Bernalillo County Bilingual Incentive Pay Evaluation Policy PDF

**PURPOSE** The purpose of this policy is to explain the process/requirements for personnel to be evaluated in order to receive bilingual incentive pay as prescribed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). **POLICY** It is the policy of the Bernalillo County Fire Department (BCFD) to provid...

**PURPOSE** The purpose of this policy is to explain the process/requirements for personnel to be evaluated in order to receive bilingual incentive pay as prescribed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). **POLICY** It is the policy of the Bernalillo County Fire Department (BCFD) to provide an opportunity for personnel who wish to enhance the department through their knowledge of Spanish and use that knowledge to better serve our public. **PROCEDURE** I. **APPLYING TO TAKE THE BILINGUAL EVALUATION** A. Uniformed personnel, who are off probation, who wish to take the bilingual evaluation must submit an email to the Deputy Chief of Administration requesting the evaluation to be scheduled. B. Upon receipt, the Deputy Chief of Administration will begin the process to set up the evaluation. C. Personnel requesting to take the test will set up an appointment with the Deputy Chief to pick up a voucher and complete any paperwork required by the HR Training Division. II. **COST OF EVALUATION** A. The cost for the evaluation is set by the outside vendor that is contracted by Bernalillo County Human Resources (HR) to administer the evaluation. 1. BCFD will cover the fee for only one attempt at the evaluation. B. An additional fee is assessed (determined by the vendor) for failure to appear or if the employee cancels the evaluation with less than 24-hour notice. This is considered the "No Show fee". 1. BCFD will not cover the "No Show fee". III. **PAYMENT OF EVALUATION** A. If this is the first time the employee is to take the bilingual evaluation: 1. At the beginning of each new fiscal year, The Deputy Chief of Administration will work with the Fire Department Finance Administrator to secure a purchase order for the evaluation. a. A copy of this purchase order will be provided to the HR Training Director or designee. b. The purchase order number will also be noted on the voucher given to the employee to turn in to HR Training. 2. The employee will give the Deputy Chief of Administration a personal check, made out to "**Bernalillo County**", for the amount to cover the "No Show fee" during the meeting to pick up the voucher. IV. **SCHEDULING OF BILINGUAL EVALUATION** A. When funding is acquired for the bilingual evaluation, the employee will be notified so that the evaluation may be scheduled through the Bernalillo County HR Training Division. B. The evaluation will be administered by the outside vendor. C. A maximum of two (2) evaluations may be set up in one day. D. Evaluations will be scheduled between 10:00 and 3:00 (Mountain time) any week day excluding holidays E. Employees will schedule their evaluation on their own time, off duty. F. The outside vendor will confirm the evaluation appointment time the day before the scheduled evaluation. V. **APPEARING FOR THE EVALUATION AS SCHEDULED:** A. BCFD personnel who appear for their scheduled evaluation will have their "No Show fee" check returned by the Deputy Chief of Administration. B. BCFD personnel who fail to appear for the evaluation will forfeit the "No Show fee" check provided to the Deputy Chief of Administration. 1. If the employee cancels the evaluation less than 24 hours prior to the scheduled evaluation time, it is considered a "No Show" 2. The evaluation will be considered a "No Show" or failure to show after 15 minutes of the scheduled evaluation time. VI. **EVALUATION RESULTS AND NOTIFICATION** A. Results of the evaluation will be sent to HR Training the next business day following the evaluation. B. HR Training will send the individual the results as a pdf file. C. As soon as the results are provided to the Deputy Chief of Administration, the employee may pick up the "No Show fee" check or request to have it destroyed. VII. **RE-EVALUATION** A. If the employee does not receive a passing score on their initial evaluation, or they fail to appear for the initial evaluation, they may still apply for additional attempts to be evaluated. 1. Additional evaluations will be at the employee's expense to include providing another check for the "No Show fee". B. When the employee is ready to be evaluated again, they must again follow the application process as stated in Section I of this policy. C. The employee will have to give the Deputy Chief of Administration the following: 1. A personal check made out to Bernalillo County for the amount to cover the fee of the new evaluation. This check will not be returned. 2. A second personal check made out to Bernalillo County for the amount to cover the "No Show fee". This check will be handled as stated in Section V. D. The Deputy Chief of Administration will work with the fire Department Finance Administrator to secure a purchase order for the evaluation. E. Once the purchase order has been secured, the employee will be notified by the Deputy Chief of Administration, and they may begin the process as stated in Section IV. VIII. **RECEIVING INCENTIVE PAY** A. Upon receiving notification of a passing score for the evaluation, the employee or HR Training will provide a copy of the results to the Deputy Chief of Administration to be attached to the Personal Action Form (PAF) when submitted. **REVIEW/REVISED** [02/21/18 ] - Section 1, C - added the information about the voucher that was missing and adds the new information from HR Training about their required paperwork. - Section 4, C -- change in the number of evaluations done in a day, the company reduced the number from 4 to 2 evaluations per day. - Section 4, D - change and clarification of the availability of testing times based on the hours set by the company that does the testing. [09/02/19] - Section III, A, 1 -- described the process of renewing the purchase order for bilingual testing each year. - Section III, A, 2 -- updated language to make it more clear as to when the "No Show" fee check will be collected. - Section VI, C -- added a reminder about picking up the No Show fee check and when that could be done. - Section VII, A, 1 -- clarified that a no show check will also be required for additional evaluations/retests. - Section VIII, A -- clarified when the PAF would be turned in and the requirement of test results prior to turning in the PAF.