BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2835| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2835 Author: Cooper (D), et al. Amended: 8/15/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE: 3-2, 6/27/16 AYES: Pan, Beall, Hall NOES: Morrell, Moorlach SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/11/16 AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza NOES: Bates, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 53-24, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Public employees: orientation and informational programs: recognized employee organizations SOURCE: California Labor Federation California School Employees Association Services Employees International Union DIGEST: This bill requires public employers subject to specified labor relations acts to provide an employee orientation to all newly hired public employees, requires the orientation to meet specified minimum requirements, and authorizes the employees' exclusive representative to make a 30 minute presentation at the orientation. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1) Establishes several statutory frameworks which provide for AB 2835 Page 2 employer-employee relations by providing a reasonable method of resolving disputes regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment between public employers and recognized public employee organizations or their exclusive representatives. These include the following: a) The State Employee-Employer Relations Act, which governs state government employer-employee relations. b) The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, which governs labor relations between local public agencies and local public employees. c) The Education Employment Relations Act for employer-employee relations within the public school systems (K-12 and community colleges). d) The Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act providing for employer-employee relations at the University of California, the California State University System, and Hastings College of the Law. e) Other parallel statutory frameworks that govern labor relations among trial court employees, train court interpreters, and public transit employees and their respective public employers. 1) Uses various terms to identify the official unions representing particular groups of employees including "recognized employee organization" and "exclusive representative." 2) Delegates jurisdiction over the public employer-employee relationship to the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) and charges PERB with resolving disputes and enforcing the statutory duties and rights of local public agency employers and employee organizations but provides the City and County of Los Angeles a local alternative to PERB oversight. This bill: 1) Requires public employers subject to the specified public AB 2835 Page 3 employer employee labor relations acts to provide all newly hired public employees, as defined, a public employee orientation within two months of the time of hiring that shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following: a) The personnel and civil service policies of the public employer, including sexual harassment, whistleblower, violence prevention, and safety plans. b) Any applicable civil service rules. c) Any ethics or conflict-of-interest rules to which the public employee is subject, as applicable. d) Any employer-sponsored benefits programs for which the public employee is eligible. 2) Provides that a public employee orientation shall meet the following minimum requirements: a) Be conducted in person during the regular workday of employees attending. If employees are represented, the exclusive representative must be given not less than 10 days' notice in advance of an orientation. b) If employees are represented, the exclusive representative shall be permitted to make a presentation of 30 minutes, to begin in the first half of the orientation that may include, but is not limited to, the following: i) Information about the memorandum of understanding, including the term of the agreement, eligibility to vote on its ratification, and how to access the contract. ii) Any union benefit for which members may be eligible. iii) Contact information for the exclusive representative. c) If the representative from the exclusive representative is not present at the designated start time of its part of the presentation, there is no requirement AB 2835 Page 4 that the representative be afforded additional time. d) In addition to other representatives, each exclusive representative may designate one employee representative who may attend the orientation. The content of the exclusive representative's presentation shall be determined solely by the exclusive representative and shall not be subject to negotiation. The presentation shall not include advocacy for or against a candidate for political office or ballot measure. Prior to implementing the employee orientation requirements, the public employer shall provide at least the level of access to, and the opportunity to make presentations at, orientations that the public employer allowed the exclusive representative as of June 1, 2016, and nothing in the bill shall be construed as infringing upon or limiting that access. 3) Requires the public employer to provide to the exclusive representative, with the name, job title, department, work location, telephone number, and home address of any newly hired employee who may be represented by the exclusive representative within 30 days of the date of hire. The employee information to be provided by the employer must be provided to the exclusive representative regardless of whether the newly hired employee was previously employed by the public employer. The information shall be provided in a manner consistent with existing law restricting disclosure of information regarding public employees and participants in the address confidentiality program which protects personal information of specified individuals such as law enforcement and victims of domestic abuse. 4) Authorizes a public employer and an exclusive representative to negotiate an agreement providing for orientation sessions that may vary from any requirements of the default orientation provision. However, in the absence of a mutual agreement regarding the orientation sessions, all of the AB 2835 Page 5 requirements of the default orientation provision of this bill shall apply. 5) Clarifies that a public employer does not unlawfully support or favor an employee organization or encourage employees to join any organization in preference to another as prohibited by existing law, as specified, by permitting an exclusive representative the opportunity to present at employee orientations and informational programs as required by this bill or consistent with a negotiated agreement. 6) Clarifies that this bill's provision establishing the default employee orientation session does not modify the scope of bargaining. 7) Requires, notwithstanding provisions of the California Public Records Act exempting specified records from disclosure, the public employer to provide the exclusive representative with a list containing the name, job title, department, work location, phone number, and home address of all employees in the bargaining unit at least every 90 days, unless more frequent or more detailed lists are required by an agreement with the exclusive representative. The information shall be provided in a manner consistent with existing law restricting disclosure of information regarding public employees and participants in the address confidentiality program which protects personal information of specified individuals such as law enforcement and victims of domestic abuse. 8) Defines public employers that are subject to this bill's provisions as those employers subject to public employer employee labor relations acts, as specified. 9) Defines "newly hired public employee" to mean any employee, whether permanent, temporary, full time, or part time, hired by a public employer, who is still employed as of the date of the new hire orientation. 10)Defines "exclusive representative" to mean the exclusive representative or recognized employee organization for the bargaining unit. AB 2835 Page 6 11)Gives PERB jurisdiction over violations of the requirements of this bill and provides that PERB's powers and duties apply, as specified. 12)States that this bill will not result in a local mandate, as specified, but that if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains mandated costs, reimbursements to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Background According to the author: Traditionally, public sector jobs have had little turnover, but that is about to change. Governor Brown's January 2016 budget summary states: "With more than 40 percent of the state workforce entering retirement by 2018, more work is needed to develop and support the next generation of employees." As California faces this coming influx of new public servants, there is no uniform standard for public employers to provide an orientation to new employees. Many local agencies and districts provide orientations, but others have no orientation at all. This bill would address that shortcoming in public sector personnel practices. It would set basic, minimum standards for local agencies and unions to help educate new workers. It would also allow for local flexibility. This bill is good policy for employees, local government, schools, and the public. Orientations help new employees to fully understand their responsibilities and the laws that govern their work. Orientations also educate employees about their employment rights and benefits and other services available to them. AB 2835 Page 7 Together these provisions will help build a more educated and effective workforce, will limit liability to public agencies, and will provide better service to the taxpayers, state, students and communities served. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill would result in unknown General and special fund costs, at a minimum in the millions of dollars annually, for state departments to modify their administration functions to implement the provisions of the bill. SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16) California Labor Federation (co-source) California School Employees Association (co-source) Services Employees International Union (co-source) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO CAL FIRE Local, 2881 California Faculty Association California Nurses Association California Professional Firefighters California Teachers Association California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 777 Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 792 Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association Orange County Employees Association Orange County Professional Firefighters Association Organization of SMUD Employees San Diego County Court Employees Association San Luis Obispo County Employees Association OPPOSITION: (Verified8/18/16) AB 2835 Page 8 Association of California Community College Administrators Association of California School Administrators California Association of School Business Officials California Association of Suburban Schools California County Superintendents Association California School Boards Association California Special Districts Association California State Association of Counties City of Long Beach City of Palmdale Kern County Superintendent of Schools League of California Cities Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Rural County Representatives of California San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors Urban Counties of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, this bill "Creates a uniform statewide standard regarding public employee orientation; ensures an effective use of taxpayer funding by confirming employees have balanced and accurate information regarding their rights and benefits; creates a more educated and effective workforce to respond to serve the public; and ensures all new teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees understand their rights, benefits, obligations and duties." According to the sponsors, California faces an influx of new public servants with more than 40 percent of the state workforce entering retirement by 2018. "There is no uniform standard for public employers to provide an orientation to new employees. Many local agencies and districts provide orientations, but others have no orientation at all." AB 2835 ensures "that all future public employees participate in a new hire orientation about key policies such as workplace safety, sexual harassment, and violence prevention. It would also give workers the opportunity to hear from their union about their contractual rights and benefits." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: According to the opposition, "The requirements in AB 2835 will significantly increase the costs AB 2835 Page 9 for public agencies. By increasing the frequency and number of orientations, while requiring the schools and public employers to utilize additional staff to cover classes and other services during the orientation, the bill will drive up state and locals costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The over prescriptive requirements of AB 2835 prevent management and labor from utilizing more cost efficient and effective methods of conducting orientations." ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 53-24, 6/1/16 AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Brough, Chang, Chávez, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Dahle, Waldron Prepared by:Glenn Miles / P.E. & R. / (916) 651-1519 8/18/16 11:48:12 **** END ****