EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; DEFENSES – Business Necessity; Emergency Exception

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Although “time may be of the essence during a pandemic, that consideration goes to the limitations on bargaining obligations when an emergency compels an employer to act rapidly; it does not, however, turn the topic into a non-mandatory subject of bargaining.” (Oxnard Union High School District (2022) PERB Decision No. 2803, p. 43.) Bargaining was practicable even in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the emergency did not shield the County from that duty; rather, the pandemic merely allowed the County to take certain emergency measures before bargaining was complete. (pp. 28-29.)