United Public Employees (UPE) met with Merced County Department of Behavioral Health and Recovery Services on April 7, 2025, to discuss changes to employee evaluation and annual input forms. The evaluation process is being updated to make things smoother for both employees and management. The goal is to help members get better feedback on how they’re doing at work, including areas where they’re doing well and areas that might need improvement. Employee evaluation forms have been condensed to evaluate employees on their job knowledge, communication, development, and accountability.
The Employee Annual Input Form now includes more questions, which gives members a chance to share more of their thoughts and experiences. The department originally wanted to make this form mandatory. UPE pushed back on that, knowing our members already have enough work to do. We made it clear that members’ time matters. The county agreed, and the form will now be optional.
UPE made sure and clarified with the department that if an employee is facing disciplinary action, their evaluation scores—especially in areas like accountability—will not be affected just because they choose to appeal the discipline. The department is rolling out new “SMART goals” as part of the evaluation process. These work similarly to the objectives in the previous evaluation forms and are meant to support members in their job growth and development within the department.
UPE WOULD LIKE TO THANK UPE MERCED COUNTY UNIT 3 GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERS LISA SYKES AND CARMELITA RODRIGUEZ FOR THEIR ADVOCACY AND PARTICIPATION.
