BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Carol Liu, Chair 2013-2014 Regular Session BILL NO: SB 546 AUTHOR: Wright INTRODUCED: February 22, 2013 FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: May 8, 2013 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo SUBJECT : Education Employment Notices. SUMMARY This bill renames the documents that are required during layoff proceedings for school district employees. BACKGROUND Existing law requires school districts to provide preliminary notification that his or her services will not be required for the ensuing year no later than March 15th and final notification for termination of his or her services by May 15th. The "reductions in force" process begins when a school district issues an "accusation" to an employee, also known as a pink slip. If the employee wants to challenge the layoff notice, the employee must file a "notice of defense." (Education Code § 44949 and Chapter 5 of Title 2 of Division 3 of the Government Code (commencing with § 11500)) Existing law allows employees that receive a preliminary layoff notice to request a hearing to determine if there is cause for not reemploying him or her for the ensuing year. The hearing shall be conducted by an administrative law judge who shall prepare a proposed decision, containing findings of fact and a determination as to whether the charges sustained by the evidence are related to the welfare of the schools and students. Copies of the proposed decision, which is not binding on the governing board, shall be submitted to the governing board and to the employee on or before May 7th. ANALYSIS This bill: 1) Changes the names of the following documents that are SB 546 Page 2 required during employee layoff proceedings: a "Notice of defense" to "notice of participation." b) "Accusation" to "District Statement of Reduction in Force." 1) Provides that in a hearing involving a reduction in force, a "District Statement of Reduction in Force" shall have the same meaning as an "accusation" and specifies that if conflicts exist as a result of the characterization of an "accusation" as an "District Statement of Reduction in Force," all provisions of the Education Code shall prevail over conflicting provisions, as specified. The respondent's responsive pleading shall be entitled "Notice of Participation in Reduction in Force Hearing." STAFF COMMENTS 1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office, over the past several years school districts have experienced budget cuts and as a result, have had to make reductions in the teacher workforce. The forms currently required for school districts during layoff proceedings have titles that may be inappropriate for certificated employees who are losing their jobs due to budget cuts or lack of school funding. According to the author's office, employees that receive their pink slips or "accusations" may believe they are losing their jobs because they have committed some type of offense. SB 546 would re-label these documents with more appropriate titles and replace "notice of defense" with "notice of participation" and "accusation" with "district statement of reduction in force." 2) Related legislation . SB 559 (Huff) makes various changes to the statutes governing staffing notification deadlines pertaining to layoffs for certificated employees. SB 559 is pending before this Committee. SUPPORT Los Angeles Unified School District (sponsor) SB 546 Page 3 California Teachers Association OPPOSITION None on file.