DATE: February 4, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Human Resources Department
TITLE: UPDATE TO THE COMPENSATION PLAN FOR UNREPRESENTED EMPLOYEES
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council approve and adopt the revised City of Oceanside Compensation Plan for Unrepresented Employees, updating Bilingual Pay language and adding an Information Technologies special assignment pay, effective the pay period following ratification and adoption of this recommendation and appropriate $6,180 from Information Services Unrestricted Fund.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Bilingual Pay
The City has a long-standing practice of compensating full-time employees for secondary language skills under the Bilingual Pay program at a rate of $1.73 per hour. Providing translation services to members of the community whose first or only language is not English is essential towards ensuring that the customer service needs of the entire community are met. However, under the current structure of the program, a significant number of positions that regularly utilize secondary language skills are excluded from eligibility because they are not staffed by full-time employees.
These positions are primarily located within the Library Department and the Parks & Recreation Department, and consist largely of Hourly Extra Help classifications. In addition, this proposal includes Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) in the Fire Department. EMTs - both full-time and Hourly Extra Help - are covered under individual employment agreements that have historically excluded bilingual pay, despite the frequent and critical nature of their interactions with the public.
The services provided by these employees are vital to the community, much like their full-time counterparts currently eligible for bilingual pay. Therefore, the City proposes to amend the Bilingual Pay program to include approximately 65 positions occupied by Hourly Extra Help employees, as well as ...
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