Public Sector Legislative Update
Assembly Member Dickinson introduced Assembly Bill (“AB”) 218 on February 4, 2013. AB 218 would prohibit the state and local agencies from asking an applicant for employment to disclose the applicant’s criminal history before the public employer has determined that the applicant meets the minimum qualifications of the job. Once the state or local agency has determined the applicant meets the minimum qualifications, however, the employer may “inquire into or consider an applicant’s criminal history . . . .” The full text of AB 218 may be viewed here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0201-0250/ab_218_bill_20130204_introduced.html.
Assembly Member Gray introduced AB 1181 on April 3, 2013. AB 1181 would amend Section 3505.3 of the MMBA to additionally require a local public agency to give reasonable compensated time off to representatives of employee organizations to testify or appear as the union’s designated representative at PERB proceedings or personnel commission matters. Section 3505.3 currently provides that public agencies must allow a reasonable number of representatives reasonable compensated time off when formally meeting and conferring with the public agency on matters within the scope of representation. The full text of AB 1181 may be viewed here: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB1181.
These bills are not yet law and may never be passed, or if they are, they may go on the books in a different form. However, to the extent these proposed-laws offer “food for thought” to the labor movement, or a glimpse of what may be to come, we provide the details.
Author: Sean Graham
