REPRESENTATION ISSUES; PROOF OF SUPPORT – In General; Requirements

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1306.00000 – REPRESENTATION ISSUES; PROOF OF SUPPORT
1306.01000 – In General; Requirements

Under six of California’s public sector labor relations statutes, employers are not permitted to adopt local rules regarding representation petitions, and parties must file such petitions with PERB. In contrast, the MMBA and two statutes governing trial court labor relations allow employers to establish local rules regarding representation petitions, and parties therefore may only file such petitions with PERB if directed to do so under the local rules or if there is no reasonable local rule that governs the petition in question. (Central Basin Municipal Water District (2021) PERB Order No. Ad-486-M, pp. 8-9.) Among these statutes, only the Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA; § 3540 et seq.) and the Childcare Provider Act (CCPA; Educ. Code, § 8430 et seq.) explicitly provide that proof of support documents are confidential. (EERA, § 3544, subd. (b); Educ. Code, § 8434, subd. (c)(3) [CCPA].) Nonetheless, through rulemaking PERB has interpreted all nine statutes as requiring that proof of support documents filed with PERB are confidential. The differences in statutory wording require harmonization, and accordingly that all California labor relations statutes require confidentiality for proof of support documents. An employer may not apply its local rules in a contrary manner.