Collective Bargaining

AB 646 (Atkins) – Oppose
As Amended on June 22, 2011

AB 646, by Assembly Member Toni Atkins, would authorize an employee organization, if a mediator is unable to effect settlement of a contract impasse within 30 days of his or her appointment, to request that the matter be submitted to a factfinding panel. 

The bill would require that the factfinding panel consist of one member selected by each party as well as a chairperson selected by the Public Employment Relations Board or by agreement of the parties. If the matter is not settled within 30 days, AB 646 would require the factfinding panel to make findings of fact and recommend terms of settlement, for advisory purposes only. 

AB 646 would require that these findings and recommendations be first issued to the parties, but would require the public agency to make them publicly available within 10 days after their receipt. The bill would require all costs associated with the factfinding panel to be shared equally by the public agency and employee organization.

AB 646 would prohibit a public agency from implementing its last, best, and final offer until at least 10 days after the factfinders’ written findings of fact and recommended terms of settlement have been submitted to the parties and the agency has held a public hearing regarding the impasse.

AB 646 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, August 15.

SB 857 (Lieu) – Oppose
As Amended on July 11, 2011

SB 857, by Senator Ted Lieu, will remove the authority of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to award damages such as costs, expenses, and/or revenue losses resulting from an unlawful strike. Existing law provides PERB with the authority to investigate unfair labor practice charges and determine if those charges are justified; PERB is then able to assess any resulting damages.

This legislation is in response to a case decided by PERB in early 2010 (California Nurses Association v. Regents of the University of California [PERB Decision 2094-H]), which clarified that employee organizations may strike, but if a strike is called prior to completing impasse procedure, it is an unfair labor practice. PERB ruled in the case that such action can lead to the union being subject to damages incurred by the employer as a result of the premature strike and specified that only direct strike-related damages may be awarded (i.e., the cost of replacement workers or lost income). Additionally, PERB stated that any money the employer saves as a result of the strike must offset incurred damages.

Failure by the Legislature and appellate courts to overturn the decision prompted the introduction of SB 857, which will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, August 17.

Retirement Benefits

AB 344 (Furutani) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Amended on April 25, 2011

AB 344 would, among other things, would eliminate the ability of a retired annuitant to continue providing services to a public agency that is affiliated with CalPERS beyond 960 hours in a fiscal year. CSAC has maintained the argument that locally-elected officials who manage CalPERS-contracting agencies should determine the employment policies regarding their respective employees and the need for hiring retired annuitants.

AB 344 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, August 15.

SB 27 (Simitian) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Amended on July 7, 2011

SB 27, by Senator Joseph Simitian, amends the Public Employees Retirement Law and the State Teacher’s Retirement System law to limit those items that can be included in the calculation of final compensation for the purpose of prohibiting pension spiking; the bill also prohibits members who retire from public pension systems on or after January 1, 2013 from providing services to an employer covered by a state or local retirement system until the retiree has had a bona fide separation from service for at least six months. 

CSAC has an “Oppose Unless Amended” position on SB 27, and has requested that the author delete the section of the bill requiring a six-month separation from service prior to a retiree returning to work.

SB 27 will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, August 17.

Employee Rights

AB 22 (Mendoza) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Amended on May 12, 2011

AB 22, by Assembly Member Tony Mendoza, would prohibit prospective employers from using consumer credit reports for employment purposes unless the following criteria are met:

• The information in the credit report is substantially job-related (i.e., the applicant has access to money, trade secrets or confidential information.
• The position is managerial, a position in the state Department of Justice, a sworn peace officer or other law enforcement position.
• The credit report is required by law.

The previous version of AB 22 exempted positions in a city or county, but recent amendments removed this exemption. CSAC has taken an Oppose Unless Amended position and has requested the author place the exemption back into the bill.

AB 22 will be heard on Monday, August 15 in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Workers’ Compensation

AB 375 (Skinner) – Oppose
As Amended on July 5, 2011

AB 375, by Assembly Member Nancy Skinner, would establish a presumption for workers’ compensation purposes when a hospital employee contracts a blood-borne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection.

AB 375 would also extend this presumption six months after the employee’s service has been terminated in the case a blood-borne illness is contracted and three months after termination of service in the case of the contraction of MRSA.

CSAC opposes AB 375 because employers need to retain the discretion to accept or challenge workers’ compensation claims. Further, AB 375 could result in increased costs in workers’ compensation for county hospitals at a time when counties are facing budget deficits and reduced funding for program services.

AB 375 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, August 15.

AB 947 (Solorio) – Oppose
As Amended on June 28, 2011

AB 947, by Assembly Member Jose Solorio, would provide that, beginning January 1, 2012, if an injured worker requires medical treatment beyond 104 weeks to reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), temporary disability benefits may be extended up to 240 weeks by the physician to complete treatment. AB 947 prohibits the extension of additional temporary disability benefits if the need for the additional treatment was caused by the willful failure of the worker to undergo recommended medical treatment necessary to reach MMI.

CSAC opposes AB 947; while we support a workers’ compensation system that balances fair benefits to injured employees at equitable costs to employers, we are concerned that AB 947 would create an incentive to avoid a finding of MMI before the injured worker reaches 104 weeks of temporary disability benefits since the bill essentially allows the expansion of these benefits for any injured worker who requires medical treatment beyond 104 weeks. The 104-week cap that currently exists was implemented as part of the workers’ compensation system reforms of 2004 to discourage incentives for injured workers to avoid returning to alternative or modified employment. The expansion included in AB 947 ignores this important remedy and further imposes more costs on local public employers at a time when local governments are struggling to even provide the most basic of services to their residents.

AB 947 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, August 15.

SB 863 (Lieu) – Support
As Amended on June 6, 2011

SB 863, by Senator Ted Lieu, would begin the process of reforming how liens are handled in the system’s adjudicatory process.

In January 2011, the Commission on Health Safety and Workers’ Compensation released its “Liens Report” (Report), a culmination of the work performed by a broad stakeholder group which was convened to characterize the lien problem so that policymakers can target proposed solutions and to quantify the problem so that the effects of such proposals can be estimated. According to the Report, approximately 350,000 workers’ compensation liens were filed in 2010 and over 450,000 more are expected to be filed in 2011. Medical treatment liens, the Report states, account for more than 60 percent of the liens filed and 80 percent of the dollars in dispute. Litigation over these liens is one of the fastest growing cost drivers in the workers’ compensation system.

SB 863 attempts to address these problems by taking five recommendations identified in the Report that will accomplish the following:

• Create a statute of limitations, effective prospectively based on date of services to bar any lien unless the service is billed in accordance with regulations and the lien is filed within a defined time following that service.
• Establish a statute of limitations to bar any lien for service, regardless of date of service, which is not filed within three years of the date of medical service.
• Eliminate implied liens for medical treatment or medical-legal expenses.
• Impose automatic dismissal by operation of law for any lien which is not activated for hearing within a finite time.
• Allow additional time for medical insurers to file liens for the reimbursement of sums paid for covered treatment.

SB 863 will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 17.

Workforce Investment Boards

SB 776 (DeSaulnier) – Oppose
As Amended on June 15, 2011

SB 776, by Senator Mark DeSaulnier, would establish threshold requirements for the percentage of Workforce Investment Act funds provided to local workforce investment boards to be spent on training programs and support services as follows:

• Beginning federal program year 2012 – at least 20 percent.
• Beginning federal program year 2014 – at least 30 percent.
• Beginning federal program year 2016 – at least 40 percent.

SB 776 would also require the Employment Development Department to monitor compliance, as specified, and requires a local workforce investment board that does not meet these requirements to submit a corrective action plan to EDD. The bill also specifies that the above percentages of funding must include the following:

• Services defined as training under specified federal law.
• Supportive services as defined under federal law, including needs related payments for books, training materials and tuition relevant to training programs.
• Academic remediation and English-as-a-second-language.

CSAC opposes SB 776 because prescribing a certain threshold of funding to be applied to workforce training will not permit local workforce investment board members to make decisions that recognize and reflect local needs. California’s unemployment rate exceeds 12 percent; local elected officials with knowledge of the distinct labor markets in the areas they represent should make funding decisions to meet the needs of their community’s workforce. It should be noted that under the guidelines and rules for having workforce investment boards in place, locally-elected officials are joined by leaders from business, labor and education to influence the funding decisions and priorities of each local workforce board.

SB 776 will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, August 17.