REMEDIES FOR UNFAIR PRACTICES; MISCELLANEOUS REMEDIAL PROVISIONS – Restoration of Status Quo

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1205.00000 – REMEDIES FOR UNFAIR PRACTICES; MISCELLANEOUS REMEDIAL PROVISIONS
1205.07000 – Restoration of Status Quo

A restorative order returning “the parties and affected employees to their respective positions before the unlawful conduct occurred is critical to remedying unilateral change violations, because it prevents the employer from gaining a one sided and unfair advantage in negotiations and thereby ‘forcing employees to talk the employer back to terms previously agreed to.’” [Citation.] While restoration of the status quo ante is a hallmark of most unilateral change remedies [citations], it is not appropriate here given that the parties bargained and subsequently agreed to a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) containing substantially identical schedule and meal period provisions as the expired MOU. The Board found that, by agreeing to certain provisions in the successor MOU, the union clearly and unmistakably waived its right to bargain the change in policy concerning schedules and meal periods. Thus, once the successor MOU took effect, the employer was entitled to make the disputed changes to employees’ schedules. Though this finding did not absolve the employer of liability for its unlawful unilateral change, the Board concluded that a return to the status quo would not effectuate the purposes of the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and accordingly adjusted that portion of the ALJ’s order. (pp. 25-26.)