Job Information
Ventura County Assistant County Counsel- Employment and Labor Law in Ventura, California
Assistant County Counsel- Employment and Labor Law
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Assistant County Counsel- Employment and Labor Law
Salary
$119,135.58 - $238,542.22 Annually
Location
Ventura County Government Center, CA
Job Type
Full-Time Regular
Job Number
0039CC-25AB (LC)
Department
County Counsel
Opening Date
02/05/2025
Description
Benefits
Questions
Description
WHAT WE OFFER The County of Ventura offers an attractive compensation and benefits package which includes the following:
Educational Incentive - An educational incentive of 5% for completion of a graduate degree.
Annual Leave - The candidate selected for this position will earn 208 hours per year, increasing to 288.08 hours after 5 years of service.
Annual Leave Redemption - The ability to "cash in" or redeem up to 100 hours of Annual Leave per year after using 80 hours of annual leave within the previous 12 months. (Management Resolution, § 1205)
Deferred Compensation - Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3% match on your 401(k) contributions. Following five (5) years of continuous County service, an additional 2% non-elective contribution will be made to the 401(k) plan.
Health Plans – You are afforded a flexible credit allowance of up to $25,558 annually for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from a group of authorized plans.
Flexible Spending Accounts - Employees may also participate in the Flexible Spending Accounts which increase their spending power by reimbursing them with pre-tax dollars for IRS approved dependent care and health care expenses.
Pension Plan - Both the County and you contribute to the County's Retirement Plan and to Social Security. If eligible, you may establish reciprocity with other public retirement systems such as PERS.
Holidays - 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.
Additional Benefits: Professional Memberships, Disability Plans, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Wellness Program.
The County Counsel’s Office provides legal advice and representation to County departments, agencies, officials, and employees in all civil law matters. The County Counsel's Office is distinguished from the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office, which handle criminal matters.
THE DEPARTMENT
The County Counsel’s Office employs approximately 27 attorneys and 13 support personnel. The working title for line-assigned attorneys is Assistant County Counsel, although the formal Civil Service classifications for the Assistant County Counsel positions are Civil Attorney I, II, III, and Senior Civil Attorney. Five attorney positions are assigned to management of the Office, including the County Counsel. The individual assignments of Assistant County Counsels are varied, reflecting the breadth of functions performed by the County, and can include litigation, advisory and transactional duties.
THE POSITION
An Assistant County Counsel- Employment and Labor Law position is available in the Civil Attorney II, Civil Attorney III or Senior Civil Attorney classification, depending upon candidate experience. The position will primarily advise and represent the County, its departments, agencies, officials, and employees in all aspects of employment and labor law but may be assigned other municipal law matters related to County government. The ideal candidate will have experience representing public or private sector clients regarding a wide array of employment and labor matters including compliance with California and federal labor, employment, and equal opportunity laws; the hiring, training and disciplining employees; reasonably accommodating employees and complying with leave laws and policies; and negotiating and drafting employment contracts and personnel rules and policies. The ideal candidate will also have experience litigating wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and failure to accommodate cases in California and federal court and representing the County in workplace investigations and matters before the Public Employment Relations Board.
APPROXIMATE PAYROLL TITLES AND ANNUAL SALARIES:
Civil Attorney II: $119,135.58 - $166,789.81
Civil Attorney III: $146,586.31 - $205,220.86
Senior Civil Attorney: $170,370.62 - $238,542.22
Civil Attorneys receive management benefits and are exempt from overtime compensation.
NOTE: If appointed at the lower level, incumbent may be promoted to the higher level without further exam upon meeting the minimum requirements, demonstrating satisfactory performance, and in accordance with the business needs of the department.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
OPENING DATE: February 5, 2025
CLOSING DATE: Continuous
FIRST REVIEW COMPLETE: on or about February 20, 2025
EXAMINATION DATE: To be determined
Examples Of Duties
Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Advise client agencies regarding compliance with all aspects of California and federal employment and labor laws, as well as other municipal law matters related to County government;
Represent client agencies, officials, and employees in California and federal employment cases at hearings and trials, appellate hearings, administrative hearings, arbitrations, mediations, and depositions, and other civil litigation;
Prepare litigation documents including complaints, answers, demurrers/motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment and other motions, appellate briefs, stipulations, discovery requests and responses, trial and arbitration briefs, motions in limine, jury instructions, and settlement agreements;
Represent client agencies in investigations related to workplace issues such as discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and compliance with labor laws;
Negotiate and draft employment and labor contracts and County personnel policies and rules;
Review and prepare County agreements and contracts; represent the County in negotiations with private parties and attorneys;
Drafts ordinances, resolutions, contracts and other legal documents, instruments and legislative measures;
Prepare legal opinions and memoranda regarding a wide variety of employment advisory and litigation matters, as well as other municipal law matters related to County government;
Formulate and collaborate with County Counsel management and County officials regarding employment- and labor-related objectives and strategy in advisory and litigation contexts;
Perform other related duties as required.
Typical Qualifications
These are entrance requirements to the recruitment process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.
EDUCATION AND LICENSING:
All levels require graduation from law school and active membership in the State Bar of California.
EXPERIENCE:
Civil Attorney II - A minimum of two (2) years of professional legal experience.
Civil Attorney III - A minimum of four (4) years of professional legal experience.
Senior Civil Attorney – A minimum of six (6) years of professional legal experience.
NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Demonstrated experience advising public or private clients regarding California and federal employment laws such as the Fair Employment and Housing Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, California Family Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Demonstrated experience representing public or private clients in cases in California or federal court involving employment claims such as wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and failure to accommodate.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
General knowledge of: California and federal rules of civil procedure, discovery, evidence, professional conduct, and legal research and writing methods.
Comprehensive knowledge of: California and federal employment laws such as Fair Employment and Housing Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, California Family Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Comprehensive skill and ability to: Analyze complex employment issues, claims and defenses; utilize legal research to find principles of law, statutes and cases on point; clearly communicate, verbally and in writing, employment law requirements and principles to client agencies and public officials; develop strategies to accomplish client objectives in employment advisory and litigation contexts; clearly present statements of fact and argument, verbally and in writing, to triers of fact; develop discovery plan and conduct all aspects of discovery; draft legal pleadings, briefs and advisory memoranda; and obtain the confidence and respect of members of the legal profession, public officials and other persons.
SPECIAL RESTRICTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:
The County of Ventura Personnel Rules and Regulations prohibit County attorneys from engaging in the private practice of law for compensation.
Pursuant to the Political Reform Act of 1974, the Assistant County Counsels must file a financial disclosure statement within thirty (30) days of appointment, and annually thereafter.
Recruitment Process
FINAL FILING DATE : This is a continuous recruitment and may close at any time; therefore, apply as soon as possible if you are interested in it. Your application must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date.
First review date is anticipated to be completed on or about February 20, 2025.
To apply on-line refer to web site: www.ventura.org/jobs. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 S. Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.NOTE: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here (http://vcportal.ventura.org/CEO/HR/docs/Lateral_Transfer.pdf) ( Download PDF reader (https://get.adobe.com/reader/) ) for additional information.
NOTE: Sufficient information must be provided under the Education/Work experience portion of the application and supplemental questionnaire, if applicable, to thoroughly and accurately demonstrate your qualifications in order to determine eligibility. A resume may be attached to supplement the information in the above sections; however, it may not be submitted in lieu of the application.
APPLICATION EVALUATION – qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine if the stated requirements are met. Those individuals meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the screening and selection process.
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE – qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in the application being removed from consideration.
TRAINING and EXPERIENCE EVALUATION: A Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by a candidate, including the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the candidate meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining the better qualified candidates among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the Department. Candidates are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of candidates is exceptionally strong, many qualified candidates may receive a score or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process. NOTE: The selection process will likely consist of an oral examination, which may be preceded by or replaced with, the score from a T&E, contingent upon the size and quality of the candidate pool. In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questionnaire within the application is completed with care and diligence.
ORAL EXAMINATION – 100%: All qualifying applicants, or those selected for further examination if there is a high number of qualified applicants, will be invited to an oral examination. Those applicants invited to the oral examination may be required to bring their law school transcripts and a writing sample showing their ability to research, analyze and apply the law. A panel of three persons will conduct the oral examination to evaluate and compare participating candidates' knowledge, skills and abilities in relation to those factors determined to be essential for successful performance of the job.
ELIGIBILITY LIST: Candidates who score seventy percent (70%) or higher on the oral examination will be placed on an eligible list for one (1) year. If there are three (3) or fewer qualified applicants, an oral examination will not be conducted. Instead, a score of seventy percent (70%) will be assigned to each applicant, and each applicant will be placed on the eligible list. The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill existing and future regular, temporary, fixed-term, intermittent and extra-help positions within the office only. There is currently one (1) Regular vacancy in the County Counsel's Office.
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough pre-employment, post-offer background investigation, which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information and driving record, may be required for this position.
For further information about this recruitment, please contact Lorin Calderon by email to Lorin.Calderon@ventura.org (Lorin.Calderon@ventura.org%20) or phone (805) 654-2959.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY : The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.
YOUR BENEFITS AS A COUNTY OF VENTURA EMPLOYEE
MANAGEMENT
To learn more about Benefits, Retirement, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), see links below.
Benefits website (https://hr.ventura.org/benefits) or you may call (805) 654-2570.
Retirement FAQ's (https://vcportal.ventura.org/CEO/benefits/docs/RETIREMENT%20-%20FAQs.pdf)
Memorandum of Agreement
Union Codes: MB3, MB4, MS, MT, MCC, MU
01
Please describe your experience advising public or private clients in workplace involving California and federal employment laws such as the Fair Employment and Housing Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, California Family Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and Age Discrimination in Employment Act. In your response, include what types of organizations or clients you have advised on these laws. If you have no such experience, please type "no experience."
02
Please describe your experience representing public or private clients and investigating cases involving employment claims such as wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, or failure to accommodate. In your response, provide examples cases you handled in California or federal courts including the outcomes of these cases. If you have no such experience, please type "no experience."
03
Please describe your experience with judicial and administrative proceedings involving employment matters detailing your role in: A) representation; B) the type, venue, and number of cases worked on; C) the types of issues addressed; and significant case outcomes. If you have no such experience, please type "no experience."
04
Please describe your experience negotiating and drafting employment agreements, labor contracts, and employment or personnel rules and policies. If you have no such experience, please type "no experience."
05
EMPLOYER USE ONLY - Applicant meets the minimum qualifications for:
Civil Attorney II
Civil Attorney III
Senior Civil Attorney
Required Question
Employer
Ventura County
Address
800 S. Victoria Avenue LOC. #1970 Ventura, California, 93009
Phone
(805) 654-5129
Website
http://hr.ventura.org
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