BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 769
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
769 (Jones-Sawyer)
As Amended April 12, 2016
Majority vote
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |58-21 |(June 2, 2015) |SENATE: |25-11 |(August 18, |
| | | | | |2016) |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: P.E.,R., & S.S.
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, or the
unauthorized accessing or disclosure of confidential tax
information be served, and the investigation completed, within
one year after the cause of discipline arose.
The Senate amendments add the unauthorized accessing or
disclosure of confidential tax information to the list of
actions that an adverse action could be based on that are
excluded from the one year requirement imposed by this bill.
EXISTING LAW:
AB 769
Page 2
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 Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill would result in unknown costs, likely in
the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, for state
departments to shorten timeframes related to adverse actions.
To the extent that the backlog is reduced, out-year costs could
be 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 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."
AB 769
Page 3
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:
Karon Green / P.E.,R., & S.S. / (916) 319-3957
FN:
0004173
AB 769
Page 4