level staff; this is not a “true” demotional assignment.

Promotional Assignments

“Promotional” assignments could give an employee an advantage over peers in qualifying for and competing in promotional examinations; therefore, such assignments must be approved only after a decision that management’s need is truly compelling and alternative staffing methods are not suitable. Impact on promotional competition should be a factor in weighing the appropriateness of temporary assignments of any substantial duration.

As noted above, employees who receive these assignments might gain an advantage over peers in qualifying for and competing in promotional examinations; therefore, the appointing power should be aware of any situations where use of temporary assignments is hindering or disadvantaging upward mobility hiring goals.

Termination

Either the employee or the program may terminate the temporary assignment at any time for any reason.

At the end of the CMNA, the employee has mandatory return rights to their former position. Former position is defined according to GC Section 18522, as the following: the last position that an employee held as a probationer or permanent employee, or with concurrence of both the appointing power and the employee, a position in a different classification to which the same appointing power could have assigned such an employee.

If the CMNA is successfully completed or ends early for reasons other than disciplinary or unsatisfactory performance, the experience earned in the assignment may be used by the employee to satisfy minimum qualifications.

Procedure

The following chart outlines the procedure for CMNA recruitment:

Step  Action
1

Hiring Office

  • Employee Resource Liaison (ERL) submits completed CMNA Form (OHR 78) with supporting documentation, that includes, but is not limited to, the current and proposed duty statement(s), and current and proposed organization chart(s), to Classification & Pay Analyst (C&P) for approval.
2

C&P Analyst

  • Reviews the CMNA request and prepares the analysis and recommendation.
  • Submits analysis and recommendation to C&P management.
3

C&P Manager

  • Reviews the analysis and recommendation.
  • Submits the CMNA request package to Office of Human Resources management including the C&P Manager II, Personnel Officer, and HR Chief.
4

OHR Chief

  • Reviews the analysis and recommendation.
  • Submits the analysis and recommendation to the Deputy Director, Administration Division copying C&P management.
5

Deputy Director, Administration Division

  • Reviews the analysis and recommendation.
  • Makes a determination and replies to the OHR Chief with the decision.
6

C&P Management

  • If approved, gives program the approval via email to internally advertise copying the C&P Analyst.
  • If denied, works with C&P Analyst to consider other alternatives for the program.
7

Hiring Office

  • Advertises CMNA position, including the proposed duty statement, internally to entire division via email or job bulletin for a minimum period of three (3) business (working) days.
  • Conducts interviews, standardized performance tests, written tests, role-plays, simulations, as well as any other selection instrument or procedure designed to objectively and fairly evaluate and compare each employee's qualifications to be successful in the assignment.
  • Submits the CMNA Form (OHR 78) with Section 3 completed and signed by requesting Office Deputy Director approval and submits to C&P Analyst.
8

C&P Analyst

  • Reviews the CMNA package and drafts approval memo to be provided to the selected candidate.
  • Obtains final approval from C&P management and provides the approved memo to the Hiring Office copying all applicable recipients.
  • Files the approval memo in the employee’s Official Personnel File.

The following chart outlines the procedure for discontinuing/terminating a CMNA assignment without cause:

Step  Action
1

Hiring Office

  • Contacts the C&P Analyst via email with the request to terminate the CMNA assignment with an explanation as to the reason(s) why it is being terminated.
2

C&P Analyst

  • Reviews and analyzes the request.
  • Drafts the written Notice of Discontinuation memo addressed to the candidate.
  • Obtains final approval from C&P management and provides the discontinuation/termination memo to the Hiring Office copying all applicable recipients.
  • Files the termination memo in the employee’s Official Personnel File.

Resources

Government Code Sections

California Code of Regulations Sections

Other Reference Materials

Responsible Control Agency