Amended in Assembly January 6, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 778

Introduced by Assembly Member Bocanegra

February 21, 2013

begin delete An act to add Section 55.5 to the Labor Code, relating to employment. end delete begin insert An act to amend Section 3505.4 of the Government Code, relating to local public employee organizations. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 778, as amended, Bocanegra. begin delete Employment: workforce and demographic changes: study. end delete begin insert Local public employee organizations: dispute: factfinding panel. end insert

begin insert

Existing law requires the governing body of a local public agency, or those boards, commissions, administrative officers, or other representatives as may be properly designated by law or by a governing body, to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of recognized employee organizations. Existing law authorizes an employee organization to request that the parties’ differences be submitted to a factfinding panel not sooner that 30 days or more than 45 days following the appointment or selection of a mediator pursuant to the parties’ agreement to mediate or a mediation process required by a public agency’s local rules. Existing law authorizes an employee organization, if the dispute was not submitted to mediation, to request that the parties’ differences be submitted to a factfinding panel not later than 30 days following the date that either party provided the other with a written notice of a declaration of impasse.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require that request to be in writing. The bill would provide that if either party disputes that a genuine impasse, as defined, has been reached, the issue of whether an impasse exists may be submitted to the Public Employment Relations Board for resolution before the dispute is submitted to a factfinding panel, as specified. The bill would also authorize each party to select a person to serve as its member of the factfinding panel.

end insert begin delete

Existing law regulates the wages, hours, and working conditions of any man, woman, and minor employed in any occupation, trade, or industry, whether compensation is measured by time, piece, or otherwise, except as specified. Existing law creates the Industrial Welfare Commission and authorizes it to adopt rules, regulations, and orders to ensure that employers comply with those provisions.

end delete begin delete

This bill would require the Director of Industrial Relations to study workforce and demographic changes in the workforce in California in the previous 20 years and projected workforce needs in the coming 30 years. The bill would require the director to create a report summarizing the findings of the study and submit that report to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment and the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 3505.4 of the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

3505.4.  

(a) The employee organization may request that the
parties’ differences be submitted to a factfinding panel not sooner
than 30 days, but not more than 45 days, following the appointment
or selection of a mediator pursuant to the parties’ agreement to
mediate or a mediation process required by a public agency’s local
rules. If the dispute was not submitted to mediation, an employee
organization may begin delete request end delete begin insert request, in writing, end insert that the begin insert public agency
submit the end insert parties’ differences begin delete be submitted end delete to a factfinding panel
not later than 30 days following the date that either party provided
the other with a written notice of a declaration of impasse. Within
five days after receipt of the written request, each party shall select
a person to serve as its member of the factfinding panel. The Public
Employment Relations Board shall, within five days after the
selection of panel members by the parties, select a chairperson of
the factfinding panel.

begin insert

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if either party disputes that
a genuine impasse has been reached, the issue as to whether an
impasse exists may be submitted to the Public Employment
Relations Board for resolution. If the board determines that an
impasse existed as of the date of written notice of a declaration of
impasse and that the impasse has persisted through the date of the
employee organization’s request for a factfinding panel, it shall,
within five working days of the receipt of a request, notify the
parties of its determination. This subdivision shall not apply to the
City and County of San Francisco.

end insert begin insert

(c) Within five days after receipt of the written request pursuant
to subdivision (a) or five days after receipt of the board’s
determination that a genuine impasse has been reached and
persists pursuant to subdivision (b), each party shall select a
person to serve as its member of the factfinding panel. The board
shall, within five days after the selection of panel members by the
parties, select a chairperson of the factfinding panel.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  Within five days after the board selects a chairperson of the
factfinding panel, the parties may mutually agree upon a person
to serve as chairperson in lieu of the person selected by the board.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  The panel shall, within 10 days after its appointment, meet
with the parties or their representatives, either jointly or separately,
and may make inquiries and investigations, hold hearings, and
take any other steps it deems appropriate. For the purpose of the
hearings, investigations, and inquiries, the panel shall have the
power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony
of witnesses and the production of evidence. Any state agency, as
defined in Section 11000, the California State University, or any
political subdivision of the state, including any board of education,
shall furnish the panel, upon its request, with all records, papers,
and information in begin delete their end delete begin insert its end insert possession relating to any matter under
investigation by or in issue before the panel.

begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  In arriving at their findings and recommendations, the
factfinders shall consider, weigh, and be guided by all the following
criteria:

(1) State and federal laws that are applicable to the employer.

(2) Local rules, regulations, or ordinances.

(3) Stipulations of the parties.

(4) The interests and welfare of the public and the financial
ability of the public agency.

(5) Comparison of the wages, hours, and conditions of
employment of the employees involved in the factfinding
proceeding with the wages, hours, and conditions of employment
of other employees performing similar services in comparable
public agencies.

(6) The consumer price index for goods and services, commonly
known as the cost of living.

(7) The overall compensation presently received by the
employees, including direct wage compensation, vacations,
holidays, and other excused time, insurance and pensions, medical
and hospitalization benefits, the continuity and stability of
employment, and all other benefits received.

(8) Any other facts, not confined to those specified in paragraphs
(1) to (7), inclusive, begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert are normally or traditionally taken
into consideration in making the findings and recommendations.

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  The procedural right of an employee organization to request
a factfinding panel cannot be begin delete expressly or voluntarily end delete waived.

begin insert

(h) For the purposes of this section, “impasse” means that the
parties to a dispute over a matter within the scope of representation
have reached a point in meeting and negotiating at which their
difference in position is so substantial or prolonged that future
meetings would be futile.

end insert begin insert

(i) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (g), inclusive, the
employee relations commissions established by, and in effect for,
the County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles pursuant
to Section 3507 shall have the authority to maintain and amend
existing rules and regulations providing for impasse resolution
procedures and to issue determinations and orders as the employee
relations commissions deem necessary, consistent with and
pursuant to the policies of this chapter.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 55.5 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

55.5.  

(a) The director shall study workforce and demographic
changes in the workforce in California in the previous 20 years
and projected workforce needs in the coming 30 years, including,
but not limited to, the role of overtime pay. The director shall
create a report summarizing the findings of the study and submit
that report to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment
and the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.

(b) The report required by subdivision (a) shall be submitted
pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.

end delete