Disaster Service Worker Program

Public employee DSWs working for non-profits or government agencies cannot be held liable for their actions during a disaster while acting within the scope of their responsibilities.

Claims sustained by public employees while performing disaster services shall be filed as worker’s compensation claims under the same authorities and guidelines as with all County employees within their Department or agency.

Yes, the DSW Pamphlet is available in the DSW Training & Resources – Forms & Documents section of this website.

Employees are encouraged to contact their Departmental DSW Program coordinator. A contact list of coordinators can be located in the DSW resources section of our website. Employee can also contact the DSW program at DSW@hr.lacounty.gov.

Employees are required to sign the “Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance” at the time of their hiring and must complete the DSW training within 60 days of employment. Subsequently, employees are required to complete and sign the DSW agreement form on an annual basis.

The DSW training video can be acccessed through Talentworks. Talentworks can be accessed through the my.lacounty.gov portal. A direct link is available in the Forms & Documents -> Training Section.

The “Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance” is a signed oath which is mandated by State law for all DSWs.The Oath or Affirmation remains in effect for the duration of a person’s County employment. The Oath or Affirmation reads as follows:

I, ____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

The types of DSW assignments during a disaster are generally dictated by the impact of the emergency. When the Board of Supervisors declares an emergency, the County Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) is activated. Departments that provide critical services in responding to the emergency may need additional resources to provide emergency services and request DSW support through the CEOC.

The CEOC will work with the requesting department to determine staffing needs, and DHR then secures County DSWs to support the need and provides a list to CEOC. CEOC then gives that list to the requesting department so it can carry out its mission with the additional DSW resources. The department or agency that requested the DSW support becomes responsible for managing the DSWs assigned to support its mission.

DSWs will be assigned to either a General or Specialized Duty. Most employees will be assigned a General Duty and can include:
• Administration (executive, finance, clerical, office support)
• Human Sercives (interpreters, food/supply distribution, shelter support)
• Laborer (sorter, packer, loader, security)
• Logistics (warehouse supply, transporation)

Employees with specialized licenses or training may be assigned to a Specialized Duty. Employees will be informed if they are assigned to a Specialized Duty, which can include:
• Animal Rescue
• Fire
• Law Enforcement
• Medical Support
• Search & Rescue
• Utilities Support
• Safety Inspector
• Environmental Health Support
• Communications Support

Examples of DSW responsibilities may include:
• Registering or assisting people at a housing shelter.
• Translating for non-English speaking individuals.
• Answering phones for a COVID-19 hotline.
• Helping to operate temporary facilities such as a vaccination or testing sites.
• Delivering or serving meals
• Distributing protective personal equipment at a drive-up site for medical personnel

Although DSWs have previously been used to fill emergency election worker assignments during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the election program has since been established as a separate program. County workers are now assigned as election workers through the County Employee Election Worker Program. This program is administered by Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (countyelectionworker@rrcc.lacounty.gov) and the Department of Human Resources (CEEWP@hr.lacounty.gov).

County employees are obligated by State law (California Government Code Sections 3100 through 3109) to perform disaster service duties after an emergency or a disaster event. The Los Angeles County Code (Los Angeles County Code Chapter 2.68, et al.) also permits the County to mobilize its workforce to provide emergency services in the event of an emergency. A disaster event could be any emergency situation that stems from natural, human-made, or terrorism events. County employees may not opt out of DSW participation. As DSWs, employees will perform duties that may be different from their regular work assignments and may also be assigned to different work locations. Any public employee can be considered a DSW, so long as they are a US citizen. Non-US citizens who work for the County are still responsible for reporting to work after a disaster occurs, and may be directed to perform emergency services under the County Code.

When Departments are provided descriptions of emergency assignments requiring DSWs they should consider the appropriateness of the assignment for its employees. If there are any questions regarding the expectations of an assignment or whether an employee is appropriate for a particular emergency position, the Department should e-mail or call the DSW program.

Employees may be given verbal or written direction to report to a DSW assignment by their supervisor, manager, or deparmental human resources section; however, if practible, employees may receive a formal notice acknowledging the assignment. These notices may be issued by the department, assigned project managers (host department), Office of Emergency Management, or DHR.

The Department of Human Resources and/or County Emergency Operations Center may also contact assigned employees directly to provide assignment details and reporting instructions during the deployment process.

When assigned to an emergency assignment, the site/project manager/supervisor will have primary responsibility for managing and monitoring each of their assigned DSWs. Home departments will remain responsible for administrative responsibilities associated with their employee, including but not limited to the processing of timecards and any possible workers compensation claims. Communication about a DSW’s assignment should be directly between the employee’s home department and the DSW assignment site/department. However, DHR remains available to help resolve any HR related issues.

The duration of DSW assignments depends on the nature of the mission. For some, a DSW reports for as little as one day to provide support. For other assignments, an DSW may need to report for an on-going basis without a pre-determined end date. During these instances, the DSW, Host Department, CEOC, and DHR will all work together to ensure an end date is provided at an appropriate time based on the needs of the employee and the mission.

DSWs are compensated for any work done if they have taken and subscribed to the Loyalty Oath. Overtime and other compensation is provided in accordance with established law, MOUs and County policy.

A project code is assigned to each emergency event by the County Emergency Operations Center (CEOC). Task orders will be determined by each department based on the task to which the employee(s) are assigned. It is possible that a given department will generate multiple task codes per each project code established by the CEOC. Department administration teams will determine task codes as needed. The CEOC finance section will be able to provide guidance to departments on DSW work time coding.

The use of project codes and task orders are necessary and important because the county is required to track DSW hours associated with each emergency assignment for purposes of emergency funding and resource tracking. The county works with state and federal agencies to obtain various emergency services grants, and tracking and reporting personnel hours for each assignment is often a requirement of those grants.

Assignment managers will make every effort to keep employees on their assigned alternate work schedules or shifts. Decisions whether employees will be required to alter existing schedules, work weekends, overtime or evenings will depend on the nature of the assignment.