Demotion OK’d to save new hires

CITY HALL — Underperforming city employees who would normally be fired got a second chance Tuesday after the City Council agreed to allow managers to instead pursue demotions.

City officials sought the ability to demote fledgling hires into lower-level positions as an alternative to firing since employees can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to train.

While the policy applies to all employees, it is generally new employees who stumble, officials said, and retaining those who may rise to the occasion after adjusting to a new position could ultimately prove a more prudent investment.

“We view this as a positive on so many levels,” said Human Resources Director Matt Doyle.

All the city’s main employee unions signed off on the proposal, as did the Civil Service Commission, which requested a complete review of employment rules in September.

Dozens of proposed amendments were brought back to the commission for review in February, but only the demotion rule was allowed to advance to the City Council after city executives appealed for its quick consideration.

A hearing for the full list of proposed employment rule changes, the first since 2005, was tentatively rescheduled for May. In the interim, the freedom to demote instead of fire would “positively affect” the outcome of one employee at the Police Department and another at Glendale Water & Power, according to a city report.

Both agencies can easily spend thousands of dollars over the course of a year to train and evaluate their new hires, city officials said.

The most common case of new hires not meeting employment standards occurs within the Police Department, where stress levels are high and competition among cities for qualified applicants is fierce.

An average two to three newly sworn officers each year struggle with the demands of the job once they enter the field, with some ultimately facing termination after failing to overcome probation, officials said. The cost to train, evaluate and test one officer can run more than $100,000, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

“It comes to a point sometimes that they themselves realize, ‘This isn’t for me,’” he said.

Instead of being fired for a total loss, the officers could easily be transferred to jail duty or some other “controlled environment” to replace employees who have been promoted, Lorenz added.

Any transfer would also still require approval from the Civil Service Commission, which oversees municipal employment policies and enforcement.

City Council members, in approving the rule change, got assurances from city executives that demoted employees would restart their probation at the new position, and that if they failed to pass, they would then be fired.

“I just want to make sure this isn’t a ladder that keeps going down,” Councilman Bob Yousefian said.

 JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.