CC SR 20260421 02 - AB 2561 Vacancies Recruitment and Retention
PUBLIC HEARING - NON-ADJUDICATIVE
Date: April 21, 2026
Subject:
Consider a 2025 report on the City’s vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts per Assembly
Bill (AB) 2561 and Government Code § 3502.3.
Recommendation:
1) Receive and file a 2025 report on the City’s vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts in
compliance with the legal obligations under AB 2561/Government Code § 3502.3.
1. Report of Notice Given: City Clerk Takaoka
2. Declare Public Hearing Open: Mayor Seo
3. Request for Staff Report: Mayor Seo
4. Staff Report & Recommendation: Eileen Jacinto, Human Resources Analyst
Vanessa Godinez, Human Resources and Risk Manager
5. Council Questions of Staff (factual and without bias):
6. Public Testimony:
General Public 3 Minutes Each.
7. Council Questions of Public Testimony (factual and without bias):
8. Declare Hearing Closed/or Continue the Public Hearing to a later date: Mayor Seo
9. Council Deliberation:
The Council may ask staff to address questions raised by the testimony, or to clarify matters. Staff and/or Council may also answer
questions posed by speakers during their testimony. The Council will then debate and/or make motions on the matter.
10. Council Action:
The Council may: vote on the item; offer amendments or substitute motions to decide the matter; reopen the hearing for additional
testimony; continue the matter to a later date for a decision.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 04/21/2026
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Public Hearing
AGENDA TITLE:
Consider a 2025 report on the City’s vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts per
Assembly Bill (AB) 2561 and Government Code § 3502.3.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
1) Receive and file a 2025 report on the City’s vacancies, recruitment, and retention
efforts in compliance with the legal obligations under AB 2561/Government Code
§ 3502.3.
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact to receive and file this report.
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Eileen Jacinto, Human Resources Analyst
Vanessa Godinez, Human Resources and Risk Manager VG
REVIEWED BY: Catherine Jun, Deputy City Manager CJ
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENT:
1. AB 2561 Text: Legislative Counsel’s Digest (page A-1)
2. Administrative Instruction Manual No. 2-21 Recruitment Incentive Program (page
B-1)
BACKGROUND
On September 22, 2024, Governor Newsom signed AB 2561 into law, amending the
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act that authorizes local public employees to form, join, and
participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the
purpose of representation on matters of labor relations. AB 2561, which is codified under
Government Code § 3502.3, went into effect on January 1, 2025 and requires cities to
complete the following steps each year:
1
1. Public Hearing: At least once per fiscal year, at a public hearing before the City
Council, the City shall present information regarding the status of vacancies ,
recruitment, and retention efforts and identify any necessary changes to policies,
procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to obstacles in the hiring
process.
If the City Council adopts an annual or multiyear budget during the fiscal year, this
presentation must occur prior to the City Council’s adoption of the final budget for
the City.
2. Employee Organization Participation: Allow the recognized employee organization
for each bargaining unit to make presentations during the public hearing
concerning vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts.
There are two (2) bargaining units at the City: American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees, District Council 36 (AFSCME), which
represents 64 part-time employees, and Rancho Palos Verdes Employee
Association (RPVEA), which represents 57 full-time (non-management or
confidential) employees. Human Resources duly notified both bargaining units
regarding tonight’s public hearing and the opportunity to make presentations via
email on April 6, 2026.
3. Additional Reporting for High Vacancy Rates: If vacancies within a single
bargaining unit meet or exceed 20% of authorized full -time positions in that
bargaining unit, upon request of the recognized employee organization for that
bargaining unit, the City must provide additional information during the public
hearing, including the following: (1) the total number of vacancies; (2) the number
of applicants; (3) the average time to fill positions; and (4) opportunities to improve
compensation and working conditions for employees in the bargaining unit (Gov.
Code § 3502.3(c)).
DISCUSSION:
2025 Vacancy Rates
In 2025, vacancy rates for AFSCME and RPVEA were below the 20% threshold noted
above. AFSCME’s vacancy rate was 16.9%, which was higher than the prior year rate of
12%. This was primarily attributed to increased staffing turnover or decreased schedule
availability among part-time Recreation Leader or Specialist positions over the winter
season. As such, Human Resources ramped up recruitment efforts in February 2025 to
fill vacancies, uncovered shifts, as well as anticipated openings for seasonal summer
work. By June 2025, these openings were staffed and Human Resources established a
viable list of eligible candidates to use for future vacancies.
RPVEA’s vacancy rate in 2025 was 6.6%, which is lower than the prior year rate of 11%.
This was attributed to proactive efforts to fill difficult-to-recruit positions, which are detailed
below.
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2025 Recruitment and Retention Efforts
Recruitment:
The City remains focused on supporting recruitment and retention efforts to ensure
continuous, effective operations, utilizing strategic initiatives. In 2025, several key
strategies contributed to the successful recruitment of new full-time and part-time
employees:
• Human Resources revised and streamlined job postings to make them clearer,
consistent, and more concise.
• For select, hard-to-fill positions, which included two (2) Principal Engineers, sign-
on incentive bonuses authorized by the City Council (Attachment B) were offered,
which helped the City attract highly qualified candidates and fill both positions in
2025.
• The City also hired an executive recruitment firm to manage its more challenging
recruitments in a competitive market. Firms utilized their expansive networks,
diversified outreach tools, expertise in public sector hiring trends, consistent follow-
up with candidates, and a streamlined selection process to identify a pool of
qualified applicants. This has allowed the City to fill the two Principal Engineers
mentioned above.
• In July 2025, a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
RPVEA was adopted that increased the minimum and maximum pay ranges up by
3.0%, along with other additional benefits, ensuring that the City’s salaries and
benefits remain competitive in the region.
• To widen the City’s pool of applicants, Human Resources continues to expand its
outreach tools by advertising jobs on LinkedIn, various social media platforms, and
industry specific job boards including, but not limited to, Public CEO, League of
California Cities, International City/County Management Association, American
Public Works Association, Municipal Management Association of Southern
California, GovernmentJobs.com, and local colleges and universities.
Retention:
The City has successfully retained long-term employees by fostering a positive work
culture, promoting from within (when possible and when appropriate), supporting
employee development and training, and offering a competitive merit-based evaluation
system.
• In 2025, seven internal promotions were made through a competitive recruitment
process that included both internal and external candidates.
• In 2025, the City continued and strengthened its efforts with the #LiveWellRPV
program. This employee wellness program is designed to support employees’
overall health and well-being and offers a variety of resources, activities, and tools
to help employees thrive personally and professionally. Examples include a mobile
health clinic provided by Kaiser, workshops or educational materials to promote
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healthier habits, and organized events to encourage physical activity such as
walking groups and lunchtime yoga sessions led by Staff.
• On July 1, 2025, as part of the City’s ongoing commitment to supporting employee
health and well-being, the City implemented a Wellness Reimbursement Program.
This program provides employees with reimbursement of up to $300 per fiscal year
to encourage participation in health and wellness-related activities, as well as the
purchase of equipment that promotes personal health and overall well-being.
• The City engaged in good faith negotiations with RPVEA and AFSCME for a
successor MOU for Fiscal Years 2025-2028 that support long-term workforce
stability and employee satisfaction. The City adopted a successor MOU with
RPVEA in June 2025 that included competitive benefits intended to improve
retention efforts. Furthermore, the City remained in negotiations with AFSCME
throughout 2025, but executed a successor MOU recently at the April 7, 2026 City
Council meeting. This will also be noted in next year’s report.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommend receiving and filing this 2025 report on city vacancies, recruitment and
retention efforts.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available for
the City Council’s consideration:
1. Decline to receive and file this report on 2025 vacancies, recruitment, and retention
efforts in the City and provide staff further direction.
2. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
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Assembly Bill No. 2561
CHAPTER 409
An act to add Section 3502.3 to the Government Code, relating to public employment.
[ Approved by Governor September 22, 2024. Filed with Secretary of State
September 22, 2024. ]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2561, McKinnor. Local public employees: vacant positions.
Existing law, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (act), authorizes local public employees, as defined, to form, join,
and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of
representation on matters of labor relations. The act requires the governing body of a public agency to meet and
confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives
of recognized employee organizations and to consider fully presentations that are made by the employee
organization on behalf of its members before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action.
This bill would, as specified, require a public agency to present the status of vacancies and recruitment and
retention efforts at a public hearing at least once per fiscal year, and would entitle the recognized employee
organization to present at the hearing. If the number of job vacancies within a single bargaining unit meets or
exceeds 20% of the total number of authorized full-time positions, the bill would require the public agency, upon
request of the recognized employee organization, to include specified information during the public hearing. By
imposing new duties on local public agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill
would also include related legislative findings.
The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of
public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends
or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the
enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs
mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions for costs
mandated by the state pursuant to this act, but would recognize that a local agency or school district may pursue
any available remedies to seek reimbursement for these costs.
Digest Key
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal Committee: yes Local Program: yes
Bill Text
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THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Job vacancies in local government are a widespread and significant problem for the public sector affecting
occupations across wage levels and educational requirements.
(b) High job vacancies impact public service delivery and the workers who are forced to handle heavier
workloads, with understaffing leading to burnout and increased turnover that further exacerbate staffing
challenges.
(c) There is a statewide interest in ensuring that public agency operations are appropriately staffed and that high
vacancy rates do not undermine public employee labor relations.
SEC. 2. Section 3502.3 is added to the Government Code, to read:
3502.3. (a) (1) A public agency shall present the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts during a
public hearing before the governing board at least once per fiscal year.
(2) If the governing board will be adopting an annual or multiyear budget during the fiscal year, the
presentation shall be made prior to the adoption of the final budget.
(3) During the hearing, the public agency shall identify any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and
recruitment activities that may lead to obstacles in the hiring process.
(b) The recognized employee organization for a bargaining unit shall be entitled to make a presentation at the
public hearing at which the public agency presents the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts
for positions within that bargaining unit.
(c) If the number of job vacancies within a single bargaining unit meets or exceeds 20 percent of the total
number of authorized full-time positions, the public agency shall, upon request of the recognized employee
organization, include all of the following information during the public hearing:
(1) The total number of job vacancies within the bargaining unit.
(2) The total number of applicants for vacant positions within the bargaining unit.
(3) The average number of days to complete the hiring process from when a position is posted.
(4) Opportunities to improve compensation and other working conditions.
(d) This section shall not prevent the governing board from holding additional public hearings about vacancies.
(e) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid,
the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid
provision or application.
(f) For purposes of this section, “recognized employee organization” has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (a) of Section 3501.
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SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of this act, which adds Section 3502.3 to the
Government Code, furthers, within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of
the California Constitution, the purposes of that constitutional section as it relates to the right of public access to
the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of local public officials and local agencies. Pursuant to
paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the Legislature makes the
following findings:
It is in the public interest, and it furthers the purposes of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section (3) of Article
I of the California Constitution, to ensure that information concerning public agency employment is available to
the public.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code for costs mandated by the state pursuant to this act. It is recognized, however,
that a local agency or school district may pursue any remedies to obtain reimbursement available to it under Part
7 (commencing with Section 17500) and any other law.
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CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
ADMINISTRATIVE INSTRUCTION MANUAL
NUMBER 2-21
SUBJECT: RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM
I. BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE
The City shall make available to appointing authorities a Recruitment Incentive
Program to incentivize and secure highly qualified employees for positions that
the City has determined to be difficult to recruit in accordance with the
guidelines established herein and when funding is available.
II. DEFINITIONS
a. APPOINTING AUTHORITIES: City Manager and/or designated Subject
Matter Expert (SME) assigned to the recruitment , inclusive of Human
Resources
b. HARD-TO-RECRUIT POSITIONS: Classification must have
demonstratable recruitment difficulty, which includes limited applicant pool,
recruitment difficulty, or a continued high vacancy rate. Job requirements
such as technical expertise, certifications, licensing and/or advanced
educational requirements may limit the pool of qualified applicants. If two or
more consecutive recruitments have been done, resulting in a limited
applicant pool, the recruitment would be defined as difficult to re cruit. A
continued high vacancy rate is demonstrated through actively recruited
positions that continue to remain vacant.
III. PROGRAM APPLICABILITY
Appointing authorities may request authorization to apply the Recruitment
Incentive Program to assist in filling difficult-to-recruit positions in their
department. To apply, said position/classification must have demonstratable
recruitment difficulty. Recruitment difficulty may be based on any one of the
following: limited applicant pool, recruitment difficulty, and/or a continued high
vacancy rate. The Human Resources Manager shall have the authority to
determine the applicability to each requested position/classification and shall
submit a request to the City Manager for consideration. The City Manager or
his/her designee shall approve, deny, or amend the request based on the
information provided. Prior to advertising a position utilizing the Recruitment
B-1
Incentive Program, the City Manager shall notify the City Council in writing by
explaining the reason for utilizing the program and how it will be implemented
and funded.
IV. PROGRAM
A full-time employee hired into a position/classification certified for participation
in the program shall be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive in an amount
set by the City Manager and/or designee based on available funding, as
described below:
a. The full-time incumbent will be eligible for 25% of the incentive on their first
paycheck.
b. After successfully passing the probationary period, the full-time incumbent
will be eligible for a second 25% payment.
c. After completing 24 months of employment, the full-time incumbent will be
eligible for the final 50% incentive payment.
Each incentive payment shall be considered taxable income and subject to
withholdings.
V. JOB POSTING
Prior to the posting of vacant positions, the Recruitment Incentive Program
description must be included in the job posting advising applicants they must
meet the eligibility requirements.
VI. LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS
No incentive will be paid for any candidate whose recruitment does not meet
program applicability and has not had applicability certified.
No incentive will be paid to any candidate whose name was placed on the
eligible list for full-time positions in the classification prior to the determination
of program applicability. Similarly, no incentive will be paid to any candidate
whose name was placed on the eligible list for full-time positions or forwarded
to the department for part-time positions, if applicability was not previously
certified by the City Manager and/or designee.
In the event the employee is unable or unwilling to work, is taken off work, or is
on an approved leave of absence, any payments owed shall be delayed the
same amount of time as the employee remains off work.
In the event the employee resigns, is terminated from employment, or fails to
successfully complete the probationary period with a “meets” or greater overall
B-2
rating, the employee will not be eligible to receive any outstanding payments
owed.
The Recruitment Incentive Program will remain in effect while funds are
available.
B-3