BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 692
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 30, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Warren T. Furutani, Chair
AB 692 (Hall) - As Introduced: February 17, 2011
SUBJECT : Civil service: employee hearings.
SUMMARY : Requires that state employee termination hearings or
investigations take priority over all other cases that were
initiated within the previous six months by the State Personnel
Board (SPB).
EXISTING LAW establishes the SPB as a neutral body responsible
for administering a merit system of civil service employment
within California state government. As part of its
responsibility, the SPB has established administrative
procedures to resolve appeals of alleged violations of civil
service laws and rules.
The SPB is required to issue a decision within a reasonable time
after the conclusion of the hearing or investigation. For most
appeals, the SPB has six months from the filing of an appeal or
90 days from its submission, whichever is less, to decide the
case. The SPB may extend this period by 45 days, as specified.
Should the employee prevail in his or her appeal, the SPB has
the authority to grant the following remedies: reinstatement
including back salary, benefits, and interest at 7%; change in
work assignment and/or location; or assignment of an alternative
or passing score on an examination. The SPB may also grant
compensatory damages in discrimination appeals.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : Adverse actions are formal disciplinary measures
taken against state civil service employees. They include
dismissals, suspensions, demotions, reductions in salary,
disciplinary transfers, and formal/official reprimands. SBP
reports that it received 1,273 appeals of adverse actions in
2008. Of that total, 316 were sustained, six were revoked,
eight were modified, and the remaining 603 were disposed of
through pre-hearing settlement agreements.
AB 692
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According to supporters, "The SPB has over 3,800 SPB employee
cases to hear and not enough Judges to hear them. When an
employee is terminated they and their family suffer the loss of
their income and health benefits. SPB does not prioritize their
cases by importance but by blocks of time. If SPB can hear more
cases in a year by hearing numerous small cases that require
short blocks of time, then that is how they are prioritized.
"Many of the terminated employees have to wait up to 18 months
to receive a hearing date because their cases require larger
blocks of time. Many terminated employees win their SPB cases.
When this happens and it often does, the state has to pay the
employee back wages, which more often than not is for over 2
years. This is a substantial amount of money to pay someone for
not working. Also, the employee is allowed to charge the state
7% interest of that money. During this 2-year period the
employee and their family have been known to suffer devastating
losses. The loss of a home, credit, and in some cases a divorce
to name a few. It is cruel to make an employee wait up to and
in some cases beyond 2-years to find out that they should not
have been terminated."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Correctional Supervisors Organization (Sponsor)
Service Employees International Union California
Service Employees International Union Local 1000
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957