BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 769
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT, AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Rob Bonta, Chair
AB 769
(Jones-Sawyer) - As Introduced February 25, 2015
SUBJECT: State employees: disciplinary action
SUMMARY: Requires that any adverse action taken against a state
employee for any cause for discipline, other than for fraud,
embezzlement, or the falsification of records, be served, and
the investigation completed, within one year after the cause of
discipline arose.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes an appointing power to take adverse action against
a state employee for specified causes, and establishes
administrative procedures for review of an adverse action by
the State Personnel Board.
AB 769
Page 2
2)Requires notice of any adverse action against a state employee
for any cause for discipline based on any civil service law be
served within three years of the cause for discipline.
3)Specifies that in cases of fraud, embezzlement, or
falsification of records, notice must be served within three
years after the discovery of the activity.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "Currently, investigations
against employees can be extended up to three years after
discovery of an incident. This lengthy timeframe causes a delay
in action against improper or illegal behavior by employees,
disruption of the workplace, and unnecessary costs from
administrative leave or back pay. Moreover, as time passes, the
integrity of the investigation decreases as witnesses' memories
fade, evidence is lost and many of the individuals involved move
on to new careers and/or locations. Such circumstances
ultimately costs the state thousands of dollars in litigation
and lost productivity each year. By the time any investigation
has been borne out, the damage has already been done.
Therefore, it is vital that California streamline this process
to ensure investigations happen as promptly and thoroughly as
possible."
The author concludes, "This bill streamlines the process for
investigating employees accused of wrongdoing to ensure it is
conducted as efficiently and timely as possible. This measure
AB 769
Page 3
does not change the current statute of limitations for cases of
fraud, embezzlement or falsification of records."
This bill is similar to AB 811 (Salas) of this session. AB 811
requires that any adverse action taken against a state employee
for any cause for discipline be served within one year after the
discovery of the cause for discipline first arose.
This bill is also similar to the introduced version of AB 1783
(Jones-Sawyer) of last year, which passed out of this Committee
on a 5 to 1 vote. The bill was later amended to delete these
provisions and to instead continue to exempt certain public
transit workers from the requirements of the Public Employees'
Pension Reform Act.
Similar provisions were also contained in numerous bills that
attempted to implement a bill of rights for public employees.
Those bills include: AB 872 (Dickinson) of 2013, AB 1655
(Dickinson) of 2012, AB 920 (Portantino) of 2011, AB 1744
(Portantino) of 2010. All of these bills were held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 769
Page 4
Support
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 (Co-Sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(Co-Sponsor)
Association of California State Supervisors
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
California Association of Psychiatric Technicians
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California Correctional Supervisors Organization
California Immigrant Policy Center
Opposition
None on file
AB 769
Page 5
Analysis Prepared by:Karon Green / P.E.,R., & S.S. / (916)
319-3957