The California Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) is one of the California agencies responsible for administration of the merit-based civil service employment system for California state agencies, the other being the California State Personnel Board.
The DPA represents the Governor as the "employer" in all matters pertaining to California State personnel employer-employee relations. It's responsible for all issues related to salaries and benefits, job classifications, and training. For most employees, these matters are determined through the collective bargaining process.
It is authorized by the California Government Code §19815 through §19999.7 and §3512 through §3524 (otherwise known as the Ralph C. Dills Act), as well as the California Code of Regulations, Title 2, §599.600 through §599.995.
DPA was created in 1981 through a Governor's reorganization act to administer those aspects of the State personnel system that had become subject to collective bargaining under the Ralph C. Dills Act. In 1984, another Governor's reorganization transferred responsibility for allocating State positions to the appropriate civil service classification from the State Personnel Board to DPA. (Prior to DPA's creation, SPB was the sole personnel agency in the executive branch.)[1]