Decision A532M – City and County of San Francisco
SF-SV-136-M
Decision Date: August 27, 2025
Decision Type: Administrative Appeal
Description: San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (DSA) filed a severance petition under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and PERB Regulations to remove four classifications from bargaining units represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1021 (SEIU) at the City and County of San Francisco (City) and place them in an already existing bargaining unit DSA exclusively represents. The initial petition was filed during the “window period” during the term of a contract between SEIU and the City. PERB’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) sent an Order to Show Cause (OSC) tentatively concluding that DSA’s petition could not go forward because, among other things, severance petitions may not be used to add employees to an existing bargaining unit. DSA then amended the petition, outside the window period, to place the affected employees in a new bargaining unit consisting only of themselves. OGC determined that the amended petition was not timely filed, and dismissed the petition. DSA appealed.
Disposition: The Board affirmed OGC’s dismissal of DSA’s severance petition. Severance petitions under PERB Regulations are subject to contract bar rules, which requires they be filed during a “window period” or a hiatus between contracts. Amendments to severance petitions under PERB Regulations for the MMBA are subject to a contract bar, but DSA’s amended petition was filed during a contract between SEIU and the City and not during the window period. The amended petition was therefore untimely. Furthermore, the Board clarified precedent concerning material versus technical amendments to petitions. Because DSA’s initial petition improperly sought to add employees to an existing unit, and the amended petition sought to cure this deficiency, the amendment was material, rather than technical. Because the initial petition was invalid, and the amended petition was untimely, the Board dismissed both petitions and the entire case.
Perc Vol: 50
Perc Index: 63
Decision Headnotes
104.01000 – Authority of Board In General; Validity and Application of Regulations (See also 102.01)
When a public agency has adopted local rules, PERB has jurisdiction over a representation petition only if the agency’s local rules contain no reasonable provision(s) that can accomplish what the petitioner is seeking without placing an undue burden on the petitioner. (County of Orange (2010) PERB Decision No. 2138- M, p. 9.) “[I]f an agency has not adopted a reasonable local rule on a particular representation issue, PERB Regulations fill the gap” by allowing PERB to process the petition. (Central Basin Municipal Water District (2021) PERB Order No. Ad-486-M, p. 8; MMBA, § 3509(a); PERB Reg. 61000.) (p. 9.)
1301.01000 – In General
The contract bar doctrine refers to the general principle that a collective bargaining agreement may bar representation elections involving covered employees for its duration. The purpose of the doctrine is to strike a balance between two interests: “the interest in such stability as is essential to encourage effective collective bargaining, and the sometimes conflicting interest in the freedom of employees to select and change their representatives.” (Reed Roller Bit Co. (1947) 72 NLRB 927, 929.) (p. 6.)
1301.04000 – Window Period
PERB Regulations applicable to the MMBA establish a contract bar for decertification petitions (PERB Reg. 61380(b)), severance petitions (PERB Reg. 61400(b)), and certain unit modification petitions (PERB Reg. 61450(b)(4)(B)-(C)). Such petitions may not be filed during the term of a memorandum of understanding except during the 29-day “window period” that is less than 120 days but more than 90 days prior to the expiration date of that agreement. (PERB Reg. 61010.) (p. 9)
1301.04000 – Window Period
PERB Regulations for severance petitions filed under the MMBA require such petitions and any amendments to them to be filed during the “window period.” (pp. 10-11.)
1308.01000 – In General
PERB Regulations for severance petitions filed under the MMBA require such petitions and any amendments to them to be filed during the “window period.” (pp. 10-11.)
1301.01000 – In General
The Board’s decision in Alum Rock Union Elementary School District (1996) PERB Order No. Ad-280 did not establish a sweeping exception to the contract bar rule for “technical” amendments to representation petitions. (pp. 12-14.)
1301.04000 – Window Period
PERB strictly enforces the window period. (p. 14.)
1308.01000 – In General
In Fresno Unified School District (2025) PERB Order No. Ad-531, PERB found that a severance petition under EERA must seek to establish a new unit of employees “carved out” of an existing bargaining unit. (Id. at p. 10.) In contrast, severance may not be used “to transfer [] one group of employees from an existing bargaining unit to another existing unit.” (Ibid.) The Board based this decision on the historical understanding of severance petitions under PERB jurisdiction and in the private sector (id. at p. 6), the plain language of PERB Regulation 33700, which governs severance petitions under EERA (id. at pp. 7-9), and the criteria used to decide severance petitions, which are not compatible with a request to transfer employees between existing units (id. at pp. 9-11).
1308.01000 – In General
The Board’s holding in Fresno Unified School District (2025) PERB Order No. Ad-531 that a severance petition may not be used to transfer employees from one or more bargaining units into an already existing unit applies equally to severance petitions filed under PERB Regulations applicable to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. (pp. 16-17.)