BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  ACR 55
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          Date of Hearing:   May 20, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                   ACR 55 (Torlakson) - As Amended:  May 12, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Higher  
          EducationVote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This measure urges the University of California (UC) to:

          1)Provide two hours of training and education regarding the  
            prevention of workforce bullying, abuse, and harassment to all  
            of its supervisory employees by January 1, 2011, and every two  
            years thereafter.

          2)Incorporate this training into the 80 hours of training  
            provided to new supervisory employees, and have the training  
            provided by those with knowledge and expertise in this  
            subject.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)One-time costs of about $180,000 to develop the training  
            course content and materials and plan for the implementation  
            of the training.

          2)Ongoing biennial costs of about $50,000 in consulting  
            contracts to provide the training costs for all supervisors  
            and minor annual costs to provide the training for new  
            employees.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  According to the author, this measure is designed to  
          encourage UC to adopt a policy regarding workplace bullying,  
          abuse, and harassment similar to the sexual harassment policies  
          that most government agencies developed in the late 1980's and  
          early 1990's.  The author believes that such training the  








                                                                  ACR 55
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          development of such a policy will help supervisors better  
          understand what constitutes bullying, abuse, and harassment and  
          how to prevent these activities from occurring.

          In support, the University Professional and Technical  
          Employees-Communications Workers of America Local 9119  
          (UPTE-CWA) states that "more than a few of our members have  
          experienced bullying by lower and middle level supervisors,  
          especially those that participate in our bargaining unit."   
          UPTE-CWA believes that a UC written procedure to train  
          management on ways to avoid bullying, abuse, and harassment will  
          reduce workplace problems similar to the ways that sexual  
          harassment prevention training has improved the workplace  
          environment.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081