BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1269
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Warren T. Furutani, Chair
AB 1269 (Portantino) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
SUBJECT : Classified employees: layoff: reemployment.
SUMMARY : Specifies that reemployment of classified employees
after a layoff will be in order of seniority, instead of the
reverse order of layoff.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies for merit system school districts, that classified
employees laid off because of lack of work or lack of funds
are eligible to reemployment for a period of 39 months and
will be reemployed in preference to new applicants. Employees
who take voluntary demotions or voluntary reductions in
assigned time in lieu of layoff or to remain in their present
positions rather than be reclassified or reassigned, will be
granted the same rights as persons laid off and will retain
eligibility to be considered for reemployment for an
additional period of up to 24 months. Employees who take
voluntary demotions or voluntary reductions in assigned time
in lieu of layoff will be, at the option of the employee,
returned to a position in their former class or to positions
with increased assigned time as vacancies become available,
and without limitation of time, but if there is a valid
reemployment list they will be ranked on that list in
accordance with their proper seniority.
2)Specifies that classified employees are subject to layoff for
lack of work or lack of funds. Whenever a classified employee
is laid off, the order of layoff within the class will be
determined by length of service. The employee who has been
employed the shortest time in the class, plus higher classes,
will be laid off first. Reemployment will be in the reverse
order of layoff.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : This bill requires that classified employees be
rehired after a layoff in the order of seniority, rather than in
AB 1269
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reverse order of layoff. According to the author, one code
section of the Education Code requires school districts to begin
reemployment in reverse order of layoff and a separate code
section requires reemployment by seniority if the school
district is operated as a merit system. Normally, these dual
requirements do not conflict as the order of layoff was
determined by seniority. However, a district that has faced
multiple rounds of layoffs in multiple years may have difficulty
complying with these two requirements as the last person laid
off may indeed have less seniority then individuals dismissed in
the previous rounds of cuts. As an example, in the first year
an office assistant with six years of service is cut; however,
in year two, a senior office assistant with one year of
seniority as a senior office assistant and two years of
seniority as an office assistant (for a total of three years of
seniority as an office assistant) is cut. In this example, the
order of layoff and the order of seniority will differ. AB 1269
will simply clarify that seniority is the standard which should
be used in all rehire situations.
According to the Los Angeles Unified Personnel Commission,
currently Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) operates
using a reverse order reemployment policy for classified staff,
which has always created the same result as if they were using
seniority. In recent years however, a few individuals have been
identified in the layoff and reemployment process in which
reverse order does not equate to seniority. They are sponsoring
this bill to clarify the issue before it becomes a larger
problem in upcoming years. Currently LAUSD and Long Beach
Unified School District are two districts that operate using a
merit system and all similarly situated districts are affected
by these inconsistent code sections. Although LAUSD is the
first district to notice this inconsistency in the law, it could
affect other districts in the future.
This bill was also heard in the Assembly Education Committee on
April 13, 2011, where it passed out of Committee on a X to X
vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles Unified School District Personnel Commission
(Sponsor)
AB 1269
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957