IMPASSE PROCEDURES; IN GENERAL; DUTY TO PARTICIPATE IN GOOD FAITH – Declaration/Determination of Impasse

Single Topic for Decision 2694M

View all topics for Decision 2694M

Full Decision Text (click on the link to view): Full Text

Administrative determinations regarding MMBA factfinding requests do not preclude contrary findings after a formal hearing in a related unfair practice charge. Administrative determinations of MMBA factfinding requests do not generally provide either a charging party or a respondent a basis for prevailing in a related bad faith bargaining case. For instance, such an administrative determination does not establish whether there existed a legitimate, good faith impasse permitting an employer to impose the terms of its last offer. (See City & County of San Francisco (2014) PERB Order No. Ad-415-M, p. 12 [Although an MMBA factfinding request may involve issues that overlap with those in a related unfair practice case, determinations made as part of the factfinding request generally do “not prejudice or determine the ultimate outcome in the unfair practice case”].) This is because OGC must reach an administrative determination after a very limited investigation that does not create a reliable evidentiary record like that developed during a formal hearing on an unfair practice charge.