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

PERB held an Advisory Committee meeting on January 17, 2013.  It was a good turnout of people representing both unions and management.   There was also a significant number of PERB staff in attendance.  Here is a brief summary of what was discussed: SMCS and General Regulations Changes On December 13, 2012, PERB held a hearing on the proposed regulations relating to the transfer of the State Mediation and Conciliation Service to PERB and the proposed general regulation changes.  (Those proposed regulations can be found here.)  No changes were made so PERB is preparing to submit the regulation packages to the…

Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (2012) PERB Decision No. 2298-M (Issued on 12/20/12) This case doesn’t necessarily break new legal ground, but it highlights an area of law that has not been fleshed-out very well by the courts or PERB.  The issue is this:  Once an employer decides to layoff employees, does the employer have to bargain with the union over the number of employees to be laid off? Facts: In late 2010, the employer in this case, a public hospital, notified the union that it would have to lay off employees by the end of the year in order…

PERB has released draft discussion regulations on factfinding and elections under the MMBA.  (Click here to view) Factfinding Regulations The draft discussion regulations pertaining to factfinding are limited to two regulations: 32380 and 32802.  These regulations currently state that a Board agent's determination as to the sufficiency of a factfinding request cannot be appealed to the Board.  The proposed regulations would eliminate those provisions, presumably making such determinations appealable. MMBA Election Regulations PERB has also released proposed regulations for conducting elections under the MMBA.  These regulations would only apply if an employer's local rules call for State Mediation to conduct…

It's a new year and with it comes changes to PERB.  Most significant, Board Member Dowdin-Calvillo's term expired at the end of 2012.  While she could have stayed up to 60 days until the Governor named her replacement, Member Dowdin-Calvillo left PERB last week to become the new Executive Officer of the Sacramento County Civil Service Commission. Member Dowdin-Calvillo was appointed to a five-year term at PERB in 2008 by Governor Schwarzenegger.  She served as Chair of PERB until the appointment of Chair Anita Martinez in May 2011.  With the departure of Member Dowdin-Calvillo, PERB is left with only two members, Chair Martinez…