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

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PERB’s End of Fiscal Year Numbers

Overview: PERB issues 100 decisions PERB’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. So fiscal year 2011-2012 is over. PERB’s annual report for 2011-2012 is not due until October 1, 2012. However, here are some preliminary numbers based on my tracking of PERB decisions.  For fiscal year 2011-2012, PERB issued 100 board decisions (not including decisions on injunctive relief requests).  This is the highest number of decisions issued by PERB since 2004-2005.  I’ll have a more thorough breakdown of the board’s decisions once the annual report is released.  Until then, here are some more preliminary numbers: Decisions by Statute:…

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LERANC Luncheon on New State CalHR Department on July 31

The Labor and Employment Relations Association of Northern California (LERANC) (formerly the Industrial Relations Association of Northern California – IRANC), will be holding a luncheon on the new CalHR Department created on July 1, 2012 by Governor Brown's reorganization plan. CalHR consolidates the State Department of Personnel Administration and the State Personnel Board.  Speaking at the luncheon will be Howard Schwartz, Deputy Director of CalHR. Here are the details: Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Time: 11:30 A.M. Registration & Networking; Noon – Lunch & Speaker; 1:00 P.M. Adjourn Location: Firehouse Restaurant, Golden Eagle Room, 1112 Second Street, Old Sacramento, CA…

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General Counsel Review of Dismissals: Is a New Procedure on the Horizon?

City of Carlsbad (2012) PERB Decision No. 2276-M (Issued on 6/27/12) Simple facts.  Board agent gave union time to file amended unfair practice charge.  Before that time expired, the charge was dismissed in error.  Union appealed.  The Office of the General Counsel separately requested that the Board remand this case for further investigation based on the error.  In granting the appeal and request for remand, the Board explained that: The Board has adopted a procedure whereby the General Counsel reviews cases dismissed by Board agents. As explained in similar requests from the General Counsel (Santa Ana Education Association (O’Neil, et…

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PERB Advisory Committee Meeting Recap

PERB held a meeting of its Advisory Committee on June 28, 2012.  A large part of the discussion centered around some regulations that PERB drafted for discussion purposes.  You can see a copy of those discussion regs here.  I couldn't attend but my colleague Erich Shiners did and provided me with a summary of what was discussed. Filing by Email PERB’s current on-line filing system is cumbersome so PERB is looking at allowing parties to file pleadings via email.  I’m in support of this.  Hopefully one day PERB will be able to install a docketing system where you can file…

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In-Home Supportive Services Employer-Employee Relations Act Enacted

As part of the budget compromise between the Legislature and Governor, SB 1036 was enacted on June 27, 2012.  It created the In-Home Supportive Services Employer-Employee Relations Act (IHSS-EERA) (Gov Code section 110000 et. seq.).   While I've heard that county IHSS officials knew this was coming, it caught me by surprise.  This will be the 8th labor relations statute administered by PERB.  To say that the bill creating the IHSS-EERA is confusing would be a serious understatement.  But from what I can discern, here the answers to some key questions: What Does it Do? In a nutshell, the IHSS-EERA creates a…

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