Keyword Search by Headnotes - California Public Employment Relations Board

Decision	Description	PERC Vol.	PERC Index	Date
2895M	Palomar Health 602.05000: EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; UNILATERAL CHANGE (FOR NEGOT OF SPECIFIC SUBJECTS, SEE SEC 1000, SCOPE OF REPRESENTATION); New Policy or Application or Enforcement of Existing Policy in New Way The Board found the employer changed the status quo when it sought an order from the superior court to deny union representatives access to picket, parade, march, stand, sit, walk, or otherwise be present in areas inside or outside of the employer’s facilities, other than the employee parking lot. The record established a unilateral change as both a change in established past practice and a newly created policy or application or enforcement of existing policy in a new way. In the past the unions regularly engaged in protected conduct in the very areas the employer now insisted such activities were disallowed. This past practice was sufficiently “regular and consistent” (or alternately “historic and accepted”) to constitute an established practice. (See Oakland Unified School District (2023) PERB Decision No. 2875, p. 13; Pittsburg Unified School District (2022) PERB Decision No. 2833, p. 12.) Moreover, the employer also created a new policy or applied or enforced policy in a new way when it for the first time sought to block the Unions from non-patient areas. (pp. 37-41.) more or view all topics or full text.	48	154	03/15/24
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; 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.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; 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). more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1301.04000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; CONTRACT BAR; Window Period PERB strictly enforces the window period. (p. 14.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1301.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; CONTRACT BAR; 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.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; 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.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1301.04000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; CONTRACT BAR; 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.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1301.04000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; CONTRACT BAR; 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) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 1301.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; CONTRACT BAR; 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.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
A532M	City and County of San Francisco 104.01000: PERB: OPERATION, JURISDICTION, AUTHORITY; STATUTORY AUTHORITY OF BOARD; 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.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	63	08/27/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1309.11000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200); Professional Employees MMBA section 3507.3 does not afford every group of professionals a right to its own unit. Accordingly, an “all professionals” grouping fully protects the right of professionals to be represented separately from non-professionals set forth in section 3507.3. (County of Orange (2016) PERB Decision No. 2478-M, pp.13-14.) However, traditional community of interest criteria can merit narrower professional units, depending on the circumstances. (See, e.g., Alameda County Assistant Public Defenders Assn. v. County of Alameda (1973) 33 Cal.App.3d 825, 832 [appellate court reviewing initial division of employees into units ordered the employer to place the public defenders in their own unit, finding that they were “Sui generis” and had little in common with other non-healthcare professionals].) In California counties where public defenders are part of a broad professional unit, they may seek to sever themselves into a stand-alone public defenders’ unit, but they bear the burden of showing that the larger, established unit cannot adequately address their interests. (pp. 28-29.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1309.11000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200); Professional Employees MMBA section 3507.3, which affords professional employees the right to be represented separately from non-professionals, does not necessarily prohibit a mixed unit of professionals and non-professionals, but provides that professional employees placed into such a unit have the right to severance if a union seeks to represent them in a professionals-only unit and demonstrates sufficient proof of support in an initial petition and eventual election. (Santa Clara Valley Water District (2017) PERB Decision No. 2531-M, p. 14.) Thus, units containing both professional and non-professional employees are lawful, but such units are inherently unstable. (pp. 28, 50-53.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1309.11000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200); Professional Employees MMBA section 3507.3 affords professional employees the right to be represented separately from non-professionals. “‘Professional employees,’ for the purposes of this section, means employees engaged in work requiring specialized knowledge and skills attained through completion of a recognized course of instruction, including, but not limited to, attorneys, physicians, registered nurses, engineers, architects, teachers, and the various types of physical, chemical, and biological scientists.” In a unit dispute involving professional employees, any party has the right to insist on a referral to SMCS, and at that point the employer must pause all proceedings under its local rules to allow SMCS to mediate and/or issue a recommendation. (International Federation of Prof. & Technical Engineers v. City and County of San Francisco (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 1300, 1309-1310 [“the procedure of section 3507.3 is meant to be free of local variation” and “the subject covered by section 3507.3 is not subject to local regulation”].) For MMBA unit disputes that go to the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) in the first instance (because the employer has no applicable local rule), if the dispute involves professional employees and any party asks for a referral to SMCS, then OGC must similarly honor that request and pause proceedings. (pp. 26-28.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1309.09000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200); Law Enforcement MMBA section 3508 affords peace officers the right to participate in unions composed solely of peace officers. Just as MMBA section 3507.3 permits an “all professionals” unit, MMBA section 3508 permits an “all peace officer” unit absent proof that such a broader unit “is unable to effectively represent” a particular subset of employees. (Santa Clara County District Attorney Investigators Assn. v. County of Santa Clara (1975) 51 Cal.App.3d 255, 265.) (p. 29.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1309.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200); In General/Definition of Appropriate Unit Challenges to an MMBA employer’s unit determination normally allege that the employer either maintained a facially unlawful local rule, violated one or more of its rules, or applied its rules in an unreasonable or unlawful manner. (MMBA, §§ 3507(d) & 3509(b) (c); PERB Reg. 32603(f) & (g); County of Monterey (2022) PERB Decision No. 2821-M, p. 21; County of Orange (2016) PERB Decision No. 2478-M, p.16.) (pp. 18-19.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1309.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200); In General/Definition of Appropriate Unit Local rules adopted by MMBA employers often state that the principal criterion for unit determinations is whether the unit proposed contains the broadest feasible grouping of positions that share an identifiable community of interest. Common subordinate factors include: (a) which unit will assure employees the fullest freedom in the exercise of rights; (b) the history of employee relations, in the unit, among other employees of the employer, and in similar public employment; (c) the effect of the unit on the efficient operation of the employer, and sound employer-employee relations; and (d) community of interest, including extent to which employees have common skills, working conditions, job duties, or similar educational requirements. A local rule requiring the broadest feasible grouping prevents undue unit proliferation and fragmentation. Because these criteria are akin to the statutory criteria under EERA section 3545(a), it is proper to rely on PERB precedent interpreting EERA and other PERB-administered acts when interpreting an MMBA employer’s local rules. (pp. 22-24.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; In General Community of interest comprises employee duties, skills, educational requirements, and working conditions, and focuses on inherent aspects of a position rather than employment terms and conditions that are changeable through collective bargaining. (County of Monterey (2022) PERB Decision No. 2821-M, p. 12.) Severance petition which sought to sever classifications from both professional and technical units cannot be appropriate merely because two classifications collaborate more closely with one another than they do with other classifications in their units. Such position would thus destabilize public sector labor relations by fragmenting public entities’ labor force into far more bargaining units than currently exist. Similarly, while public defenders’ and investigators’ skills are complementary and allow them to work toward a common purpose, that is not a basis for finding a community of interest that is so separate and distinct from the employees’ established units that collective bargaining is incapable of addressing the needs of a discrete minority within the existing unit. Moreover, educational requirements for public defenders and investigators are quite different and strongly undercut severance petitioner’s proposed unit. Comparable working conditions, common for professional and non-professional employees working in the same public agency departments, do not undercut the preference for the largest feasible unit with a community of interest, as it does not show that collective bargaining is incapable of adequately serving public defenders in the professional unit and investigators in the technical unit. (pp. 55-60.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; In General Bargaining unit history “is more important when employees have historically been in an established unit—such as when we consider a severance petition—because under those circumstances, maintaining continuity weighs against severance absent proof that collective negotiations are incapable of addressing the needs of a discrete minority within an existing unit.” (County of Monterey (2022) PERB Decision No. 2821-M, pp. 18-19; see also City of Pasadena (2021) PERB Decision No. 2788-M, p. 10 [same]; Los Rios Community College District (2018) PERB Decision No. 2587, p. 4, citing Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (1981) PERB Decision No. 165, p. 6 [“Negotiating history is of particular importance when considering a severance request, as ‘a stable negotiating relationship will not be lightly disturbed’”].) (pp. 48-49.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; In General “While employees have the right to choose which employee organization, if any, they want to represent them, they have no right to choose the bargaining unit in which their classification or position is placed.” (City of Pasadena (2021) PERB Decision No. 2788-M, p. 11; accord Regents of University of California v. Public Employment Relations Bd. (2020) 51 Cal.App.5th 159, 190 [affirming that employees have no “right to choose the bargaining unit in which their classification or position is placed”].) Rather, unit determinations flow from objective criteria, including the principal criterion of finding the largest feasible group with a community of interest. Unit determinations therefore are based on objective facts rather than on employees’ subjective sentiments, which may change from year to year or decade to decade. Otherwise, changing employee sentiments over time would lead to constantly shifting unit structures. Instead, changing employee sentiments can lead to decertification and/or change in which union represents a given unit. The severance inquiry does not turn on employee dissatisfaction. If it did, severance and unit proliferation would be pervasive. (pp. 40-41.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; In General A severance petitioner has the burden to show that the current unit structure is incapable of addressing unique interests of the classifications is seeks to sever. (Los Angeles Unified School District (1998) PERB Decision No. 1267, adopting proposed decision at pp. 55-56 [a “readily identifiable minority of unit members is not required to relinquish its issues regularly to the more powerful majority”].) Employees cannot meet this standard merely by showing a “history of dissension and lack of alternatives to mediate legitimate conflicts” marked by “two or three issues” that their union has “failed to address to [their] satisfaction.” (Id., adopting proposed decision at p. 58.) Even evidence that an incumbent union has provided poor representation does not indicate that the established unit structure neglects the needs of one sub-group, unless the evidence shows that representational efforts skew against the group in question and/or in favor of other groups. (City of Pasadena (2021) PERB Decision No. 2788-M, p. 12.) (pp. 32, 38.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; In General The “fullest freedom to exercise rights” factor dovetails with longstanding policy developed under PERB-administered statutes, providing employees “the ability to choose an organization which is an effective representative.” (Sweetwater Union High School District (1976) EERB Decision No. 4, p. 9.) Effective representation is “largely determined by the community of interest and established practices of the employees.” (Ibid.) Importantly, this factor has never assumed that smaller units, while having perhaps a greater internal community of interest, will result in more effective representation for employees. (Los Rios Community College District (2018) PERB Decision No. 2587, pp. 4-5.) Rather, in severance matters PERB has concluded that a stable negotiating relationship promotes effective representation, and considered whether under the existing unit structure, the incumbent representative is capable of effectively addressing competing bargaining interests. (Id. at p. 5.) To address this question, PERB has examined the parties’ negotiating history to determine whether the incumbent representative has historically neglected or ignored a minority’s interests. (Id. at pp. 5-6.) PERB has applied the same analysis in prior cases where the “fullest freedom” factor was present in a local agency’s unit determination rules. (See City of Pasadena (2021) PERB Decision No. 2788-M, pp. 11-13; see also City of Glendale (2021) PERB Decision No. 2773-M, pp. 29-30.) (p. 31.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; In General Severance is not appropriate merely because a small group of employees performing similar duties or related work have a community of interest with one another that is stronger than their community of interest with other employees in a larger, established unit. (See, e.g., Los Rios Community College District (2018) PERB Decision No. 2587, pp. 4-7 [rejecting severance petition seeking to remove police officers, police detectives, and college safety officers from established, larger unit of maintenance, operations, and public safety employees].) If a severance petitioner only needed to show that a small group had a stronger community of interest with one another than with the larger unit, that would be an easy standard to meet and would accordingly lead to unit proliferation. (Regents of the University of California (2010) PERB Decision No. 2107-H pp. 28-29.) Rather, a severance petitioner must show that its proposed new unit has a community of interest that is separate and distinct from the established unit to such an extent that collective bargaining is “incapable of addressing the needs of a discrete minority within the existing unit.” (City of Pasadena (2021) PERB Decision No. 2788-M, p. 10.) Absent such proof, PERB presumes that effective representation is possible even when a “pluralistic bargaining unit” includes a “diverse set of occupational groupings.” (Regents of the University of California (2025) PERB Order No. Ad-525, p. 26.) The subordinate factors’ relevance in a severance context is for determining whether a petitioner has satisfied its burden to establish that the petitioned-for classifications have such a distinct community of interest that collective bargaining can no longer address their interests within their initially-established units. (pp. 25-26.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1308.01000: REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE; In General Preferencing the largest feasible unit with a community of interest, the principal unit determination criterion, means that a severance petition fails unless the history of collective bargaining shows that the employees at issue in the severance petition no longer have a community of interest with their colleagues in the broader unit(s). Furthermore, a severance petitioner’s burden is significant not only because of the preference for larger units, but also based on an equally important preference for stability in labor relations. (Los Rios Community College District (2018) PERB Decision No. 2587, p. 4 [noting that “a stable negotiating relationship will not be lightly disturbed”]; City of Livermore (2017) PERB Decision No. 2525-M, adopting proposed decision at p. 38 [same].) (pp. 24-25.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1107.01000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Exceptions; Responses to Exceptions; Standing; Extensions of Time/Late Filing/Waiver PERB favors hearing cases on their merits (County of San Joaquin (2021) PERB Decision No. 2761-M, p. 21), and here SEIU did not waive its challenge to the County Civil Service Commission’s unit determination. (pp. 62-65.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25
2975M	County of Kern and Kern County Civil Service Commission 1107.01000: CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES;PROCEDURES BEFORE THE BOARD; Exceptions; Responses to Exceptions; Standing; Extensions of Time/Late Filing/Waiver Because no party excepted to the violations the ALJ found, the Board expressed no opinion on those issues and incorporated the ALJ’s corresponding remedy into the Board’s remedial order. (p. 3, fn. 3.) more or view all topics or full text.	50	46	07/31/25