AGENDA TITLE:
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Public Hearing Pursuant to Government Code Section 3502.3 to Receive a Report on the Status of Vacancies and Recruitment and Retention Efforts (IS - HR)
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MEETING DATE:
June 17, 2026
PREPARED BY:
James Peavey, Human Resources Manager
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RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Public Hearing pursuant to Government Code Section 3502.3 to receive a report on the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Report in Brief
In compliance with Government Code Section 3502.3, during a public hearing before its governing board, a public agency shall present the status of its vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts, and identify any necessary changes to its policies, procedures, and recruitment activities, if appropriate, to remove obstacles to the hiring process.
Background
In compliance with state law, the City of Lodi (City) must do the following:
• At least once each fiscal year, at a public hearing before the Council, the public agency (i.e., City staff) shall present information regarding the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts. City staff is also required to identify any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities necessary to remove obstacles from the hiring process. If the Council adopts an annual or multi-year budget during the fiscal year, this presentation must occur prior to the Council’s adoption of the budget for the City. This informational report meets this requirement.
• Allow the recognized employee organization for each bargaining unit at the City to make a presentation during the public hearing concerning vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts.
• If vacancies within a single bargaining unit meet or exceed 20% of authorized full-time positions in 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.
Analysis
As of June 10, 2026, the City’s vacancy rate citywide is 7.6%, and the vacancy rate for each bargaining group is well below 20%. The table below shows position count and vacancy rate, by bargaining unit and Citywide:
|
Unit |
Position Count |
Vacant Positions |
Total Vacancy Rate |
|
AFSCME - General Services Unit |
89 |
7 |
7.9% |
|
AFSCME - M&O Unit |
102 |
8 |
7.8% |
|
IBEW |
41 |
3 |
7.5% |
|
City Mid-Management |
59 |
1 |
1.7% |
|
Professional Firefighters |
49 |
4 |
8.2% |
|
Fire Mid-Management |
5 |
0 |
0% |
|
Police Officers Association |
62 |
6 |
9.7% |
|
Police Mid-Management |
20 |
0 |
0% |
|
Police Dispatchers |
18 |
3 |
16.7% |
|
Unrepresented |
29 |
4 |
13.8% |
|
Citywide - All Budgeted Positions |
474 |
36 |
7.6% |
Vacancies
Vacancies occur for a variety of reasons, including an employee’s separation from the City (e.g., retirement; resignation; involuntary termination; transfer, promotion or demotion to a new job; and the addition of newly budgeted positions). The City places a high priority on filling these vacancies with top quality candidates in a timely and efficient manner. For this reason, the City strives to maintain a consistently low vacancy rate.
Recruitment and Retention Efforts
The City understands recruitment and retention is a holistic function that involves identifying the needs of the City, attracting candidates who are well-equipped to meet those needs and are well-aligned to City’s mission, vision and values, and then to engage and retain those employees.
The City seeks to recruit and retain a highly qualified, performance oriented and motivated workforce by offering its regular full-time employees competitive wages and generous benefits, such as:
• Health, dental, optical: City employees have access to a variety of health plans to support their, and their families’, physical, and mental well-being.
• Paid time off: City employees earn paid time off each pay period (e.g., vacation, sick, etc.).
• Tuition and training: City employees are eligible for tuition and training reimbursement to help support their career growth.
• Long-Term Disability: City employees have peace of mind in case of catastrophic injury as they are covered for long-term disability.
• Retirement: City employees are eligible for enrollment in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, a defined benefit pension plan. Defined benefit plans provide a guaranteed retirement income once an employee meets the minimum age and service requirements established by the plan; a retired employee will receive a monthly pension payment for the remainder of his/her life. The City also offers employees the ability to participate in a 457 savings plan.
The City is not currently proposing any Citywide changes to its policies, procedures, and recruitment activities because it focuses on this throughout the year and make changes when obstacles are identified. Staff has highlighted below three activities that are implemented throughout the year.
• With each recruitment, City staff work collaboratively with hiring managers to review and, if needed, update classification specifications to ensure the competencies and minimum qualifications of the job are appropriately reflected. Doing so ensures the City is recruiting the appropriate candidates for the position, and can remove any false barriers, such as a requirement that does not truly measure a candidate’s competency to do the job or is no longer an industry standard.
• City staff closely monitor recruitment best practices (e.g., evaluating the use of open versus promotional recruitments, etc.) to create the most effective merit-based recruitments possible.
• The Human Resources Manager monitors vacancies. When spikes in vacancies are predicted or observed, the Human Resources Manager works together with the impacted department head to develop a plan to address the vacancies.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no a fiscal impact from this report.
FUNDING AVAILABLE:
Not applicable.