Court and Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) decisions, commentary on California public sector labor relations

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PERB Awards Attorneys’ Fees Against School District

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Bellflower Unified School District (2019) PERB Decision No. A475-Ea (Issued on November 12, 2019)

In this case the Bellflower Unified School District sought reconsideration of an administrative decision. The Board wasted no time in holding that, “even the most cursory review of Board precedent would have revealed that our Regulations do not permit reconsideration of decisions resolving administrative appeals.” Indeed, I wrote a blog post in 2018 discussing the Board’s decision in Lake Elsinore USD (2018) PERB Dec. No. A446-Ea, in which the Board emphasized that reconsideration is not available for decisions involving an administrative appeal.

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State Auditor Examines Fiscal Health of Cities

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The California State Auditor recently unveiled an online dashboard that ranks the top California cities facing fiscal challenges based on information about their fiscal health. The rankings are based on an evaluation of five factors: cash position/liquidity; debt burden; financial reserves; revenue trends; and retirement obligations. According to the State Auditor, the goal of providing this online interface is to provide interested parties a "data driven" view of each city's risk assessment. For anyone involved in contract negotiations, it's definitely worth taking some time to peruse the data and reports on the dashboard. You'll see that the State Auditor is…

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PERB Moves Forward on Regulatory Packages

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Update on Regulatory Packages

At its meeting on December 12, 2019, PERB’s Board instructed staff to move forward with its EFile regulations. The Board had previously instructed staff to move forward with proposed regulations on the State Mediation and Conciliation Service, continuances, and recusals. Once staff have prepared these regulatory packages they will be sent to the Office of Administrative Law to begin the formal process under the Administrative Procedure Act.

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NLRB Overrules Purple Communications; No Change Expected by PERB

On December 17, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overruled its prior decision in Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB 1050 (2014). In Caesars Entertainment d/b/a/ Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, 368 NLRB No. 143, the NLRB, according to its press release, "reestablished the right of an employer to restrict employee use of its email system if it does so on a nondiscriminatory basis." Before, under Purple Communications, employees with access to their employer’s email system for work-related purposes had a presumptive right to use that system, on nonworking time, for communications protected by Section 7 of the National Labor…

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PERB Invites Comments on Revised EFile Regulations

PERB has invited public comments on its revised EFile regulations to be considered at its December 12, 2019 meeting. The draft regulatory package can be found here. PERB is asking that stakeholders provide comments in person at its meeting on December 12, 2019, or preferably in writing before that date.

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