BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1429
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Ed Hernandez, Chair
AB 1429 (Evans) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
SUBJECT : Excluded employees: meet and confer rights.
SUMMARY : Requires the state to meet and confer on employee
compensation matters with organizations representing state
managerial employees. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides managerial employees the right to meet and confer
with their employer on matters relating to employee
compensation, including hours, benefits, and wages.
2)Defines "meet and confer" for purposes of this provision to
mean that prior to making a decision regarding managerial
employee compensation, the state will consider as fully as it
deems reasonable any presentation made by the organization
representing managerial employees.
3)Specifies that the final decision regarding managerial
compensation will be the sole responsibility of the state.
4)Specifies that the provisions do not apply to managerial
employees within the Department of Personnel Administration
(DPA).
EXISTING LAW establishes the Bill of Rights for State Excluded
Employees, requiring the state to meet and confer upon request
with verified supervisory organizations representing supervisory
employees on matters within the scope of representation, and
requires a state employer to provide notice to, and meet and
confer with, a verified supervisory employee organization prior
to arriving at a determination of policy or course of action
directly impacting supervisory employees.
Existing law states the purpose and intent of establishing the
above mentioned Bill of Rights is to "?inform state supervisory,
managerial, confidential, and employees otherwise excepted from
coverage under the Ralph C. Dills Act of their rights and terms
and conditions of employment, and to inspire dedicated service,
to recognize their important and fundamental roles in the
AB 1429
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management of state government, and to promote harmonious
personnel relations among those representing state management in
the conduct of state affairs."
Excluded state employees are civil service managerial,
supervisory, confidential and other specified employees, as
defined, except employees of the University of California,
Hastings Law College and the California State University.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Currently, in some state
departments, there exists an inequity where a manager promoted
from rank and file may earn less than individuals he or she
manages. As an excluded employee, the manager has fewer rights
than the individuals he or she manages and, in fact, does not
have rights equal to the supervisory employees with his or her
office.
"As a result, managerial employees have experienced increased
workload, higher supervisory ratios, and fewer pay increases
than the employees they supervise. This inequity can make it
difficult to recruit managers from a rank and file level."
Supporters point out that while the Bill of Rights for State
Excluded Employees established meet and confer rights for
supervisory employees, it excluded managerial employees. "The
rationale as to why the managers have been excluded from having
these rights is fundamentally unfair. The idea that state
management cannot meet and confer with managers over their
employment issues is simply incorrect."
Supporters conclude, "Meet and confer rights requires that
management need only listen and consider the concerns and ideas
of the affected managers or the organization representing the
managers before implementing a policy, procedure, or course of
action. Extending meet and confer rights to managers is not
binding or restrictive, it is merely offering fair and equal
treatment for that class of employees. The argument that
management cannot negotiate with itself is misleading and
deceptive. The majority of California's managers are not
department heads. They manage the numerous subsections within
the state's departments. They do not make the policies or
procedures that effect each department; they are tasked with the
implementation of the policies ensuring that they are followed.
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These managers need the right to meet and confer over their
working conditions just like any other state employee."
In order to eliminate the conflict of interest issue, the bill
specifies that the meet and confer rights provided by AB 1429 do
not apply to managerial employees of the DPA.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Correctional Supervisors Organization (Sponsor)
California Association of Professional Scientists
California State Employees Association
Professional Engineers in California Government
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957