The State Worker

At the state's human resources headquarters in Sacramento, a small-but-significant test of state employee computer prowess is rebooting.

Don't be surprised if an Assembly hearing next Tuesday gets a tad heated.

State employee unions in contract talks with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration took a hit recently from a traditional ally: the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

For all of the political maneuvering over public pensions, you could argue the biggest reform hit on Wednesday, several blocks away from the Capitol dome.

Confused and frightened, Brian called 911 on Monday and reached California Highway Patrol dispatcher Annie Bernal.

With 1.6 million members, CalPERS has a huge mailing list that employee organizations have lusted after for years.

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown christened an overhaul of the state's personnel system, aiming to correct the wandering course of a government beset with arcane, conflicting rules that confound even the most experienced human resources managers.

The certified letter from the state demanded that Deena Mount pay a 6-year-old debt. Amount owed: five bucks. Cost for the certified postage: $6.51.

California paid more than a quarter-billion dollars to cash out state employee leave last year, according to a new state report, in part because furloughed state workers haven't been taking as much paid time off.

The 25 boxes of paper spread through three cubicles in the California Department of Human Resources' Sacramento offices are rifled by 10 state personnel experts working to solve a mystery.

The recent CalPERS sign-off on an 85 percent premium hike for its most-costly long-term care insurance policies sparked more than 100 calls and emails to The State Worker.

Did CalPERS lie? Some longtime policyholders who bought CalPERS' most costly long-term care insurance think so after the fund's board recently approved a huge premium hike.

Despite a long history of state tech debacles, politicians have long invoked software and hardware as tonic for government ills.

Cover state government long enough, and it can feel as if there are really just a few dozen stories and only the players and the dollars change.

Budget politics and procedures aside, sometimes the most basic number queries stymie the state.

If you're looking for another reason to criticize a state policy (suspended, for now) that allows employees who can't earn overtime to take a second hourly job with their same department, here it is.

There's a question floating just below the surface of last week's news that CalPERS paid hourly wages to some salaried employees for performing rank-and-file tasks: Do state managers make enough money?

With a measure for a new state holiday in the legislative queue, its slow-motion back story awaits action from a Sacramento court.

That faint cheer you may have heard Tuesday came from California's correctional officers' union when Gov. Jerry Brown said he wants to end prison privatization.

It looks like California has overspent by hundreds of millions of dollars on courthouse construction in Long Beach and roadwork in San Francisco. Meanwhile, a $371 million state payroll system upgrade is five years overdue and over budget.

Say your neighbor is thinking about a job with the state. What advice would you offer?

We expect government transparency. Wall Street loves the backroom deal.

CalPERS, the state's massive public pension system, is back in hiring mode, big time.

State worker retirement potlucks could get a tad uncomfortable starting next month when a crop of new hires with less generous pension benefits gathers around the finger-food table.