BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 692
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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 692 (Hall)
          As Amended May 27, 2011
          Majority vote 

           PUBLIC EMPLOYEES    4-1         APPROPRIATIONS      12-5        
           
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          |Ayes:|Furutani, Allen, Ma,      |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield,     |
          |     |Wieckowski                |     |Bradford, Charles         |
          |     |                          |     |Calderon, Campos, Davis,  |
          |     |                          |     |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara,  |
          |     |                          |     |Mitchell, Solorio         |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Mansoor                   |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly,         |
          |     |                          |     |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner    |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes a state employee appealing a termination 
          action to request a priority hearing from the State Personnel 
          Board (SPB) if an evidentiary hearing has not begun within six 
          months of the filing of the appeal.  Within 60 days of receiving 
          the request, SPB must schedule an evidentiary hearing.  SPB is 
          also authorized to use electronic media to conduct all, or any 
          portion of, any hearing.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes the SPB as a neutral body responsible for 
            administering a merit system of civil service employment 
            within California state government.  As part of its 
            responsibility, the SPB has established administrative 
            procedures to resolve appeals of alleged violations of civil 
            service laws and rules.

          2)Requires SPB to issue a decision within a reasonable time 
            after the conclusion of the hearing or investigation.  For 
            most appeals, the SPB has six months from the filing of an 
            appeal or 90 days from its submission, whichever is less, to 
            decide the case.  The SPB may extend this period by 45 days, 
            as specified.

          3)States that should the employee prevail in his or her appeal, 








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            the SPB has the authority to grant the following remedies:  
            reinstatement including back salary, benefits, and interest at 
            7%; change in work assignment and/or location; or, assignment 
            of an alternative or passing score on an examination.  The SPB 
            may also grant compensatory damages in discrimination appeals.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee, minor and absorbable cost for SPB.

           COMMENTS  :  Adverse actions are formal disciplinary measures 
          taken against state civil service employees.  They include 
          dismissals, suspensions, demotions, reductions in salary, 
          disciplinary transfers, and formal/official reprimands. SPB 
          reports that it received 1,273 appeals of adverse actions in 
          2008.  Of that total, 316 were sustained, six were revoked, 
          eight were modified, and the remaining 603 were disposed of 
          through pre-hearing settlement agreements.

          According to supporters, "The SPB has over 3,800 SPB employee 
          cases to hear and not enough Judges to hear them.  When an 
          employee is terminated they and their family suffer the loss of 
          their income and health benefits.  SPB does not prioritize their 
          cases by importance but by blocks of time.  If SPB can hear more 
          cases in a year by hearing numerous small cases that require 
          short blocks of time, then that is how they are prioritized.

          "Many of the terminated employees have to wait up to 18 months 
          to receive a hearing date because their cases require larger 
          blocks of time.  Many terminated employees win their SPB cases.  
          When this happens and it often does, the state has to pay the 
          employee back wages, which more often than not is for over 2 
          years.  This is a substantial amount of money to pay someone for 
          not working.  Also, the employee is allowed to charge the state 
          7% interest of that money.  During this 2-year period the 
          employee and their family have been known to suffer devastating 
          losses.  The loss of a home, credit, and in some cases a divorce 
          to name a few.  It is cruel to make an employee wait up to and 
          in some cases beyond 2-years to find out that they should not 
          have been terminated."


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916) 
          319-3957 









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