BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1908
AUTHOR: Alejo
INTRODUCED: February 22, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 13, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Classified employees: Notice of layoff.
SUMMARY
This bill increases, from 45 to 60 days, the layoff notice
requirement for classified employees working in California
public schools and community colleges.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires classified employees working in public
schools and California Community Colleges (CCC) to be
provided written notice not less than 45 days prior to the
effective date of a layoff. When positions must be
eliminated at the end of the school year due to the
expiration of a specially funded program, affected employees
must be given written notice on or before April 29 of the
year in question. (If the termination date of the program is
other than June 30, the notice must be given not less than 45
days before the effective date of the layoff.) Notices must
inform employees of their displacement rights in lower
classifications, if any, as well as reinstatement rights.
(Education Code � 45117, � 88017)
ANALYSIS
This bill
1) Requires classified employees working public schools
and community colleges to be given notice of layoff not
less than 60 days prior to the effective date of the
layoff.
2) Requires local agencies and school districts to be
reimbursed for costs if the Commission on State Mandates
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determines that this act contains costs mandated by the
state.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Different rules : By law, faculty and classified
employees who work for schools or community colleges are
entitled to advance written notice of an impending
layoff, although the timelines for those notices differ
for certificated and classified staff. Permanent
certificated employees continue in their position unless
they receive a notice on or before March 15th that they
will be laid off for the following school year. These
preliminary notices serve to provide certificated staff
early warning that they may be laid off for the
following school year and inform them of their right to
request a hearing. School districts must issue final
layoff notices to certificated staff by May 15th.
Classified employees, on the other hand, who can laid
off at any time for lack of work or lack of funds, must
be given written notice at least 45 days prior to the
effective date of the layoff and do not receive
preliminary notice. The existing 45-day notice
requirement was established by AB 290 (Firebaugh,
Chapter 880, 2003); previously, the notice period was 30
days. Classified employees are typically noticed after
governing boards adopt budgets that reduce or eliminate
services provided by classified employees.
2) Need for the bill . According to the author, the current
45-day layoff notice for classified staff is inequitable
and does not provide sufficient time for an employee to
prepare for the loss of his or her job. Supporters
state that "the state's budget crisis has dramatically
impacted classified school employees, 30,000 of whom
have been laid off and the majority of those who remain
being placed on some type of furlough." The author
maintains increasing the timeline from 45 to 60 days
addresses the inequity in current law with regard to
layoff notices and gives a classified employee two
additional weeks to prepare for the layoff and find a
new job.
3) Is a 60-day notice reasonable ? The sponsor of AB 1908,
The California School Employees Association (CSEA),
states that "the additional two weeks of notice will not
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require school districts to employ classified employees
for additional days, but will simply require them to
plan further ahead, something they already do for
teachers and administrators." However, opponents argue
that the modified timelines would require districts to
keep classified staff on the payroll longer, which could
reduce the savings they would have otherwise achieved.
Districts could also issue more layoff notices than may
actually be necessary in order to ensure they meet their
savings targets.
Opponents also argue that the increased timeline reduces the
flexibility of local educational agencies to address
unanticipated issues that may arise during the school
year, such as mid-year cuts, budget triggers, or
shortfalls in property tax revenue, a problem of
particular concern to Community Colleges that are
experiencing unexpected revenue shortfall due to lower
property tax and student fee revenues than originally
estimated. Further, some district business officers
have noted that under the provisions of this bill,
notices for classified and certificated staff could
overlap and need to be done at the same governing board
meeting, which could increase workloads for human
resource departments at a time they are busy with
certificated staff layoffs and hearings.
4) A subject for bargaining ? Current law establishes a
minimum timeline for providing notice prior to a layoff,
but does not prohibit a longer period of notice. Could
a 60-day notice requirement be negotiated at the local
level through the collective bargaining process?
5) Misalignment of state budget cycle and layoff timelines .
The significant disconnect between the state budget
cycle and the statutory timelines for layoff notices
requires school districts to adopt their budgets prior
to enactment of the Budget Act. In essence, local
educational agencies must make educated guesses about
their budgets based largely on the Governor's proposed
budget released each January. A March 2012 report from
the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) on the teacher
layoff process in California noted that the disconnect
leads to districts issuing more layoff notices than may
be necessary as they try to protect against budget
uncertainties. Could the earlier notice timeline
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proposed by this bill result in a similar
over-notification problem? Finally, staff notes that
the LAO recommended aligning the layoff timeline for
certificated staff with the state budget process to
better enable local educational agencies to make
decisions that reflect the Budget Act. This policy
proposed by this bill runs counter to that
recommendation.
SUPPORT
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
California Federation of Teachers
California Labor Federation
California Professional Firefighters
California School Employees Association
Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 777
Los Angeles Unified School District
Service Employees International Union
OPPOSITION
Association of California Community College Administrators
Association of California School Administrators
California School Boards Association
California Association of School Business Officials
Community College League of California