All notes for Subtopic 604.03000 – Form of Information Provided; Costs
| Decision | Description | PERC Vol. | PERC Index | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2834E | Butte-Glenn Community College District 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs While it is tautological that an employer need not provide information that does not exist, “when the requested information does exist in some form, the fact that the employer may have to compile it from various sources does not excuse the employer from producing it unless the employer can prove doing so would be unduly burdensome.” (State of California (Department of State Hospitals) (2018) PERB Decision No. 2568-S, p. 15.) Moreover, an employer must raise any such burden contemporaneously with the requesting union “so the parties can negotiate over eliminating or reducing the employer’s burden.” (Id. at p. 16.) Otherwise, the employer forfeits the defense and PERB will order the employer to supply the information despite any burden it may impose. (Ibid.) When requested information exists in some form, the fact that the employer cannot retrieve it from a centralized database—and instead may have to compile it from various sources (including employees’ memories)—does not excuse the employer from producing it, unless the employer can prove doing so would be unduly burdensome and has offered to bargain to alleviate the burden. (pp. 17-18.) more or view all topics or full text. | 47 | 68 | 10/07/22 |
| 2834E | Butte-Glenn Community College District 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs A responding party cannot rely on CPRA exemptions when responding to an information request arising under a labor relations statute. (Sacramento City Unified School District (2018) PERB Decision No. 2597, p. 10 (Sacramento); see also County of Tulare (2019) PERB Decision No. 2697-M, pp. 14-15, fn. 9 [party responding to information request under labor relations statute may interpose defense to protect internal collective bargaining strategy but may not assert the broader deliberative process privilege applicable under the CPRA].) While the CPRA provides unions with the same right to public records as any person or organization, the statutes PERB administers confer upon an exclusive representative, as part of its representational rights and duties, a separate, broader right to information. The CPRA may not require an employer to “create a new set of public records,” but a union’s information request “may cover both public records and information that may not be found in any existing record,” meaning that “an employer responding to an RFI may be required to compile information from multiple records, management agents, and other sources, unless it can prove that doing so would be unduly burdensome.” (Sacramento, supra, PERB Decision No. 2597, p. 11.) (p. 15.) more or view all topics or full text. | 47 | 68 | 10/07/22 |
| 2582M | City of Davis 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs The fact that information may not exist in precisely the form requested does not relieve the employer of its obligation to provide what responsive information it does have, or to state its reasons for failing to do so. more or view all topics or full text. | 43 | 51 | 09/05/18 |
| 2568S | State of California (Department of State Hospitals) (California Association of Psychiatric Technicians) 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs An employer may be excused from compliance with an information request if the requested information does not exist. But where the requested information exists in some form, the fact that the employer may have to compile it from various sources does not excuse the employer from producing it unless compliance would be unduly burdensome. The burden of proving this defense is on the employer. (p. 15) An assertion that compliance with an information request would be unduly burdensome must be timely raised so the parties can negotiate over how to best eliminate or reduce the employer’s burden. (p. 16) PERB refused to consider the employer’s evidence that compiling the requested information would be unduly burdensome because the employer did not assert the potential burden of creating the requested list until the underlying administrative hearing. The employer’s failure to timely assert this response deprived the union of an opportunity to negotiate a path by which the information might be provided in a less burdensome manner. (p. 16) more or view all topics or full text. | 43 | 3 | 06/12/18 |
| 2423M | County of San Bernardino (Office of the Public Defender) 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs An employer’s refusal to provide a union upon request a physical document relevant to the union’s role as collective bargaining representative is not excused by the employer’s assertion that the information is on the internet, when the employer presents no evidence of what may or may not have been “on the internet” at the time of the request, whether it was responsive to the union’s request, whether it was up to date, or whether it conveyed what the employer intended to convey to the union. more or view all topics or full text. | 39 | 165 | 05/15/15 |
| 2298M | Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs Union admits that the hospital offered to provide the information as it became available, and thereafter union did not reject this response as insufficient nor demand that the hospital provide the information with greater alacrity or in greater detail. Union’s allegations are insufficient to state a prima facie case of failure to provide requested information. more or view all topics or full text. | 37 | 137 | 12/20/12 |
| 2112I | Los Angeles Superior Court 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs No violation where employer complied with request and the union does not allege that it reasserted its request or otherwise communicated its dissatisfaction with the employer’s response. No violation where the union requested the employer provide information related to the basis for the elimination of regular assignments. Although the charge made reference to a comprehensive study by the employer to determine staffing needs, the charge does not include facts to establish such a study was completed or that the employer was in fact in possession of any relevant “written documents, reports, assignment data or analysis.” The employer need not comply with an information request if the requested information does not exist. Moreover, the employer is not obligated to provide details as to the thought process or rationale underlying managerial decisions. more or view all topics or full text. | 34 | 94 | 06/07/10 |
| 1597H | Trustees of the California State University 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs Where compliance with an information request involves substantial costs, parties must bargain over what the costs would be and who would bear them. In this case, union agreed to pay “actual costs” without negotiating any protections and then refused to do so. Under these facts, CSU did not violate HEERA by refusing to provide information without payment. The union’s right of direct access to information must be exercised before the employer complies with a costly union request for information which the union refuses to pay for. more or view all topics or full text. | 28 | 75 | 02/09/04 |
| 1388S | State of California (Department of Corrections) 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs In order to implement its reorganization plan, the Department had to have some interim plans regarding changes in staffing. Although the Department did not need to furnish information in a form more organized than its own records, it should have provided whatever interim information it had to the Association. Its failure to do so violated the Dills Act. more or view all topics or full text. | 24 | 31107 | 05/25/00 |
| 1270E | San Bernardino City Unified School District * * * OVERRULED IN PART by Contra Costa Community College District (2019) PERB Decision No. 2652 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs * * * OVERRULED IN PART ON OTHER GROUNDS by Contra Costa Community College District (2019) PERB Decision No. 2652. * * *Certain information is presumed to be relevant, but if the employer questions the relevance, the union must give the employer an explanation. Once relevant information is requested, the employer must provide it or adequately set forth the reasons why it is unable to comply. The employer may be excused if compliance would be burdensome, but the burden of proving this defense is on the employer; pp. 69-70, proposed decision. more or view all topics or full text. | 22 | 29113 | 06/22/98 |
| 0834E | Chula Vista City School District 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs Fact that information may not have been conveniently available in a form that would accommodate both the interest of the association and the district does not automatically render association's request unduly burdensome nor relieve district of duty to provide it; p. 56. Employer may not simply present information in any form which it considers adequate but which is, nonetheless, unsuitable for informed consideration by the union; p. 56. Leave requests were not type of confidential employee records that would be exempt from disclosure. District could have accommodated association's need by deleting identifying information from request forms before giving it to association or by supplying information in form that would have made it equally useful to association; p. 55. Fact that district had only an inaccurate copy of contract requested by association did not excuse district's refusal to provide the Fact that district had only an inaccurate copy of contract requested by association did not excuse district's refusal to provide the information it sought; p. 69. more or view all topics or full text. | 14 | 21162 | 08/16/90 |
| 0670E | Los Rios Community College District 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs Union obligated to request negotiations on cost of deletion of confidential information (social security numbers) from information requested by union. more or view all topics or full text. | 12 | 19083 | 06/02/88 |
| 0326E | Oakland Unified School District * * * OVERRULED IN PART by The Accelerated Schools (2023) PERB Decision No. 2855 * * * 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs * * * OVERRULED IN PART ON OTHER GROUNDS by The Accelerated Schools (2023) PERB Decision No. 2855 * * * Names of employees to be laid off is relevant and necessary to employee organization; p. 37. more or view all topics or full text. | 7 | 14195 | 07/11/83 |
| 0143E | Stockton Unified School District 604.03000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION; Form of Information Provided; Costs Employer argument that production of health insurance costs information would be unduly burdensome is rejected. Simple assertion that information does not exist in form sought by union does not establish that compliance with request is unduly burdensome. more or view all topics or full text. | 4 | 11189 | 11/03/80 |