Bill Text: CA AB778 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Local public employee organizations: dispute: factfinding panel.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB778 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB778-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 778 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 6, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bocanegra
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to add Section 55.5 to the Labor Code, relating to
employment. An act to amend Section 3505.4 of the
Government Code, relating to local public employee organiz
ations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 778, as amended, Bocanegra. Employment: workforce and
demographic changes: study. Local public employee
organizations: dispute: factfinding panel.
Existing law requires the governing body of a local public agency,
or those boards, commissions, administrative officers, or other
representatives as may be properly designated by law or by a
governing body, to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages,
hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with
representatives of recognized employee organizations. Existing law
authorizes an employee organization to request that the parties'
differences be submitted to a factfinding panel not sooner that 30
days or more than 45 days following the appointment or selection of a
mediator pursuant to the parties' agreement to mediate or a
mediation process required by a public agency's local rules. Existing
law authorizes an employee organization, if the dispute was not
submitted to mediation, to request that the parties' differences be
submitted to a factfinding panel not later than 30 days following the
date that either party provided the other with a written notice of a
declaration of impasse.
This bill would require that request to be in writing. The bill
would provide that if either party disputes that a genuine impasse,
as defined, has been reached, the issue of whether an impasse exists
may be submitted to the Public Employment Relations Board for
resolution before the dispute is submitted to a factfinding panel, as
specified. The bill would also authorize each party to select a
person to serve as its member of the factfinding panel.
Existing law regulates the wages, hours, and working conditions of
any man, woman, and minor employed in any occupation, trade, or
industry, whether compensation is measured by time, piece, or
otherwise, except as specified. Existing law creates the Industrial
Welfare Commission and authorizes it to adopt rules, regulations, and
orders to ensure that employers comply with those provisions.
This bill would require the Director of Industrial Relations to
study workforce and demographic changes in the workforce in
California in the previous 20 years and projected workforce needs in
the coming 30 years. The bill would require the director to create a
report summarizing the findings of the study and submit that report
to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment and the Senate
Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3505.4 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
3505.4. (a) The employee organization may request that the
parties' differences be submitted to a factfinding panel not sooner
than 30 days, but not more than 45 days, following the appointment or
selection of a mediator pursuant to the parties' agreement to
mediate or a mediation process required by a public agency's local
rules. If the dispute was not submitted to mediation, an employee
organization may request request, in writing,
that the public agency submit the parties'
differences be submitted to a factfinding panel
not later than 30 days following the date that either party provided
the other with a written notice of a declaration of impasse. Within
five days after receipt of the written request, each party shall
select a person to serve as its member of the factfinding panel. The
Public Employment Relations Board shall, within five days after the
selection of panel members by the parties, select a chairperson of
the factfinding panel.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if either party disputes that
a genuine impasse has been reached, the issue as to whether an
impasse exists may be submitted to the Public Employment Relations
Board for resolution. If the board determines that an impasse existed
as of the date of written notice of a declaration of impasse and
that the impasse has persisted through the date of the employee
organization's request for a factfinding panel, it shall, within five
working days of the receipt of a request, notify the parties of its
determination. This subdivision shall not apply to the City and
County of San Francisco.
(c) Within five days after receipt of the written request pursuant
to subdivision (a) or five days after receipt of the board's
determination that a genuine impasse has been reached and persists
pursuant to subdivision (b), each party shall select a person to
serve as its member of the factfinding panel. The board shall, within
five days after the selection of panel members by the parties,
select a chairperson of the factfinding panel.
(b)
(d) Within five days after the board selects a
chairperson of the factfinding panel, the parties may mutually agree
upon a person to serve as chairperson in lieu of the person selected
by the board.
(c)
(e) The panel shall, within 10 days after its
appointment, meet with the parties or their representatives, either
jointly or separately, and may make inquiries and investigations,
hold hearings, and take any other steps it deems appropriate. For the
purpose of the hearings, investigations, and inquiries, the panel
shall have the power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and
testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence. Any state
agency, as defined in Section 11000, the California State University,
or any political subdivision of the state, including any board of
education, shall furnish the panel, upon its request, with all
records, papers, and information in their its
possession relating to any matter under investigation by or in
issue before the panel.
(d)
(f) In arriving at their findings and recommendations,
the factfinders shall consider, weigh, and be guided by all the
following criteria:
(1) State and federal laws that are applicable to the employer.
(2) Local rules, regulations, or ordinances.
(3) Stipulations of the parties.
(4) The interests and welfare of the public and the financial
ability of the public agency.
(5) Comparison of the wages, hours, and conditions of employment
of the employees involved in the factfinding proceeding with the
wages, hours, and conditions of employment of other employees
performing similar services in comparable public agencies.
(6) The consumer price index for goods and services, commonly
known as the cost of living.
(7) The overall compensation presently received by the employees,
including direct wage compensation, vacations, holidays, and other
excused time, insurance and pensions, medical and hospitalization
benefits, the continuity and stability of employment, and all other
benefits received.
(8) Any other facts, not confined to those specified in paragraphs
(1) to (7), inclusive, which that are
normally or traditionally taken into consideration in making the
findings and recommendations.
(e)
(g) The procedural right of an employee organization to
request a factfinding panel cannot be expressly or
voluntarily waived.
(h) For the purposes of this section, "impasse" means that the
parties to a dispute over a matter within the scope of representation
have reached a point in meeting and negotiating at which their
difference in position is so substantial or prolonged that future
meetings would be futile.
(i) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (g), inclusive, the
employee relations commissions established by, and in effect for, the
County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles pursuant to
Section 3507 shall have the authority to maintain and amend existing
rules and regulations providing for impasse resolution procedures and
to issue determinations and orders as the employee relations
commissions deem necessary, consistent with and pursuant to the
policies of this chapter.
SECTION 1. Section 55.5 is added to the Labor
Code, to read:
55.5. (a) The director shall study workforce and demographic
changes in the workforce in California in the previous 20 years and
projected workforce needs in the coming 30 years, including, but not
limited to, the role of overtime pay. The director shall create a
report summarizing the findings of the study and submit that report
to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment and the Senate
Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
(b) The report required by subdivision (a) shall be submitted
pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.
