BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2294
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2294 (Gomez)
As Amended May 9, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Higher |10-3 |Medina, Bloom, Irwin, |Baker, Chávez, |
|Education | | |Olsen |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, | |
| | |Linder, Low, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |14-6 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Obernolte, Wagner |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, McCarty, | |
| | |Holden, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 2294
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SUMMARY: Requires the California State University (CSU)
Trustees to grant an employee a leave of absence to serve as an
elected officer of any CSU campus public employee organization.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the CSU Trustees to grant any employee, upon request
that provides at least 30 days notice before commencement, a
leave of absence without loss of compensation for the purpose
of enabling the employee to serve as an elected officer of any
CSU campus public employee organization, or of any statewide
or national public employee organization with which the
university campus organization is affiliated.
2)Provides that the leave shall include, but is not limited to,
absence for purposes of attendance by the employee at meetings
of the organization.
3)Provides that compensation during the leave shall include
retirement fund contributions required of the employer,
including any amount necessary to pay any unfunded liability
cost for the retirement plan.
4)Provides that the employee shall earn full service credit
during the leave of absence and shall pay member contributions
as prescribed, and provides that the maximum amount of the
service credit earned shall not exceed 12 calendar years.
5)Provides that any employee who serves as a full-time officer
of a public employee organization shall not be eligible for
disability benefits under the Public Employees' Retirement
System while on the leave of absence.
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6)Provides that following payment of the employee for the leave
of absence, the CSU or campus shall be reimbursed by the
employee organization of which the employee is an elected
officer for all compensation paid the employee on account of
the leave. Requires reimbursement by the employee
organization to be made within 10 days after its receipt of
the certification of payment of compensation to the employee.
7)Provides that the leave of absence without loss of
compensation provided for by this bill is in addition to the
released time without loss of compensation granted to
representatives of an exclusive representative by Section 3569
of the Government Code.
EXISTING LAW: Establishes the CSU governed by the Board of
Trustees (Trustees) and provides that that the Trustees are
responsible for the rule of government of their appointees and
employees (Education Code Section 89500 et seq.). Establishes
the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) to
provide a statutory framework to regulate labor relations at
University of California (UC), CSU, and Hastings College of Law
and their employees; provides the Public Employment Relations
Board (PERB) authority to enforce HEERA. (Government Code
Sections 3560-3599)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, net minor costs or savings to CSU. Unlike the
bargaining agreement described below, this bill does not limit
the number of employees who could be granted leave. To the
extent more employees take leave, CSU could experience increased
administrative costs to fill the additional vacant positions.
It is assumed that the replacement employee would generally
receive less, or at most, the same compensation as the employee
on leave, whose compensation (salary, retirement contribution,
health care benefits) would be fully reimbursed by the union.
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COMMENTS: Background. Pursuant to Education Code Section
44987, governing boards of a school district are required to
provide paid leaves of absence to employees serving on a local
district public employee organization or affiliated statewide or
national employee organization consistent with the requirements
proposed by this bill. Similarly, Education Code Section
87768.5 requires the same accommodations for community college
district employees.
CSU policy governing faculty union leave is governed by the
CSU/California Faculty Association (CFA) Collective Bargaining
Agreement, which requires, upon the request of CFA, the CSU
shall grant in a timely manner union leave without loss of
compensation. Such leaves shall be granted up to the equivalent
of 16 full-time positions per year. An employee on such leave
shall continue to earn all campus service credit and retirement
credit. Vacation time, holiday time, and sick leave shall not
accrue during such leave. A faculty unit employee on such leave
shall have the right to return to his/her former position upon
expiration of the leave. CFA is required to reimburse CSU for
all compensation paid to the faculty unit employee on leave and
for any incidental costs, including the cost of benefits in an
amount equal to the cost of CSU contributions for PERS
retirement and an additional 10% of salary. Additionally, the
agreement reads, "whenever possible, the foregoing shall be
implemented only if the CFA notifies the CSU of the names of
faculty unit members requesting leave thirty (30) days before
the start of each academic term during which the leave will
occur. The CFA agrees to meet with the CSU to discuss concerns
regarding how release time under this provision impacts
departmental instructional requirements."
CSU opposition. The CSU opposes this bill, arguing the measure
would sidestep the collective bargaining process and impact 13
collective bargaining units, hindering the system's ability to
AB 2294
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consider the leave request in the context of its impact on
campus operations and instruction. For example, CSU notes that
under the current faculty agreement there is a notice
requirement and an opportunity to discuss the impact of the
release time on academic departments.
Analysis Prepared by:
Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN:
0002934