Existing law, the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) , on and after January 1, 2013, requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with PEPRA, as specified. Among other things, PEPRA prohibits a public employer from offering a defined benefit pension plan exceeding specified retirement formulas, requires new members of public retirement systems to contribute at least a specified amount of the normal cost, as defined, for their defined benefit plans, and prohibits an enhancement of a public employee's retirement formula or benefit adopted after January 1, 2013, from applying to service performed prior to the operative date of the enhancement. PEPRA prohibits a public employer from offering a supplemental defined benefit plan if the public employer did not do so before January 1, 2013, or, if it did, from offering that plan to an additional employee group after that date. This bill would authorize a public employer, as defined, to bargain over contributions for supplemental retirement benefits administered by, or on behalf of, an exclusive bargaining representative of one or more of the public employer's bargaining units, subject to the limitations specified above.
(1) Existing law, the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013, establishes various limits on retirement benefits generally applicable to a public employee retirement system, as specified. Existing law requires a public employee who is a member of a public retirement system to forfeit accrued rights and benefits in the public retirement system if the individual is convicted of certain felonies, including for conduct arising out of or in the performance of their official duties, relating to salary, disability retirement, service retirement, or other benefits, or that is committed against a child, as specified. Existing law limits this forfeiture to rights and benefits earned or accrued from the earliest date of the commission of the felony. This bill would require a correctional officer or other prison staff member employed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who is a current member of a public retirement system, convicted of sexually assaulting an inmate within the prison system, to forfeit all rights and benefits in the public retirement system, as prescribed. The bill would also require a correctional officer or other prison staff member employed by the department who first becomes a member of a public retirement system on or after January 1, 2026, who is convicted of sexually assaulting an inmate within the state prison system, to forfeit all rights and benefits in the retirement system. The bill would establish procedures governing the forfeiture process, including authorizing a public retirement system to assess a public employer a reasonable amount for reimbursement of specified costs. The bill would require a public retirement system to implement these provisions in a manner that protects an innocent or former spouse and is consistent with existing law governing the division of community property. (2) Existing law provides the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with jurisdiction over prisons and institutions, including, among others, the California Correctional Institution in the City of Tehachapi and the Central California Women's Facility, and sets forth its powers and duties regarding the administration of correctional facilities and the care and custody of inmates. Existing law also authorizes the secretary of the department to construct and equip suitable buildings, structures, and facilities for, among others, the California Correctional Institution in the City of Tehachapi for the confinement of males under the custody of the secretary. This bill would require the department to construct and establish one new building with 100 additional single-cell housing units at the Central California Women's Facility state prison located in the City of Chowchilla for the confinement of women under the custody of the secretary. The bill would also require the department to install fixed cameras by January 1, 2028, in all designated locations that have been ordered by the court or the Legislature, install thermal sensor cameras that track body movements in inmate bathrooms, and eliminate solo shifts for correctional officers, in women's state prison facilities. The bill would also authorize a correctional lieutenant on the site of a state prison facility to grant permission to an inmate, upon the inmate's request, to be transferred to restrictive housing.
The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) to provide a defined benefit to members of the system based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. Existing law creates the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for purposes of PERS, including depositing employer and employee contributions. Under the California Constitution, assets of a public pension or retirement system are trust funds. The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) establishes a variety of requirements and restrictions on public employers offering defined benefit pension plans. In this regard, PEPRA restricts the amount of compensation that may be applied for purposes of calculating a defined pension benefit for a new member, as defined, by restricting it to specified percentages of the contribution and benefit base under a specified federal law with respect to old age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits. Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, creditable service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. This bill, for service performed on and after January 1, 2027, would prohibit the pensionable compensation for calendar year 2027 used to calculate the defined benefit paid to a new member of a retirement system subject to PEPRA who retires from the system from exceeding specified percentages of the contribution and benefit base under the specified federal law with respect to old age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits. The bill would make related, conforming changes to these provisions on pensionable compensation. The bill also would require a new member of STRS to be subject to specified limits of the Teachers' Retirement Law. PEPRA requires each retirement system that offers a defined benefit plan for safety members of the system to use one of 3 formulas for safety members, 2% at age 57, 2.5% at age 57, or 2.7% at age 57. This bill would establish new retirement formulas, for employees first hired on or after January 1, 2027, as 2.5% at age 55, 2.7% at age 55, or 3% at age 55, subject to certain exceptions. For new members hired on or after January 1, 2013, who are safety members, the bill would require employers to adjust the formulas for service performed on or after January 1, 2027, to offer the formula that has the same fraction at age 55 as the fraction at age 57 in the formula the employer offered pursuant to existing law. The bill would authorize a public employer and a recognized employee organization to negotiate a prospective increase to the retirement benefit formulas for safety members and new safety members, consistent with the formulas permitted under PEPRA, including the new formulas described above. This bill would authorize an employer and its employees to agree in a memorandum of understanding to be subject to a higher safety plan or a lower safety plan, subject to certain requirements, including that the memorandum of understanding is collectively bargained in accordance with applicable laws. By increasing the contribution to continuously appropriated funds, and by increasing expenditures from those funds, this bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law provides that a provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees that requires the expenditure of funds does not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. This bill, notwithstanding the above-described statutory provisions, would approve a memorandum of understanding entered into between the state employer and State Bargaining Unit 6, as of an unspecified date. The bill would provide that the provisions of the memorandum of understanding requiring the expenditure of funds will not take effect unless funds for those provisions are specifically appropriated by the Legislature. The bill would require the state employer and State Bargaining Unit 6 to meet and confer to renegotiate the affected provisions if funds for these provisions are not specifically appropriated by the Legislature. The bill would specify that the provisions of the memorandum of understanding requiring the expenditure of funds will become effective even if these provisions are approved by the Legislature in legislation other than the annual Budget Act.
The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. These provisions qualify this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law prohibits the boards of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) and the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) from making certain new investments or renewing existing investments of public employee retirement funds, including in a thermal coal company, as defined. Existing law provides that a board is not required to take any action regarding those investments unless the board determines in good faith that the action is consistent with the board's fiduciary responsibilities established in the California Constitution. This bill would request the University of California, Berkeley, Labor Center to conduct an independent study to analyze the extent of labor standards protections in California real estate and infrastructure development projects funded through the real asset portfolios of PERS and STRS. The bill would request that the study and a report of its findings be completed and provided to the Legislature and the Department of Finance by January 1, 2028, as specified.
Existing law grants current and former employees, or their representative, the right to inspect and receive a copy of personnel records maintained by the employer relating to the employee's performance or to any grievance concerning the employee. Existing law requires the employer to make the contents of those personnel records available for inspection, as specified, and makes it a crime for an employer to violate these requirements. This bill would provide that personnel records relating to the employee's performance include education and training records and would require an employer who maintains education and training records to ensure those records include specified information. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, contains various provisions that govern collective bargaining of local represented employees and delegates jurisdiction to the Public Employment Relations Board to resolve disputes and enforce the statutory duties and rights of local public agency employers and employees. Existing law requires the governing body of a public agency to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of recognized employee organizations. Existing law requires the governing body of a public agency, and boards and commissions designated by law or by the governing body, to give reasonable written notice, except in cases of emergency, as specified, to each recognized employee organization affected of any ordinance, rule, resolution, or regulation directly relating to matters within the scope of representation proposed to be adopted by the governing body or the designated boards and commissions. This bill would require the governing body of a public agency, and boards and commissions designated by law or by the governing body of a public agency, to give the recognized employee organization no less than 45 days' written notice before issuing a request for proposals, request for quotes, or renewing or extending an existing contract to perform services that are within the scope of work of the job classifications represented by the recognized employee organization, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would require the notice to include specified information, including the anticipated duration of the contract. The bill would also require the public agency, if an emergency or other exigent circumstance prevents the public agency from providing the written notice described above, to provide as much advance notice as is practicable under the circumstances. By imposing new duties on local public agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions for costs mandated by the state pursuant to this act, but would recognize that a local agency or school district may pursue any available remedies to seek reimbursement for these costs.
(1) Existing law provides that a provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees that requires the expenditure of funds does not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to provide a memorandum of understanding to the Legislative Analyst, who then has 10 calendar days from the date the tentative agreement is received to issue a fiscal analysis to the Legislature. Existing law prohibits the memorandum of understanding from being subject to legislative determination until either the Legislative Analyst has presented a fiscal analysis of the memorandum of understanding or until 10 calendar days have elapsed since the memorandum was received by the Legislative Analyst. This bill, notwithstanding the above-described statutory provisions, would approve provisions of the agreements entered into by the state employer and specified state bargaining units. The bill would provide that the provisions of the agreements that require the expenditure of funds will not take effect unless funds for these provisions are specifically appropriated by the Legislature. The bill would authorize the state employer or the bargaining units to reopen negotiations if funds for these provisions are not specifically appropriated by the Legislature. The bill would require the provisions of the agreement that require the expenditure of funds to become effective even if the provisions are approved by the Legislature in legislation other than the annual Budget Act. By approving provisions of the agreements that require the expenditure of funds, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law, for the 2026–27 fiscal year, continuously appropriates to the Controller from the General Fund unallocated special funds, including federal funds and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, and any other fund from which state employees are compensated, the amount necessary for the payment and compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by specified memoranda of understanding if the Budget Act of 2026 is not enacted by July 1, 2026. This bill would additionally include the memoranda of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 8 (effective July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2027, inclusive) and State Bargaining Unit 18 (effective July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2028, inclusive) . Existing law, for the 2027–28 fiscal year, continuously appropriates to the Controller from the General Fund unallocated special funds, including federal funds and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, and any other fund from which state employees are compensated, the amount necessary for the payment and compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by specified memoranda of understanding if the Budget Act of 2027 is not enacted by July 1, 2027. This bill would additionally include the memorandum of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 18 (effective July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2028, inclusive) . Existing law, for the 2028–29 fiscal year, continuously appropriates to the Controller from the General Fund unallocated special funds, including federal funds and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, and any other fund from which state employees are compensated, the amount necessary for the payment and compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by the memoranda of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 6 and State Bargaining Unit 16, if the Budget Act of 2028 is not enacted by July 1, 2028. This bill would additionally include the memorandum of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 18 (effective July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2028, inclusive) . (3) Existing law states that it is the policy of the state that the workweek of the state employee shall be 40 hours, and the workday of state employees 8 hours, except that workweeks and workdays of a different number of hours may be established in order to meet the varying needs of the different state agencies. Existing law also requires state employees in specified bargaining units, except as specified, from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, inclusive, to participate in the Personal Leave Program 2025 (PLP 2025) , either as required by an applicable memorandum of understanding reached or by the direction of the department for excluded employees, under which each employee receives a reduction in pay not greater than certain listed amounts in exchange for a specified number of hours per month of PLP 2025 leave credits. This bill would also require state employees in State Bargaining Units 8, 10, and 18 to participate in the PLP 2025, either as required by an applicable memorandum of understanding or by the direction of the department for excluded employees, as prescribed. Under the program, in exchange for a reduction in pay not greater than certain listed amounts, those employees would receive monthly PLP 2025 leave credits, subject to certain exclusions. (4) The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System for the purpose of providing public employees pension and other benefits, which are funded by employee and employer contributions and investment returns. Contributions and investment returns are deposited in the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for the payment of benefits and administration of the system. PERL vests management and control of PERS in its board of administration. PERL and labor agreements prescribe different normal rates of contribution for employees depending on bargaining unit, employer, and inclusion of service in the federal social security system, among other factors. Under PERL, effective July 1, 2021, the normal contribution rates for state miscellaneous or state industrial members who are represented by State Bargaining Unit 18 are adjusted in accordance with specified procedures based on changes in normal cost rates, as determined by the board. This bill would change the above-described effective date to July 1, 2027. The bill would also provide that, effective July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, specified employee contributions for state miscellaneous and industrial members represented by State Bargaining Unit 18 shall remain in place. Under PERL, effective July 1, 2021, the normal contribution rates for state safety members who are represented by State Bargaining Unit 18 are adjusted in accordance with specified procedures based on changes in normal cost rates, as determined by the board. This bill would change the above-described effective date to July 1, 2027. The bill would also provide that, effective July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, specified employee contributions for state safety members represented by State Bargaining Unit 18 shall remain in place. The bill would make other related and conforming changes to these provisions on normal cost rates. (5) The Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) , which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System, prescribes methods for calculating the state employer contribution for postemployment health care benefits for eligible retired public employees and their families and for the vesting of these benefits. PEMHCA establishes the Annuitants' Health Care Coverage Fund, which is continuously appropriated, for the purpose of prefunding health care coverage for annuitants, including administrative costs. PEMHCA requires employees in State Bargaining Unit 10 to prefund retiree health care and requires the state to make a matching contribution. PEMHCA suspended the employees' monthly contribution for prefunding other postemployment benefits for the 2020–21 fiscal year for State Bargaining Unit 10. This bill would suspend the employee and employer monthly contribution for prefunding other postemployment benefits for State Bargaining Unit 10, effective the first day of the pay period following ratification by both parties, for the 2025–26 and 2026–2027 fiscal years. PEMHCA requires certain state employees in the judicial branch to make contributions to prefund retiree health care based on a specified schedule and requires the state to make a matching contribution. This bill would suspend the employee and employer monthly contribution for prefunding other postemployment benefits for those judicial branch employees, effective July 31, 2025, for the 2025–26 and 2026–2027 fiscal years. PEMHCA requires employees in State Bargaining Unit 18 to prefund retiree health care and requires the state to make a matching contribution. PEMHCA suspends the employee and employer monthly contribution for prefunding other postemployment benefits for the 2025–26 and 2026–27 fiscal years. This bill would provide that, effective July 1, 2027, the amount of the employee and employer contributions required to prefund retiree health care shall be based on a specified schedule, beginning with 1.5% of pensionable compensation on July 1, 2027, and increasing to 4.5 % of pensionable compensation on July 1, 2029. Beginning July 1, 2030, the bill would require both the employer and employee contribution percentages to be increased or decreased to maintain a 50% cost sharing of actuarially determined normal costs, as prescribed. The bill would make various related and conforming changes to those provisions on retiree health care costs. (6) The Budget Act of 2025 makes various appropriations for the purpose of employee compensation. This bill would revise specified Budget Act items, for a total increase of $14,597,000, pursuant to agreements reached between the state employer and State Bargaining Units 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, and 21, in accordance with a specified schedule. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
Existing law gives public school employees the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board and gives the board specified powers and duties relating to employer-employee relations. Existing law authorizes the board to conduct studies relating to employer-employee relations, including the collection, analysis, and making available of data relating to wages, benefits, and employment practices in public and private employment, and to recommend legislation. This bill would specifically authorize the board to conduct employer-employee relations studies concerning the impact on public employees of net-zero carbon emissions initiatives, including collecting, analyzing, and making available related data.
Existing law declares the public policy of the state regarding labor organization, including, among other things, that it is necessary for a worker to have full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in state government as a means of resolving disputes and enforcing the statutory duties and rights of specified public employers and employees under various acts regulating collective bargaining. Under existing law, PERB has the power and duty to investigate an unfair practice charge and to determine whether the charge is justified and the appropriate remedy for the unfair practice. Existing law, the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) , establishes a comprehensive statutory scheme regulating unfair labor practices on the part of employers and labor organizations in industries affecting interstate commerce, and vests in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the power to conduct elections to determine employee representatives and to prevent unfair labor practices affecting commerce. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires that public records, as defined, be available to the public for inspection and made promptly available to any person. This bill would expand PERB's jurisdiction by authorizing a worker, to petition PERB to protect and enforce prescribed rights under specified circumstances, including if the worker is employed in a position subject to the NLRA but the NLRB has expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction. The bill would authorize PERB to, among other things, decide unfair labor practice cases pursuant to a specified timeline and order all appropriate relief for a violation, including civil penalties, as prescribed. In order to pursue relief from PERB, the bill would require a covered worker or their representative to file an unfair practice charge or petition that includes specified information, including, where applicable, the original charge or petition filed with the NLRB. The bill would require PERB to hold the supporting documentation and evidence confidential and maintain it as part of its investigatory file and would exempt this documentation and evidence from the California Public Records Act. If PERB determines, among other things, it has insufficient resources to process certain cases or doing so would prevent it from meeting specified statutory deadlines, the bill would require PERB to process and prioritize charges, as specified. The bill would also establish the Public Employment Relations Board Enforcement Fund (fund) in the State Treasury, would require the above-described civil penalties to be deposited into the fund, and would make moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature to PERB for the purpose of administering the above-specified provisions. The bill would authorize PERB to rely on its own decisions and precedent under the NLRA and would authorize review of its decisions by a state appellate court, as specified. Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, grants agricultural employees the right to form and join labor organizations and engage in collective bargaining, as specified, and prohibits agricultural employers and labor organizations from engaging in unfair labor practices. Those provisions establish the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) and empower the ALRB to prevent any person from engaging in those practices. Existing law establishes various definitions for these purposes. Existing law requires the ALRB to follow applicable precedents of the NLRA. This bill would specify that the ALRB has exclusive jurisdiction in all phases of the administration of the act, and to determine whether any person or entity meets one or more of those definitions. The bill would instead authorize the board to follow applicable precedents of the NLRA, but would not obligate the board to follow precedents where the ALRB deems it inappropriate to do so. This bill would make related findings and declarations and would make its provisions severable. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
