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

City of Culver City (2020) PERB Dec. No. 2731-M (Issued on 6/10/20)

At issue in this case was a change by Culver City’s police department regarding when employees take a lunch break. For many years, the police department allowed employees to combine their two 15-minute paid rest periods into a single half-hour paid meal period in lieu of an unpaid meal period of one hour. The city relied on contract language to make a change requiring employees to take an unpaid meal period of one hour. Thus, before the change an employee on a 4/10 work schedule worked 10 hours a day, which included a 30-minute paid lunch period. After the change, the same employee’s schedule was 11 hours, which included an unpaid meal period of one hour.

County of San Diego (2020) PERB Dec. No. 2721-M (Issues on 5/22/20)

At issue in this case was a County policy prohibiting Members of the Board of Supervisors from discussing with employees any matter that was also the subject to union negotiations. The union challenged the policy even though it had been in place for many years. The Office of the General Counsel dismissed the unfair practice charge as time-barred. The union appealed to the Board.

City of Santa Maria (2020) PERB Dec. No. 2736-M (Issued on 6/30/20)

In this case the Board held that a city’s decision to conduct an open recruitment (one open to outside candidates) versus an internal recruitment (one limited to city employees) was within the scope of bargaining. This was an “easy” decision for the Board. However, to understand how the Board got to this decision you will need a little history…