BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 769
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GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB
769 (Jones-Sawyer)
As Enrolled August 30, 2016
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |58-21 |(June 2, 2015) |SENATE: |25-11 |(August 18, |
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|ASSEMBLY: |55-22 |(August 23, | | | |
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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
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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:
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
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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
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
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attempted to implement a bill of rights for public employees.
Those bills include: AB 872 (Dickinson) of 2013-14, AB 1655
(Dickinson) of 2012, AB 920 (Portantino) of 2011-12, and AB 1744
(Portantino) of 2010. All of these bills were held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
This bill reduces the time frame in which the state can take
an adverse personnel action against an employee from three
years to one year, except in cases of fraud, embezzlement, the
falsification of records or the unauthorized access or
disclosure of confidential tax information.
I am unwilling to reduce longstanding civil service adverse
action timeframes because it may take state agencies longer
than a year to investigate and serve adverse actions in
complex cases involving employee misconduct or unsatisfactory
work performance. Further, this bill hinders the progressive
discipline process which is intended to give employees a
reasonable amount of time to correct problems at an early
stage. As such, this bill makes it more difficult for the
state to manage and ensure the integrity of its workforce.
Analysis Prepared by:
Karon Green / P.E.,R., & S.S. / (916) 319-3957
FN:
0005115
AB 769
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