EMPLOYER ADOPTION/ENFORCEMENT OF UNREASONABLE RULE – In General

Single Topic for Decision 2773M

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The Board rejected IBEW’s contention that it should apply a heightened level of scrutiny to a local agency employer’s unit determination when an agent of the employer oversees the recognition process. Inherent in IBEW’s argument was the assumption that unit recognition petitions are fundamentally adverse to the interests of an employer, and that PERB therefore must presume a likelihood of bias if an employer vests its agent with authority to adjudicate such issues. PERB operates under no such presumption, however, and instead finds bias or unlawful motive only where the record proves it by a preponderance of the evidence. For over four decades the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act has permitted local agencies, and by extension their agents such as employee relations officers and human resources managers, to preside over unit determinations pursuant to their own reasonable local regulations. That statutory authority remains intact. Thus, the Board rejected IBEW’s facial challenge. (pp. 21-22.)