BILL NUMBER: SB 1718 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2008
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 13, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 8, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 23, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 8, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Senator Perata
FEBRUARY 22, 2008
An act to add Section 19827.4 to the Government Code, relating to
public employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1718, Perata. Public employment: State Bargaining Unit 2:
compensation.
The Ralph C. Dills Act permits state employees 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, as specified. Existing law permits an
employee organization to become the exclusive representative of an
appropriate unit for purposes of meeting and negotiating, as
specified. Existing law requires the Governor, or his or her
representative, as properly designated by law, to meet and confer in
good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of
employment with representatives of recognized employee organizations,
and to consider fully any presentation that is made by an employee
organization on behalf of its members prior to arriving at a
determination of policy or course of action.
Existing law requires the Department of Personnel Administration
to establish and adjust salary ranges for each class of position in
the state civil service, subject to specified merit limits. Existing
law requires the salary range to be based on the principle that like
salaries shall be paid for comparable duties and responsibilities. In
establishing or changing these ranges, existing law requires
consideration to be given to the prevailing rates for comparable
service in other public employment and in private business. Existing
law also requires the department, at least 6 months before the end of
the term of an existing memorandum of understanding or immediately
upon the reopening of negotiations under an existing memorandum of
understanding, to submit to the parties meeting and conferring and to
the Legislature, a report containing the department's findings
relating to the salaries of employees in comparable occupations in
private industry and other governmental agencies.
This bill would require the Department of Personnel Administration
to annually conduct a survey that would obtain specified information
regarding the compensation of certain legal professionals, including
attorneys employed by specified public entities and judges. The bill
would require the department to issue an annual report that would
include the data obtained from the surveys as well as specified
analyses. The bill would also require the report to be provided to
the Legislature, the Governor, and the exclusive representative of
State Bargaining Unit 2, no later than March 15 of each year. The
bill would specify that this report would satisfy the department's
reporting requirement to the parties meeting and conferring and to
the Legislature. The bill would specify that the department would
absorb the cost of preparing the surveys required by these provisions
from existing appropriations. The bill would make related
legislative findings and declarations regarding State Bargaining Unit
2.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19827.4 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
19827.4. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) The state's attorneys, administrative law judges, hearing
officers, and commissioners litigate in, and preside over, a vast
array of criminal and civil cases and issues with substantial public
safety, economic, social, and cultural impact on the people of
California. The state's ability to ensure public safety, protect its
fiscal resources, and defend its laws requires that it attract and
retain highly skilled and competent legal professionals.
(2) State law, the Ralph C. Dills Act, mandates collective
bargaining for state public employees in order to secure fair and
reasonable compensation and benefits. The state has divided its
employees into 21 bargaining units, combining all of its legal
professionals (attorneys, administrative law judges, hearing
officers, and commissioners) into Bargaining Unit 2.
(3) The California Supreme Court has found that for collective
bargaining to achieve fair and reasonable compensation and benefits,
state employees must be able to use all of the traditional tools
available to labor, including the ability to present a credible
threat of a strike or job action.
(4) The state's legal professionals are officers of the court and
have a unique legal and ethical duty to ensure the fair
administration of justice and to put the state's interests ahead of
their own.
(5) Existing law and the California Rules of Professional Conduct
prohibit an attorney from delaying a client's case or cause or
intentionally harming a client's case or cause in a dispute over
compensation.
(6) Unlike other state employees subject to collective bargaining
under the Ralph C. Dills Act, these legal and ethical obligations
prevent legal professionals employed by the state from striking for
better pay or otherwise engaging in any meaningful collective
bargaining.
(7) Ensuring that the state's legal professionals are compensated
at competitive rates compared to other relevant public sector
entities enables the state to effectively protect public safety,
defend public resources, and ensure the fair administration of
justice.
(8) For these reasons, it is critically important to conduct a
methodologically sound survey of the compensation of other comparable
public sector legal professionals, in order to provide the state
with an accurate assessment of the relevant labor market.
(b) To effectuate the intent of subdivision (a), with respect to
the state's attorneys, the Department of Personnel Administration
shall annually conduct a survey of the following public entities:
(1) The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.
(2) The Sacramento City Attorney's Office.
(3) The San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
(4) The Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
(5) The Oakland City Attorney's Office.
(6) The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
(7) The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.
(8) The San Diego County District Attorney's Office.
(9) The San Diego City Attorney's Office.
(10) The Fresno District Attorney's Office.
(11) The Fresno City Attorney's Office.
(12) The Habeas Corpus Resource Center.
(c) To effectuate the intent of subdivision (a), with respect to
the state's administrative law judges, hearing officers, and
commissioners, the Department of Personnel Administration shall
annually conduct a survey of the compensation of federal
administrative law judges in California and judges on the California
State Bar Court.
(d) The surveys conducted pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c)
shall be considered to fulfill the reporting requirements of Section
19826 and shall gather, at a minimum, the following data:
(1) The entire pay scale, including all steps and ranges, for the
attorneys employed by the entities in subdivision (b) and the judges
described in subdivision (c), from entry level to the highest
nonmanagerial judge or attorney position.
(2) All duty statements, minimum qualifications, time-in-grade
requirements, and promotional standards for all positions described
in paragraph (1).
(3) All compensation in addition to the base salary paid by the
employer to the positions listed in paragraph (1), including, but not
limited to, contributions to pensions, 401k, 457, or other
retirement plans, health care insurance contributions, and any other
allowances, premiums, or differentials available to the positions
described in paragraph (1).
(4) Complete and accurate descriptions of all benefits available
to the positions described in paragraph (1), including, but not
limited to, retirement plans, health care plans, and vacation, leave,
and holiday plans.
(5) The average salary actually paid to all attorneys or judges
employed in each surveyed entity.
(6) The salaries actually paid to incoming, entry-level attorneys
or judges employed by each surveyed entity, regardless of the entity'
s published entry-level salary.
(7) The number of attorneys or judges at each salary level within
each entity.
(8) The average years of postbar legal experience of attorneys or
judges at each salary level within each entity.
(e) The Department of Personnel Administration shall issue an
annual report, including all of the data described in subdivision
(d), as well as the following analyses:
(1) The average of the salaries actually paid to the highest paid
nonmanagerial attorneys or judges employed by all of the surveyed
entities.
(2) The average of the salaries actually paid to entry-level
attorneys or judges employed by all of the surveyed entities.
(f) The report described in subdivision (e) shall be provided to
the Legislature, the Governor, and the exclusive representative of
State Bargaining Unit 2, no later than March 15 of each year. The
report shall be accompanied by a declaration from the Director of the
Department of Personnel Administration certifying that the report is
true and accurate to the best of his or her knowledge.
(g) The Department of Personnel Administration shall absorb the
cost of preparing the surveys required by this section from existing
appropriations.