BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2294


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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS


          AB  
          2294 (Gomez)


          As Amended  August 18, 2016


          Majority vote


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          Original Committee Reference:  HIGHER ED.


          SUMMARY:  Requires the California State University (CSU) to  
          grant an employee a leave of absence to serve as an elected  
          officer of any CSU campus public employee organization.  


          The Senate amendments require, when possible, the employee to  
          provide the request for leave at least 30 days before the start  
          of the academic term during which the leave will occur; and,  
          would entitle that employee to reinstatement in the position he  
          or she held at the time the leave was granted, if it still  
          exists, or a comparable position, as specified.


          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  








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          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 Senate Appropriations  
          Committee:


          1)Though this bill requires the employment organization to  
            reimburse the CSU salary and benefits, including the CSU  
            retirement fund contribution, this bill could result in  
            one-time costs to recruit, hire, or train replacement  
            employees to fill in while the employee is on a leave of  
            absence.  In some cases the replacement employee could be  
            compensated less than the employee on leave in which case any  
            upfront recruiting and training costs could be recovered and  
            ongoing savings could be achieved.  However, to the extent the  
            CSU is unable to fill the temporary vacancy with an employee  
            at a lower compensation the CSU may incur some ongoing costs  
            to pay the employee's compensation while on leave, in addition  
            to the one-time costs.  


          2)According to the CSU's Web site there are 47,000 faculty and  
            staff employed at the university.  CSU indicates that the  
            California Faculty Association is currently using two or three  
            of the 16 leaves available they have in their collective  
            bargaining agreements.  To the extent this bill encourages  
            additional use of leaves and five employees go on a leave of  
            absence in a year resulting in costs of $10,000 per employee  
            to recruit a replacement, statewide costs could be about  
            $50,000.  However, the effect of this bill on the number of  
            employees taking a leave of absence in the future is unknown.   
            (General Fund)


          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  








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          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 Public  
          Employees' Retirement System (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 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." 


          Purpose of this bill.  According to the author, this bill will  
          bring parity to the CSU it does not currently have with other  
          segments.  The author argues that legislation is necessary to  
          ensure that CSU employees have the right to take leave time to  
          participate in leadership roles with their union affiliates.   
          The author notes that CSU faculty participation in a union  
          elected leadership position is subject to the discretion of the  
          CSU, under relevant memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and  
          Bargaining Agreements, and is not guaranteed in statute.










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          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960  FN:  
          0004872