PARTIES; DEFINITIONS; WHO IS AN EMPLOYER? – In General

Single Topic for Decision A418M

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In section 3501(c) of MMBA, the Legislature selected an expansive term, “public agency,” to describe those employers subject to the obligations of MMBA and whose employees enjoy rights thereunder. MMBA section 3501(c) includes those entities that have achieved the status of a “public agency” by statute, constitutional provision, case law or administrative precedent, and in addition those entities whose operations and characteristics bearing on their relationship to the state indicate attributes commonly associated with public bodies. In El Camino Hospital District (2009) PERB Decision No. 2033-M, the Board determined that El Camino Hospital (Hospital) was a “public agency” within MMBA section 3501(c). Operating as a non-profit public benefit corporation under California law, Hospital was “controlled” by the El Camino Hospital District (District) which was itself a “public agency” formed pursuant to the California’s Local Health Care District Law. The Board reasoned that as it was controlled by the District, Hospital was a “public agency” within section 3501(c). In addition, the Board reasoned that Hospital and District together constituted a single employer which was a “public agency” within section 3501(c) and that Hospital would be excluded from NLRB jurisdiction as a “political subdivision". Federal and California statutes also reflect control of the county workforce investment board by the State and/or the County: (1) the county workforce investment board’s local plan is developed jointly with, and is subject to approval by the County, and thereafter reviewed and approved by the Governor; (2) the local plan must be consistent with the California Workforce Investment Board state plan; (3) activities funded under the local plan must meet the mandatory specifications therefor in federal and state statute; (4) local plan implementation is subject to mandatory performance review. The county workforce investment board is a public agency within the MMBA and subject to PERB’s jurisdiction. The county workforce investment board is a political subdivision of the State of California within NLRA section 2(2).