Chapter 3 – Personnel, Training, and Employee Relations

33050.4.3 Peer Support Team

• Compensation

  • PST services may occur on or off-duty. PST members are employee volunteers and do not maintain a paid on-call status, therefore; PST Administrators, PST Leaders, and members are not eligible for on-call or call-back compensation when providing PST services. Overtime may be authorized upon approval from the Hiring Authority or their designee as applicable.

• Composition

  • The PST shall be comprised of the appropriate number of PST members, and shall be based on worksite demographics to include, but not limited to, worksite type, number of employees, employee disciplines and classifications, level of custody, and other related considerations.

  • When possible, PST members shall reflect:

    • Diversity in job classifications representing all work areas of each worksite.

    • Diversity related to ethnicity, gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and physical abilities.

  • The PST shall be comprised of:

    • One voluntary PST Administrator.

    • One voluntary PST Leader.

    • Employee volunteers who are committed to providing support on or off duty.

  •  Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) leaders and members may be PST members. However, CIRT activations take priority over PST call outs. Therefore, teams shall be adequately staffed to ensure coverage if CIRT is activated simultaneously.

  • The PST Administrator shall take efforts to maintain a minimum of 15 members including the PST Leaders.

  • The PST shall not exceed 50 members.

  • The PST Administrator in collaboration with the worksite Hiring Authority will ensure PST coverage is consistent with shift coverage and the size of the facility, parole region, or division.

  • For worksites with less than 100 employees, a Hiring Authority may determine the minimum and maximum number of members for peer support coverage that is consistent with the size of the facility, shift coverage, parole region, and division.

  • The Hiring Authority in conjunction with the PST Administrator or Leader may work with the Statewide PSP Manager to amend the limits of team members on a case-by-case basis.