Category: California PERB Blog

<!-- Decorative image --> PERB Constituent Survey
PERB Constituent Survey

New PERB Regs Effective 1/1/22

Effective January 1, 2022, new PERB regulations are going into effect regarding: (1) the circumstances requiring Board members and employees to recuse themselves from proceedings; (2) the filing of exceptions to Proposed Decisions; (3) the use of subpoenas and motions in formal hearings; and (4) standards for obtaining continuances of a formal hearing. The text of the new regulations can be found here. Here are some of the highlights of the new regulations: Subpoenas: The regulations now distinguish between a "testimonial subpoena" and a "records subpoena" and, for the first time, provide timelines for the service of subpoenas. There are…

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<!-- Decorative image --> Governor Signs SB 270: Authorizes Monetary Penalties for Violation of PECC
Governor Signs SB 270: Authorizes Monetary Penalties for Violation of PECC

Governor Signs SB 270: Authorizes Monetary Penalties for Violation of PECC

On September 27, 2021, Governor Newsom signed SB 270 which provides for monetary penalties for certain violations of the Public Employee Communications Chapter (PECC) (Gov. Code §3555 et. seq.). Under the PECC, public employers must provide a union with the “name, job title, department, work location, work, home, and personal cellular telephone numbers, personal email addresses on file with the employer, and home address” of any new bargaining unit employee within 30 days of hire and of all bargaining unit employees every 120 days. (Gov. Code, §3558.) This section of the PECC was enacted in 2017 in anticipation of a Janus-type decision from the Supreme Court. Since its enactment, some unions have complained that employers are not providing all the information required by the PECC. As a result, several unions pushed for the enactment of SB 270.

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PERB Invites Comments on Proposed Regulations on Continuances, Exceptions, Recusals, Discovery, SMCS

Shutterstock 592144553

PERB has invited public comments on proposed regulations regarding continuances, exceptions, recusals, discovery, and SMCS. According to the Initial Statement of Reasons, “As revealed through the stakeholder meetings that were part of the Case Processing Efficiency Initiative, many of PERB’s case processing regulations are unnecessarily complicated, incomplete, obsolete, or ambiguous. These problems often cause litigants to commit errors or missteps, which delay case adjudication. Aside from the delays, these errors create additional work for PERB’s attorneys and judges. For this reason, the Board concluded it was necessary to amend the regulations to make them user-friendly, detailed, and understandable.”

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PERB’s End of Fiscal Year Numbers for 2018-19

Overview: PERB issued 92 decisions PERB’s annual report for fiscal year 2018-19 is not due until October 15, 2019. But for the first time in my memory, PERB has provided a “PERB Fiscal Year in Review 2018-19” on its website. It’s worth a read. However, based on my tracking of PERB cases I have some addition numbers that might be of interest to practitioners. PERB issued a total of 92 decisions this past fiscal year. The prior year PERB issued 61 decisions. That’s an increase of over 50%. In addition, according to PERB’s news release there are only 45 cases pending…

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PERB: “Exploding” Offers Can Be Evidence of Bad Faith

City of Arcadia (2019) PERB Decision No. 2648-M (Issued on 6/12/19) This is another very long decision involving several legal issues. I am just going to focus on one issue: PERB’s holding that, ”a party cannot in good faith make an exploding proposal unless it can adequately explain a legitimate basis for doing so.” An “exploding” proposal is one that expires on a given date. Here are the essential facts. The City of Arcadia (City) and the Arcadia Police Civilian Employees Association (Union) were parties to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that expired on June 30, 2014. In September 2013,…

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