BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 769 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 769 (Jones-Sawyer) As Introduced February 25, 2015 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------- |Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+------+----------------------+--------------------| |Public |6-1 |Bonta, Waldron, |Wagner | |Employees | |Cooley, Jones-Sawyer, | | | | |O'Donnell, Rendon | | | | | | | |----------------+------+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |12-5 |Gomez, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, | | | |Calderon, Daly, |Gallagher, Jones, | | | |Eggman, Eduardo |Wagner | | | |Garcia, Gordon, | | | | |Holden, Quirk, | | | | |Rendon, Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. AB 769 Page 2 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. 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: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, significant costs, General Fund and special funds, in the range of $500,000 annually statewide, for employers to manage shortened timeframes for adverse actions. These costs would likely diminish after the existing backlog is reduced. 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 AB 769 Page 3 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 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 the current legislative 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), Chapter 724, Statutes of 2014, which passed out of the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee on a five to one 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 the 2013-14 Regular Session, AB 1655 (Dickinson) of 2012, AB 920 (Portantino) of the 2011-12 Regular Session, and AB 1744 (Portantino) of 2010. All of these bills were held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Analysis Prepared by: AB 769 Page 4 Karon Green / P.E.,R., & S.S. / (916) 319-3957 FN: 0000590