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Orange County approves trainee job titles to broaden hiring flexibility
Summary
The Legislature approved creating trainee classifications to allow hiring people who meet part, but not all, qualifications for county jobs; the county's commissioner of human resources said traineeships help recruit recent graduates and pay at a lower step until the employee meets full qualifications.
The Orange County Personnel and Compensation Committee voted May 19 to create a set of trainee job titles and assign grades to those titles to give hiring flexibility for positions that currently require both education and experience.
Langdon Chapman, the county's commissioner of human resources, explained that traineeships let the county hire applicants who have one required component (for example, an academic credential) but lack the other (work experience). "What a traineeship typically is, is it's somebody who has 1 component of the education or experience, but not necessarily the other," Chapman said. The trainee step will pay lower until the employee accumulates the required experience or education.
Chapman said current county rules limit traineeships to one year; the department plans to ask the state to extend that to two years for some occupations. He emphasized traineeships are meant to be a pathway: employees would still need to complete probation and meet performance standards to move to full classification.
Committee members asked whether traineeships could become indefinite; Chapman replied the county's rules impose the one-year limit now and the proposal contemplates asking the state to allow two years in some cases. The committee approved the request by voice vote.
