SB 950, as amended, Nielsen. Excluded employees: arbitration.
The Bill of Rights for State Excluded Employees permits, among other things, excluded employee organizations to represent their excluded members in their employment relations, including grievances, with the state. That law defines excluded employees as all managerial employees, confidential employees, supervisory employees, and specified employees of the Department of Personnel Administration, the Department of Finance, the Controller’s office, the Legislative Counsel Bureau, the Bureau of State Audits, the Public Employment Relations Board, the Department of Industrial Relations, and the State Athletic Commission.
This bill would enact the Excluded Employee Arbitration Act to permit an employee organization that represents an excluded employee who has filed certain grievances with the Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to request
arbitration of the grievance if specified conditions are met. The bill would require the designation of a standing panel of arbitrators, and, under specified circumstances, the provision of arbitrators from the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service within the Department of Industrial Relations. The bill would then require the arbitrator to be chosen in a specified manner, and would prescribe the duties of that arbitrator. The bill would also require the losing party to bear the costs of arbitration,begin delete andend deletebegin insert end insertbegin insertexcept that the bill would prohibit the arbitrator from ordering the excluded employee to pay the costs of arbitration and would prohibit the costs of arbitration from being passed on to the excluded employee. The billend insert
would make a statement of legislative intent with regard to the above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
It is the intent of the Legislature that state
2excluded employees shall have the right to arbitration as a fifth
3step to the excluded employee grievance procedure. The present
4grievance procedure leaves too many grievances unresolved. This
5lack of resolution has caused more cases to be filed in California’s
6courts, which should have been resolved at a lower level.
Chapter 10.6 (commencing with Section 3539.75) is
8added to Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, to read:
9
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
13Excluded Employee Arbitration Act.
For purposes of this chapter:
15(a) “Department” means the Department of Human Resources
16(CalHR).
17(b) “Excluded employee” means an excluded employee of the
18state, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 3527.
19(c) “Employee organization” means any organization that
20represents excluded employees of the State of California.
21(d) “Employer” means the State of California.
22(e) “Arbitration” means the binding ruling that resolves an
23excluded
employee grievance at the fifth level of the excluded
24employee grievance process.
An employee organization representing an employee
26who has filed a grievance with the department may request
27arbitration of the grievance if all of the following conditions are
28met:
P3 1(a) The grievance alleges a violation of Title 2 of the California
2Code of
Regulations.
3(b) The grievance has not been resolved to the employee
4organization’s satisfaction after either of the following, as
5applicable, pursuant to regulations of the department governing
6grievances for excluded employees:
7(1) The fourth level of review.
8(2) In cases where there is no fourth level of review, the third
9level of review.
10(c) The employee organization requests arbitration in writing,
11submitted to the department, within 21 days of a decision rendered
12in either of the following, as applicable:
13(1) The fourth level of review.
14(2) In cases where there is no fourth level of review, the third
15level of review.
(a) After a request for arbitration is made, the
17department and the employee organization shall designate a
18standing panel of at least 20 arbitrators who shall be available for
19arbitration under this chapter.
20(b) If there are fewer than three arbitrators available, then the
21employee organization or the employer may obtain the names of
22an additional five arbitrators from the California State Mediation
23and Conciliation Service within the Department of Industrial
24Relations.
25(c) From that standing panel, the employee organization and
26the employer may consecutively strike any arbitrator from that
27panel
until the name of one arbitrator is agreed upon, or, if no
28agreement is made, the last remaining person on the panel shall
29be designated the arbitrator. The name of that arbitrator shall be
30submitted in writing to the department.
31(d) If the employee organization does not submit its choice of
32an arbitrator within 45 days after requesting arbitration, the request
33for arbitration shall be considered withdrawn.
(a) The arbitrator shall issue a decision for each
35grievance heard during the arbitration. The decision shall be based
36solely on the written record in the grievance, the grievance
37response, and the oral presentations made at the arbitration. The
38arbitrator’s decision shall be legally binding.
39(b) The arbitrator shall issue a written decision within 45 days
40of the conclusion of the hearing.
P4 1(c) The arbitrator shall order the nonprevailing party to pay the
2cost of the arbitration.begin insert The arbitrator shall not order the excluded
3employee to pay
the cost of arbitration, and the cost of arbitration
4shall not be passed on to the excluded employee.end insert
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