Unit 9, Professional Engineers
2012 Salary Survey
Published: February 19, 2013
California Department of Human Resources
Personnel Management Division
1515 S Street, North Building, Suite 400
Sacramento, California 95811

Table of Contents
Overview
Methodology
Memorandum of Understanding Survey Requirement
State of California’s Benchmark Job Classifications
Surveyed Organizations and Job Classifications
Survey Lag Computation
Lag Computation Variations
Survey Results
Considerations
Memorandum of Understanding	Attachment 1
List of Surveyed Organizations and Classification 	Attachment 2
Computation of Weighted Average Salary and Lag	Attachment 3

Overview
This salary survey is prepared by the Department of Human Resources (CalHR) pursuant to AB 977 (Chapter 616/2003) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the State of California (State) and the Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) covering Bargaining Unit 9 Professional Engineers.
Pursuant to AB 977, CalHR is submitting a completed Unit 9 salary survey to the Legislature for consideration.  Unit 9 Employees are not automatically entitled to salary increases to compensate for any salary disparity (“lag”) between Unit 9 salaries and other negotiated benchmark comparisons.
Methodology
Memorandum of Understanding Survey Requirement
This salary survey was initiated and completed based on the requirements of the MOU that was effective July 2, 2003 through July 2, 2008, as a new agreement had not yet been reached.  Article 3.1 of this contract contained the survey requirements and components to the survey whereby over time the parties had agreed to a specific methodology.  Attachment 1 displays MOU Article 3.1.  By the terms of the MOU the surveyed agencies and classifications may only be changed upon agreement between CalHR and PECG.
MOU, Article 3.1, requires CalHR to
•	annually survey the same public agencies and University of California job classifications as were used in December 2002 survey
•	calculate the salary lead or lag based on the weighted average salaries of employees in the surveyed organizations’ classifications
A new MOU has since been enacted and became effective April 1, 2011 through July 1, 2013, but had no impact on this salary survey. This new MOU states that by mutual agreement CalHR and PECG can meet to discuss benchmarks and methodologies beginning with the 2013 survey and the calculation of the salary lead or lag shall be based on weighted average salaries of employees in the classifications of specific surveyed agencies as per the list contained in the new MOU.
State of California’s Benchmark Job Classifications
For this survey, the required three benchmark job classifications for the State are
•	Entry Level — Transportation Engineer (Civil) Range B
•	Journey Level — Transportation Engineer (Civil) Range D
•	First-Supervisory Level — Senior Transportation Engineer, Caltrans 
Surveyed Organizations and Job Classifications
Attachment 2 displays the surveyed organizations, their surveyed job classifications, and the minimum and maximum salaries of those job classifications.
Survey Lag Computation
There are two parts to the survey lag computation. The first part of the lag computation weights the maximum salary of each surveyed organization (not including the State) by the total number of engineers in the comparable class in the surveyed organizations. This is done separately for the entry-level, journey-level and first-supervisory level categories. The result is three weighted average maximum salaries for the surveyed organizations; one for entry level, one for journey level, and one for first-supervisory level.
The second part of the lag computation compares the weighted average salary for the surveyed organizations with maximum salary of the State benchmark engineer class. The percentage difference is the salary lag. A separate lag is computed for entry, journey, and first-supervisory levels.
The following illustrates the simplified lag computation for entry-level using two fictitious survey organizations and fictitious data.
Simplified Illustration of Salary Lag Computation
Surveyed  Organization	Entry Level Maximum Salary A	No. of Engineers in Survey Class B	Product = A x B	
Organization A	$5,346	132	$705,672	
Organization B	$6,268	26	$162,968	
Total	N/A	158	$826,640	
•	Weighted Average Salary: $5,232 1
•	State of California Salary: $5,000
•	State Salary Lag: $232
•	State Salary Lag Percent: 4.6%2
Notes:
1. Calculation is $826,640/158
2. Calculation is $5,232 less 5,000 divided by $5,000, rounded to one decimal
Lag Computation Variations
There were two unique variations affecting the lag computation. The first item is that some of the surveyed organizations used two classifications for one level (such as entry level).  As shown in Attachment 2,
•	Six surveyed organizations used two classifications for the entry level
•	One surveyed organization used two classifications for the journey level
For those organizations using two classifications for a level (such as entry level), CalHR combined the incumbent counts for the two classifications. CalHR then weighted the maximum salary of the higher-salaried class by the combined incumbent count.
The second variation affecting the lag computation is the additional pay that some survey organizations provide their engineers for possessing State certification as a registered engineer.
The City of San Diego pays employees in the Journey and First-Supervisory levels 15% additional for State certification as a Registered Civil Engineer. To compute the survey’s salary lag, CalHR added the additional pay to maximum salary, then weighted by an incumbent count containing only State-certified registered engineers.
The Professional Engineers in California Government and CalHR agreed on the application of the two variations.
Survey Results
Salary Lags for Entry, Journey, and First-Supervisory Levels
Based on the survey data, the lags are displayed in the table below for the State’s three surveyed benchmark job classifications.  The lags are as follow:
Table Display of Survey’s Lags
Level of Work	Entry Level	Journey Level	First Level Supervisor	
State Benchmark Classification	Transportation Engineer (Civil) Range B	Transportation Engineer (Civil) Range D	Senior Transportation Engineer, Caltrans	
Survey’s Lag	4.8%	4.1%	5.1%	
Attachment 3 at the end of this report provides the detail on the lag computations.
These three lag percentages have not translated to salary increases. The rank and file civil service job classifications of Bargaining Unit 9 are not automatically entitled to salary increases to compensate for any salary disparity (“lag”) between Bargaining Unit 9 salaries and other negotiated benchmark comparisons. The Legislature shall determine whether or not those salary lags should be translated into salary increases for Unit 9 employees.
Considerations
Pursuant to AB 977 and the MOU, CalHR is to submit this survey annually to the Legislature for consideration.  However, this survey does not reflect the actual cost of increasing Unit 9 salaries as the survey does not take into consideration the total impact that such increases would have on the related supervisory and managerial classifications. Significant costs should be assumed should the State extend the salary disparity “lag” to the supervisory and managerial classifications. 

Attachment 1- Salary Survey Text from Unit 9 Memorandum of Understanding
ARTICLE 3 - SALARIES AND COMPENSATION
3.1 Salary Parity for Unit 9
All employees in classifications in Unit 9 shall receive salaries no less than salaries received by their counterparts in California’s larger local agencies and the University of California. The determination of those salaries shall be based on DPA’s survey of Professional Engineer Benchmarks, utilizing the California public agencies and the University of California included in the department’s survey dated December 2002, updated annually, and the local agency classifications and salary range matches contained therein. The salary survey for those classifications and agencies shall be updated no less than once per year. The agencies and classifications included in the survey shall only be changed upon agreement between DPA and PECG.
The calculation of the salary lead or lag for Unit 9 employees shall be based on weighted average salaries of employees in the classifications in those surveyed agencies.
All steps in each salary range shall be increased by the same percentage. The salary for intermediate classifications in ranges between the Entry and Supervisory levels shall be based on prorating or interpolating the salaries.
All salary increases shall be rounded to the nearest dollar. In no event shall salaries be reduced as a result of this provision. DPA and PECG may negotiate salaries above the minimum level on any general, regional, specialty, classification, department, or other basis they choose to agree upon.
Salaries for Unit 9 employees shall be increased as appropriate to correspond to the timing of the salaries received by local agency employees included in the survey, with adjustments in the Unit 9 salaries occurring no less than once every 12 months, as follows:
Effective July 1, 2005, the salary increase for all Unit 9 employees shall be no less than 25% of the lag calculated from the December 2004 survey or later.
Effective July 1, 2006, the salary increase for all Unit 9 employees shall be no less than 50% of the lag calculated from the survey dated December 2005 or later.
Effective July 1, 2007, the salary increase for all Unit 9 employees shall be no less than 75% of the lag calculated from the survey dated December 2006 or later.
Effective July 1, 2008, and thereafter, the salaries for all Unit 9 employees shall be such that any lag calculated from the December 2007 or later DPA survey shall be entirely eliminated.	

Attachment 2- List of Surveyed Organizations and Entry Level Classifications for 2012 Unit 9 Salary Survey
Organization	Entry Level	Min	Max	
STATE OF CALIFORNIA	Transportation Engineer A/B	$4,608	$6,409	
Alameda County	Junior Engineer	$5,606	$6,477	
Contra Costa County	Engineer - Entry	$5,220	$6,205	
Fresno County	Engineer II	$4,810	$6,140	
Los Angeles County	C.E. Assistant /Sr. C.E. Assistant	$5014   $5014	$5900 $6229	
Orange County	Junior Civil Engineer	$5,432	$6,217	
Riverside County	Junior Engineer /Assistant Engineer	$4308   $4817	$6207  $6830	
Sacramento County	Asst. Civil Eng. Level 2	$5,478	$6,988	
San Bernardino County	A/E Project Manager I	$4,767	$6,088	
San Diego County	Assistant Engineer	$4,926	$6,289	
Santa Clara County	Assistant Civil Engineer	$6,099	$7,416	
SF City/County	Junior Engineer /Assistant Engineer	$5720   $6951	$6463  $7856	
City of Fresno	Engineer I	$4,119	$4,972	
City of Los Angeles	Civil Engineer Associate I	$5,632	$6,997	
City of Oakland	Assistant Engineer, Level 1	$5,106	$6,267	
City of Riverside	Assistant Engineer	$5,322	$6,470	
City of Sacramento	Junior Engineer /Assistant Civil Engineer	$4023  $4907	$5661   $6905	
City of San Diego	Junior Engineer /Assistant Engineer	$4181   $4839	$5063   $5830	
City of San Jose	Engineer I	$5,191	$6,567	
University of California, Berkeley	Engineer, Assistant	N/A	N/A	
University of California, Davis	Engineer, Assistant	$4,024	$7,243	
University of California, Irvine	Engineer, Assistant	$3,751	$6,189	
University of California, Los Angeles	Engineer, Assistant	$3,806	$7,376	
University of California, Merced	Engineer, Assistant	N/A	N/A	
University of California, Riverside	Engineer, Assistant	$3,679	$7,543	
University of California, San Diego	Engineer, Assistant	$3,509	$6,270	
University of California, Santa Cruz	Engineer, Assistant	$3,917	$7,050	
University of California, Santa Barbara	Engineer, Assistant	$3,864	$6,965	
University of California, San Francisco	Engineer, Assistant	$4,600	$8,042	

List of Surveyed Organizations and Journey Level Classifications for 2015 Unit 9 Salary Survey
Organization	Journey Level	Min	Max	
STATE OF CALIFORNIA	Transportation Engineer D	$6,897	$8,379	
Alameda County	Associate Civil Engineer	$7,656	$9,303	
Contra Costa County	Engineer - Project	$7,180	$8,327	
Fresno County	Senior Engineer	$6,164	$7,492	
Los Angeles County	Assoc. Civil Engineer /Civil Engineer	$6641   $7402	$8250  $9196	
Orange County	Civil Engineer	$7,504	$8,597	
Riverside County	Associate Civil Engineer	$5,648	$8,009	
Sacramento County	Associate Civil Engineer	$6,981	$8,486	
San Bernardino County	A/E Project Manager II	$5,521	$7,053	
San Diego County	Civil Engineer	$6,219	$7,559	
Santa Clara County	Associate Civil Engineer	$7,273	$8,841	
SF City/County	Associate Engineer	$7,518	$9,139	
City of Fresno	Professional Engineer	$5,819	$7,052	
City of Los Angeles	Civil Engineer	$7,357	$9,140	
City of Oakland	Civil Engineer	$6,895	$8,465	
City of Riverside	Associate Engineer	$6,148	$8,239	
City of Sacramento	Associate Civil Engineer	$5,956	$8,380	
City of San Diego	Associate Engineer	$6,407	$7,737	
City of San Jose	Associate Engineer	$6,307	$7,987	
University of California, Berkeley	Engineer, Associate	N/A	N/A	
University of California, Davis	Engineer, Associate	$4,866	$8,758	
University of California, Irvine	Engineer, Associate	$4,542	$7,494	
University of California, Los Angeles	Engineer, Associate	$4,605	$8,903	
University of California, Merced	Engineer, Associate	N/A	N/A	
University of California, Riverside	Engineer, Associate	$4,451	$9,128	
University of California, San Diego	Engineer, Associate	$4,227	$7,896	
University of California, Santa Cruz	Engineer, Associate	$4,792	$8,625	
University of California, Santa Barbara	Engineer, Associate	$4,674	$8,407	
University of California, San Francisco	Engineer, Associate	$5,592	$9,750	

List of Surveyed Organizations and First Level Supervisor Classifications for 2015 Unit 9 Salary Survey
Organization	First Level Supervisor	Min	Max	
STATE OF CALIFORNIA	Sr. Transportation Engineer	$8,122	$9,870	
Alameda County	Supervising Civil Engineer	$8,743	$10,631	
Contra Costa County	Associate Civil Engineer	$6,176	$8,104	
Fresno County	Supervising Engineer	$6,779	$8,237	
Los Angeles County	Senior Civil Engineer	$8,250	$10,249	
Orange County	Senior Civil Engineer	$8,597	$9,857	
Riverside County	Senior Civil Engineer	$6,452	$9,151	
Sacramento County	Senior Civil Engineer	$8,488	$9,358	
San Bernardino County	A/E Project Manager III	$6,087	$7,783	
San Diego County	Senior Civil Engineer	$7,195	$8,746	
Santa Clara County	Senior Civil Engineer	$8,518	$10,380	
SF City/County	Senior Engineer	$10,075	$12,246	
City of Fresno	Supervising Professional Engineer	$6,606	$8,011	
City of Los Angeles	Senior Civil Engineer	$8,655	$10,751	
City of Oakland	Civil Engineer, Supervisor	$8,475	$10,406	
City of Riverside	Principal Engineer	$8,057	$11,901	
City of Sacramento	Supervising Engineer	$7,484	$11,226	
City of San Diego	Senior Civil Engineer	$7,384	$8,929	
City of San Jose	Senior Engineer	$7,672	$9,707	
University of California, Berkeley	Engineer, Senior	N/A	N/A	
University of California, Davis	Engineer, Senior	$5,356	$9,641	
University of California, Irvine	Engineer, Senior	$5,001	$8,252	
University of California, Los Angeles	Engineer, Senior	$5,069	$9,810	
University of California, Merced	Engineer, Senior	$4,709	$8,817	
University of California, Riverside	Engineer, Senior	$4,899	$10,270	
University of California, San Diego	Engineer, Senior	$5,161	$10,048	
University of California, Santa Cruz	Engineer, Senior	$5,333	$9,600	
University of California, Santa Barbara	Engineer, Senior	$5,145	$9,263	
University of California, San Francisco	Engineer, Senior	$6,133	$10,717	

Attachment 3- Computation of Weighted Average Salary and Lag for 2012 Unit 9 Salary Survey
August 27, 2012
Jurisdiction	Entry Level Salary Maximum	Entry Level # of Inc.	Entry Level Weighted Avg. Max	Journey Level Salary Maximum	Journey Level # of Inc.	Journey Level Weighted Avg. Max	First Level Supervisor Salary Maximum	First Level Sup. # of Inc.	First Level Sup. Weighted Avg. Max	
Alameda County	6,477	2	12,954	9,303	11	102,331	10,631	4	42,524	
Contra Costa County	6,205	0	0	8,327	3	24,981	8,104	8	64,832	
Fresno County	6,140	4	24,560	7,492	8	59,936	8,237	2	16,474	
Los Angeles County	6,229	146	909,434	9,196	342	3,145,032	10,249	84	860,916	
Orange County	6,217	1	6,217	8,597	26	223,522	9,857	26	256,282	
Riverside County	6,830	24	163,920	8,009	27	216,243	9,151	14	128,114	
Sacramento County	6,988	90	628,920	8,486	90	763,740	9,358	51	477,258	
San Bernardino County	6,088	0	0	7,053	3	21,159	7,783	3	23,349	
San Diego County	6,289	18	113,202	7,559	42	317,478	8,746	20	174,920	
Santa Clara County	7,416	0	0	8,841	20	176,820	10,380	7	72,660	
SF City/County	7,856	183	1,437,648	9,139	234	2,138,526	12,246	118	1,445,028	
City of Fresno	4,972	1	4,972	7,052	12	84,624	8,011	3	24,033	
City of Los Angeles	6,997	3	20,991	9,140	71	648,940	10,751	18	193,518	
City of Oakland	6,267	0	0	8,465	35	296,275	10,406	6	62,436	
City of Riverside	6,470	2	12,940	8,239	4	32,956	11,901	11	130,911	
City of Sacramento	6,905	12	82,860	8,380	21	175,980	11,226	11	123,486	
City of San Diego	5,830	187	1,090,210	7,737	85	657,645	8,929	42	375,018	
City of San Jose	6,567	0	0	7,987	81	646,947	9,707	31	300,917	
UC - Berkeley	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	0	
UC - Davis	7,243	0	0	8,758	3	26,274	9,641	2	19,282	
UC - Irvine	6,189	2	12,378	7,494	1	7,494	8,252	0	0	
UC - Los Angeles	7,376	14	103,264	8,903	3	26,709	9,810	3	29,430	
UC - Merced	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	0	0	8,817	1	8,817	
UC - Riverside	7,543	0	0	9,128	0	0	10,270	1	10,270	
UC - San Diego	6,270	2	12,540	7,896	4	31,585	10,048	1	10,048	
UC - Santa Cruz	7,050	7	49,350	8,625	2	17,250	9,600	5	48,000	
UC - Santa Barbara	6,965	2	13,930	8,407	4	33,628	9,263	1	9,263	
UC - San Francisco	8,042	2	16,084	9,750	0	0	10,717	1	10,717	
Total	N/A	702	4,716,374	N/A	1132	9,876,075	N/A	474	4,918,503	
Calculation of weighted maximum salaries for entry, journey and supervisory levels is the salary maximum multiplied by the number of incumbents.
Results	Entry Level	Journey Level	First Level Supervisor	
Jurisdiction Weighted Average Salary	6,718	8,724	10,377	
State of California Salary	6,409	8,379	9,870	
State Lag (Dollar Amount)	309	345	507	
State Lag (Percentage)	4.8%	4.1%	5.1%