Board Continues to Improve Processing Times in FY 2020-2021

The 2020-2021 Fiscal Year has come to a close and ongoing efforts focused on case processing efficiency continue to result in improved timelines for PERB constituents. Below are some of the highlights:

In May of 2020, the Board announced that there were no cases that had been at the Board level awaiting a decision for longer than one year (see Board Docket at Lowest Level in Recent Memory), a significant improvement from prior years.  Currently, there are no cases before the Board that have been awaiting decision for more than six months from the time filings were complete. This is a far cry from July of 2018 when there were 51 cases that had waited at least six months, 39 of which had been waiting at least one year (15 for more than two years). See the Board’s current docket at https://perb.ca.gov/the-board/board-docket/.

PERB’s Office of General Counsel was able to reduce the number of cases in active investigation from 369 at the start of the fiscal year to 265 as the fiscal year concluded.

The Division of Administrative Law closed 169 cases in 2020-2021 and completed 77 hearings – an increase over the prior five-year averages in both categories (166 and 65 respectively).

PERB’s mediation division, the State Mediation and Conciliation Service (SMCS), helped the state’s public employers and public employees navigate sticky return-to- work issues. SMCS mediators successfully averted potential work stoppages throughout the state, working around the clock to reach mediated settlements.

The Division of Administration ensured that PERB staff had the equipment, resources, and support necessary to navigate the hybrid work environment, helping the PERB remain productive during COVID-19.

Additional detail on PERB’s activities over the past year will be provided in the 2020-21 Annual Report, due out in October. Annual Reports can be found at: https://perb.ca.gov/about/annual-reports/