This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act.

The Legislature finds and declares that it is the purpose of this chapter to promote full communication between each employer and its employees by providing a reasonable method of resolving disputes regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment between the employer and public employee organizations. It is also the purpose of this chapter to promote the improvement of personnel management and employer-employee relations within the employer by providing a uniform basis for recognizing the right of its employees to join organizations of their own choosing and be represented by those organizations in their employment relations with their employer. It is further the purpose of this chapter, in order to foster

peaceful employer-employee relations, to allow the employees to select one employee organization as the exclusive representative of the employees in an appropriate unit and to permit the exclusive representative to receive financial support from those employees who receive the benefits of this representation.

For purposes of this chapter:

(A) Members of the Legislature.

(B) Appointed officers of the Legislature, such as the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly.

(C) Department or office leaders, such as chiefs-of-staff, staff directors, and chief consultants. “Department or office leader” means any supervisory employee having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibility to direct them, or effectively to recommend this action, if, in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of any authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.

(D) Confidential employees. “Confidential employee” means any employee who is required to develop or present management positions with respect to employer-employee relations or whose duties normally require access to confidential information contributing significantly to the development of management positions.

(E) Excluded employees.

collectively, exceed one-third of the total employee positions authorized by the employer.

includes employees and that has as one of its primary purposes representing these employees in their relations with the employer.

“employer” means the Assembly Committee on Rules or the Senate Committee on Rules, or their designated representatives, acting with the authorization of their respective houses.

commencing with the effective date of the memorandum of understanding. A maintenance of membership provision does not apply to any employee who within 30 days prior to the expiration of the memorandum of understanding withdraws from the employee organization by sending a signed withdrawal letter to the employee organization and a copy to the Controller’s office.

has been recognized by the employer as the exclusive representative of the employees in an appropriate unit.

Any person who willfully resists, prevents, impedes, or interferes with any member of the board, or any of its agents, in the performance of duties pursuant to this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

The initial determination as to whether charges of unfair practices are justified, and, if so, what remedy is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, is a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the board, except that, in an action to recover damages due to an unlawful strike, the board shall not award strike-preparation expenses as damages, and shall not award damages for costs, expenses, or revenue losses incurred during, or as a consequence of, an unlawful strike. Procedures for investigating, hearing, and deciding these cases shall be devised and promulgated by the board and shall include all of the following:

employer, has the right to file an unfair practice charge, except that the board shall not do either of the following:

to the grievance machinery solely for the purpose of determining whether it is repugnant to the purposes of this chapter. If the board finds that the settlement or arbitration award is

repugnant to the purposes of this chapter, it shall issue a complaint on the basis of a timely filed charge, and hear and decide the case on the merits; otherwise, it shall dismiss the charge. The board shall, in determining whether the charge was timely filed, consider the six-month limitation set forth in paragraph (1) to have been tolled during the time it took the charging party to exhaust the grievance machinery.

affirmative action, including, but not limited to, the reinstatement of employees with or without backpay, as will

effectuate the policies of this chapter, except that the board shall not issue any decision or order that intrudes upon or interferes with the Legislature’s core function of efficient and effective lawmaking or the essential operation of the Legislature.

Employees have 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. Employees also have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations, except that the parties are not precluded from agreeing to a maintenance of membership provision pursuant to a memorandum of understanding. In any event, employees

have the right to represent themselves individually in their employment relations with the employer.

Employee organizations have the right to represent their members in their employment relations with the employer, except that once an employee organization is recognized as the exclusive representative of an appropriate unit, the recognized employee organization is the only organization that may represent that unit in employment relations with the employer. Employee organizations may establish reasonable restrictions regarding who may join and may make reasonable provisions for the dismissal of individuals from membership. This section does not prohibit any employee from appearing on the employee’s own behalf in the employee’s employment relations with the employer.

All employee organizations have the right to have membership dues, initiation fees, membership benefit programs, and general assessments deducted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1152 and Section 1153 until an employee organization is recognized as the exclusive representative for employees in an appropriate unit, and then any deductions as to any employee in the negotiating unit are not permissible except to the exclusive representative.

deductions, including, if required by the recognized employee organization, machine readable data.

the Legislature.

good faith at the earliest practical time following the adoption of the policy or procedure.

proposals, and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation prior to the adoption by the state of its final budget for the ensuing year. The process should include adequate time for the resolution of impasses.

telephone number and email address, and home or personal telephone number and email address, if on file with the employer, for employees in the bargaining unit of the recognized employee organization.

If an agreement is reached between the employer and the recognized employee organization, the parties shall jointly prepare a written memorandum of understanding reflecting the terms of the agreement, which shall be presented, when appropriate, to the employer for adoption as a resolution.

A side letter, appendix, or other addendum to a properly ratified memorandum of understanding shall be expressly identified by the parties if that side letter, appendix, or other addendum is to be incorporated in a subsequent memorandum of understanding submitted to the employer for adoption as a resolution.

If the employer does not fully fund any provision of the memorandum of understanding that requires the expenditure of funds, either party may reopen negotiations on all or part of the memorandum of understanding. The parties are not precluded from agreeing to and effecting those provisions of the memorandum of understanding that do not require legislative adoption of a resolution.

for a new memorandum of understanding, the employer may implement any or all of its last, best, and final offer through adoption of a resolution. Implementation of the last, best, and final offer does not relieve the parties of the obligation to bargain in good faith and reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding if circumstances change, and does not result in a waiver of rights that the recognized employee organization has under this chapter.

If, after a reasonable period of time, the employer and the recognized employee organization fail to reach an agreement, the employer and the recognized employee organization may agree upon the appointment of a mediator mutually agreeable to the parties, or either party may request the board to appoint a mediator. When both parties mutually agree upon a mediator, the costs of mediation shall be divided one-half to the employer and one-half to the recognized employee organization. If the board appoints the mediator, the costs of mediation shall be paid by the board.

A reasonable number of employee representatives of recognized employee organizations shall be granted reasonable time off without loss of compensation or other benefits when formally meeting and conferring with the employer on matters within the scope of representation. This section applies only to employees, as defined by Section 3599.52, and only for periods when a memorandum of understanding is not in effect.

It is unlawful for the employer to do any of the following:

organization.

It is unlawful for an employee organization to do any of the following:

petition for a writ of extraordinary relief from the unit determination decision or order.

the board and thereupon shall have jurisdiction of the proceeding. The board shall file in the court the record of the proceeding, certified by the board, within 10 days after the clerk’s notice unless the time is extended by the court for good cause shown. The court has jurisdiction to grant to the board any temporary relief or restraining order it deems just and proper and in like manner to make and enter a decree enforcing, modifying, or setting aside the order of the board. The findings of the board with respect to questions of fact, including ultimate facts, if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, are conclusive. The provisions of Title 1 (commencing with Section 1067) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to writs, except where specifically superseded herein, apply to proceedings pursuant to this section.

a bargaining unit employees from both the Assembly and Senate. The board shall not separate employees into bargaining units solely based on political affiliation.

The employer shall adopt reasonable rules for all of the following:

Notwithstanding any other law, if a decision by an administrative law judge regarding the recognition or certification of an employee organization is appealed, the decision is the final order of the board if the board does not issue a ruling that supersedes the decision on or before 180 days after the appeal is filed.

functionally related services or work toward established common goals.

existing classification structure or existing classification schematic of dividing a single class or single classification schematic among two or more units.

employees.

than seven consecutive days have elapsed to enable the public to become informed, and to publicly express itself regarding the proposals, as well as regarding other possible subjects of meeting and conferring, and thereafter, the employer shall, in an open meeting, hear public comment on all matters related to the meet and confer proposals.

disaster, or other emergency or calamity affecting the state, and that is beyond the control of the employer or recognized employee organization, it must meet and confer and take action upon a proposal immediately and without sufficient time for the public to become informed and to publicly express itself. In those cases, the results of the meeting and conferring shall be made public as soon as reasonably possible.

This chapter does not apply Section 923 of the Labor Code to employees.

This chapter does not modify or eliminate any existing wages, hours, or terms and conditions of employment for employees. All existing wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment for employees shall remain in effect unless and until changed in accordance with the employer’s procedures or pursuant to a memorandum of understanding or agreement between the employer and a recognized employee organization.

If any provision of this chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect any other provision or application of this chapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this chapter are severable.

Expenses incurred by the employer in relation to a properly ratified memorandum of understanding pursuant to this chapter are subject to Section 7.5 of Article IV of the California Constitution.

Notwithstanding any other law, the expression of any views, arguments, or opinions, or the dissemination thereof in any form, by a Member of the Legislature or an employee, including any employee specified in subparagraphs (B) to (E), inclusive, of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3599.52, related to this chapter or to matters within the scope of representation, shall not constitute, or be evidence of, an unfair labor practice, unless the employer authorized the individual to express that view, argument, or opinion on behalf of, or authorized the individual to represent, the employer as an employer.

Notwithstanding Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 9070) of Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 2, or any other law, the employer is not required to disclose legislative records related to activities governed by this chapter, that reveal the employer’s deliberative processes, impressions, evaluations, opinions, recommendations, meeting minutes, research, work product, theories, or strategy, or that provide instruction, advice, or training to employees who do not have full collective bargaining and representation rights under this chapter.

Employees of the Legislature are exempt from civil service under the California Constitution. A memorandum of understanding entered into between an employer and a recognized employee organization shall not prohibit the employer from separating an employee if the Member of the Legislature to whom the employee is assigned is not reelected, resigns, or otherwise departs from the employer. The employer shall provide a transition period for an employee if the Member of the Legislature to whom the employee is assigned is not reelected, resigns, or otherwise departs from the employer. The terms of the transition period, which may include, but are not limited to, length of time or opportunities to apply for vacancies with the employer, are within the scope of representation and are subject to collective

bargaining.

This chapter shall become operative on July 1, 2026.