A. Salary upon Initial Appointment and Salary Progression.
Initial appointment as a Police Officer shall be at the first step of the first Salary Schedule herein provided. (Note: Police Officers I hired prior to January 1, 2015, shall continue to progress on Salary Schedule 1 specified in Appendix A until promotion to Police Officer II.)
1. Every Police Officer, upon graduation from the Police Academy and assignment to the field as a probationary Police Officer I, shall be advanced in pay to the second step of the first Salary Schedule herein provided.
2. Any Police Officer, upon completion of probation as a Police Officer I and advancement to the rank and pay grade of Police Officer II (Class Code 2214-2), shall be advanced in pay to the first step of Salary Schedule 2, except as provided for in paragraph (3) below. Thereafter, advancements in salary shall be made automatically, step by step, after each year of aggregate active service in the class and pay grade in which the employee is employed to the maximum step rate within the Salary Schedule prescribed for his/her class and pay grade, subject to the provisions in Subsections (e) and (f) of this section.
3. Any Police Officer, who at the time of initial appointment possessed a college degree (Associate of the Arts or higher) from an accredited college or university OR had at least two years of military or prior law enforcement experience, upon completion of probation as a Police Officer I and advancement to the rank and pay grade of Police Officer II (Class Code 2214-2), shall be advanced in pay to the second step of Salary Schedule 2. The degree must be from a college or university that was accredited at the time of the employee’s initial appointment (as determined by the Personnel Department see http://per.lacity.org/Accredited%20Institutions%2008-21- 08.pdf). (Note: Effective April 12, 2020, the advanced step placement for a college degree will no longer be operable. Please see Article 5.9 for new Education Incentive benefit.) To be acceptable, military or prior law enforcement service must be approved by the General Manager of the Personnel Department. Thereafter, advancements in salary shall be made automatically, step by step, after each year of aggregate service in the class and pay grade in which the_employee is employed to the maximum step rate within the Salary Schedule prescribed for his/her class and pay grade, subject to the provisions in Subsections (e) and (f) of this section.
4. The salary upon initial appointment and salary progression for the class of Police Specialist (Class Code 2217) shall be the same as Police Officer I (Class Code 2214-1) and Police Officer II (Class Code 2214-2) set forth above. In exceptional cases, upon request from the Chief of Police, the City Administrative Officer may approve advance step hiring up to the top step of Police Officer II based on the qualifications of the individual.
Employees in the class of Police Specialist shall receive the Uniform Field Officer Incentive, if qualified, and all benefits afforded to the parallel classes shown above as contained in the MOU.
B. Salary Advancement upon Promotion or Assignment to Higher Pay Grade.
Any employee promoted to a higher class or assigned to a higher pay grade within the class to which he/she was appointed shall be advanced to the lowest rate of the salary schedule for the higher class or pay grade, or the rate of compensation next higher to that received by him/her prior to such promotion, whichever is the greater. If the employee is entitled to a salary step advancement on the same day as such promotion or assignment, the step advancement shall be considered to have occurred prior to such promotion or assignment. Provided, however, that if such person prior to promotion or assignment is receiving special or hazard pay as provided in Appendix G of this MOU, his/her salary rate prior to promotion or assignment shall be deemed to be the rate which he/she would be receiving in the absence of such salary premium.
C. Salary Rate upon Assignment to a Lower Job Class.
Any employee reassigned to a lower pay grade within the class of position to which he/she was appointed shall receive the same compensation received by him/her prior to such reassignment, or be compensated at the top step of the schedule for the lowest pay grade, whichever is lower.
D. Salary Rate upon Return/Reversion to a Higher Job Class
Any employee who returns to a higher class as a result of a reversion shall be returned to the salary step he/she received when they last held that job class.
E. Salary Rate upon Lateral Transfer.
Whenever any employee is appointed to or displaces in a position in a different class and pay grade having the same salary schedule, he/she shall be entitled to receive in the position to which he/she is appointed or in which he/she displaces, the same rate of compensation that he/she was receiving prior to such appointment or displacement less special hazard and longevity pay, unless he/she is entitled to receive such pay by applicable provision of this article in his/her new position.
Any employee in the class of Police Specialist who successfully completes 18 months of service in that class, shall then be moved into the class of Police Officer under Charter Section 1014. Upon appointment to the class of Police Officer, such employee shall be placed on the same salary step as occupied in the previous class.
F. Merit Pay Step in Schedules 1 through 13.
Receipt of salary at the maximum step in Schedules 1 through 13 is a privilege to be earned and retained on the basis of merit, and not a right. No employee in a position compensated at Schedules 1 through 13 may receive salary at the seventh step (including advancement pursuant to Section 4.159(a)(4) until the Chief of Police or his/her designee certifies to the Controller that the employee has completed the required period of service in his/her class and further certifies either: (1) that the Chief of Police finds the employee’s standard of service to be satisfactory; or (2) that three departmental deputy chiefs, sitting as a board of review, find the employee’s standard of service to be satisfactory. Any such designation shall be made in writing to the Controller.
Note: An employee who is absent during all or a portion of the one year of service during which the requisite standard of service must be maintained to qualify for merit pay shall not be certified as being eligible for such pay until and unless his or her performance has been observed for the full qualifying period and such service has met the required standard.
An employee being compensated at the seventh step shall receive an initial salary increase on promotion or assignment to a higher pay grade without the necessity for further certification. If at any time the standard of service of an employee who is receiving salary at the seventh step is unsatisfactory as confirmed by three departmental deputy chiefs, sitting as a board of review, the Chief of Police may so certify to the Controller, and in that event the salary of such employee shall revert from the seventh step to the sixth step and he/she shall not again be advanced to the seventh step unless and until the Chief of Police or his/her designee certifies that, in his/her opinion, or in the opinion of three deputy chiefs, sitting as a board of review, such employee has achieved a satisfactory standard of service. Whenever the Chief of Police finds that an employee’s standard of service is unsatisfactory and for that reason the employee is denied advancement to the seventh step, or is faced with reversion to the sixth step, such finding must be confirmed by three departmental deputy chiefs sitting as a board of review.
The Chief of Police may, in his/her discretion and without concurrence of three departmental deputy chiefs, certify that an employee’s standard of service is satisfactory, but he/she may not certify that an employee’s standard of service is unsatisfactory without the concurrence of the three departmental deputy chiefs.
All certifications required by this section shall be made on forms prescribed by the Controller.
The Chief of Police shall establish procedures for rating and reviewing the standards of service required for merit increases. The procedures shall be approved by the General Manager of the Personnel Department and the City Administrative Officer. The procedures shall provide as follows:
1. Rating and reviewing of an employee’s performance at least annually.
2. Rating and reviewing of an employee’s performance at any time the employee’s standard of service falls below the minimum standard required for receiving the present merit step.
3. Rating by a supervisor at least one rank above the employee being rated.
4. Review by the supervisor of the rater except for the rank immediately below the Chief of Police which shall not be subject to review.
5. Written documentation indicating the employee is performing the standards of service required for a merit step and has sustained the level of performance for the required period.
All employees may normally be expected to achieve the satisfactory standard of service required for advancement to Step 7.
G. Effective Dates of Pay Increases or Decreases.
When anniversary dates for step raises, merit, hazard, special pay, and longevity fall within a payroll period, the pay increase shall be effective at the beginning of the payroll period within which the date falls. When hazard, special pay, merit pay, or assignment pay are decreased within a payroll period, the decrease shall be effective at the beginning of the following payroll period.
