BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 920
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Date of Hearing: March 30, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Warren T. Furutani, Chair
AB 920 (Portantino) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
SUBJECT : Public employees: rights.
SUMMARY : Enacts the Public Employees' Bill of Rights Act
(PEBRA) which provides various rights and protections to
non-excluded state civil service employees and requires that any
adverse action taken against a state employee be initiated and
the investigation completed within one year of the cause for
discipline. Specifically, this bill :
1)Enacts the PEBRA for the purpose of informing state employees
of their rights and terms of employment.
2)Defines "employee" as a state civil service employee that is
not an excluded employee.
3)Requires employers to provide each employee with a job
description, including his or her scope of duties, salary, and
benefits information, as specified.
4)Prohibits an employee's work from being standardized, as
specified, and from unreasonable quotas being imposed on the
employee.
5)Prohibits an employer from unreasonably preventing an employee
from using daily rest and lunch periods as well as other
earned leaves.
6)Prohibits an employee from being compelled to perform extra
work, as specified.
7)Specifies that a state civil service employee will have
priority in filling specified positions over excluded
employees and contractors.
8)Requires time and a half to be paid for overtime worked.
9)Specifies that employees have a right to a safe and healthy
working environment and that grievances relating to this right
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will have priority.
10)Prohibits employers, excluded employees and contractors from
discriminating against a state civil service employee.
11)Prohibits reprisals against any employee for exercising his
or her rights under the PEBRA, the Ralph C. Dills Act, or the
California Whistleblower Protection Act.
12)Specifies that employees have the right to sue the employer
for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the
federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the federal
Family and Medical Leave Act, the California Family Rights
Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
13)Specifies that an employee is entitled to fair and
progressive discipline and that any preventive or corrective
actions must be in accordance with guidelines published by the
Department of Personnel Administration.
14)Requires the employer to honor the Memorandum of
Understanding covering the employee.
15)Establishes specific rights for professionally licensed state
civil service employees related to professional judgment and
performance and merit evaluations and authorizes the formation
of peer review committees for professional staff to provide
input regarding workplace operations.
16)Requires that any adverse action taken against a state
employee be initiated and the investigation completed within
one year of the cause for discipline.
17)Deletes the current provision that allows adverse actions
based on fraud, embezzlement, or the falsification of records
to be valid if notice is served within three years after the
discovery of the fraud, embezzlement, or falsification.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Contains the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights
Act (POBOR) prescribing various rights of public safety
officers, as defined, with regard to representation,
discrimination, discipline, and interrogation, as specified.
Firefighting personnel, with the exception of a fire
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department's arson-investigating unit, are not covered by
POBOR.
2)Contains the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act
establishing various rights of firefighters, paramedics, and
emergency medical technicians, as specified, with regard to
political activity, interrogation, punitive action, and
administrative appeals.
3)Contains the Bill of Rights for State Excluded Employees
prescribing various rights and terms and conditions of
employment for "excluded" employees, defined as state
supervisory, managerial, and confidential employees, who are
all exempted from statutes providing full collective
bargaining rights.
4)Authorizes an appointing power to take adverse action against
a state employee for specified causes, and establishes
administrative procedures for review of an adverse action by
the State Personnel Board. An adverse action against a state
employee is required to commence within three years of the
cause for discipline, or in the case of fraud, embezzlement,
or falsification, within three years after the discovery of
the activity.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the findings and declarations contained
in the bill, the purpose of the legislation is to "?inform
public employees of their rights and terms of employment, and to
inspire dedicated service and promote harmonious personnel
relations between public employees and their employer."
Supporters state, "Under the Act, state employees would have
priority over contractors in filling permanent, overtime, and
on-call positions. These provisions are essential to
safeguarding state employees' rights, as well as reducing the
occurrence of the contracting out of services, which burdens
California with millions of dollars of unnecessary costs. In
addition, the Act would allow the formation of peer review
committees for professional staff to provide input regarding
workplace operations. Increasing communication through these
committees is critical to the improvement of staff relations."
Supporters conclude, "Finally, this bill would require notice of
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adverse action to be served and the investigation to be
completed within one year after the cause for discipline first
arose. This provision would prevent the abuse of the
investigation process, which some agencies delay for years in
order to prevent the employee from being able to defend him- or
herself adequately."
Opponents state, "In 2000 California voters approved Proposition
35, which added Article XXII of the California Constitution.
This article specified that the legislature may no longer
mandate the use of public architects or engineers for public
works or other infrastructure and design projects, but must
leave the option of using a public or private workforce to the
lead agency responsible for overseeing the particular project?As
written in AB 920, we believe that prioritization of state
employees for contract and on-call services as relates the
provision of architectural and engineering services is in direct
conflict with the requirements of Article XXII. Many of our
member firms have extensive contracts (both active projects and
on-call contracts) with the Department of Transportation and
other agencies to provide critical and necessary design and
construction management services. It would seem to us that
provisions of AB 920 would require agencies and departments to
prioritize state employees for these projects, thereby
eliminating the lead agency choice afforded under Article XXII
and resulting in a legislative mandate that conflicts with those
provisions."
This bill is similar to AB 1744 (Portantino) of last year which
was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(Co-sponsor)
Union of American Physicians and Dentists (Co-sponsor)
California Correctional Supervisors Organization
Professional Engineers in California Government
Service Employees International Union California
Service Employees International Union Local 1000
Opposition
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American Council of Engineering Companies of California (unless
amended)
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957