Title
a. Approve and authorize the Equal Opportunity Officer to sign a Professional Services Agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) for the provision of Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination and Diversity training to all County employees, for a not-to-exceed amount of $300,000, for the period of January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2018; and
b. Authorize the Equal Opportunity Officer to approve three (3) future amendments that do not alter the original amount and do not significantly alter the scope of services.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve and authorize the Equal Opportunity Officer to sign a Professional Services Agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) for the provision of Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination and Diversity training to all County employees, for a not-to-exceed amount of $300,000, for the period of January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2018; and
b. Authorize the Equal Opportunity Officer to approve three (3) future amendments that do not alter the original amount and do not significantly alter the scope of services.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) is a full service labor, employment, and education law firm. It specializes in representing public entities and specializes, among other things, in training programs and having exceptional attorneys who are subject matter experts in employment law.
The Equal Opportunity Office previously worked with LCW to develop a customized Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination and Diversity curriculum. LCW worked closely with Equal Opportunity Office staff, reviewed County of Monterey policies, and trained a limited number of County personnel on the customized curriculum. The Equal Opportunity Office will now train all County employees on the County’s Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination and Diversity policies.
The Equal Opportunity Officer requests authority to sign a contract with LCW to provide customized curriculum training on Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination and Diversity to all County employees. The contract would require LCW to provide at least four mandatory training sessions to management, supervisory, and non-management employees per month, providing training to approximately 192 employees per month, with a goal of training all County employees by December 2018.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Office of the County Counsel and Auditor-Controller have reviewed and approved the Agreement as to form.
FINANCING:
The Equal Opportunity Office will work with the County Administrative Office to source the training in FY 2015-16 however, if required the Equal Opportunity Office will return to the Board for a request for a budget augmentation. Funding for FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 will be requested during the budget process.
Prepared by:
Cynthia Juarez, Equal Opportunity Analyst
Approved by:
________________________________________
Irma Ramirez-Bough, Equal Opportunity Officer
Attachments: Professional Services Agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (Attachments on file with the Clerk of the Board)