Chapter 3.04 — EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

A.

It is the purpose of this chapter to promote full communication between the county of Alameda and its employees regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. It is also the purpose of this chapter to promote the improvement of personnel management and employer-employee relations within the county by providing a uniform basis for recognizing the right of employees of the county to join organizations of their own choice and be represented by such organizations in their employment relationships with the county. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to supersede the provisions of existing state law, the Charter, ordinances and other rules of the county of Alameda which establish and regulate the civil service system. This chapter is intended, instead, to strengthen the Alameda County civil service system through the establishment of uniform and orderly methods of communication between employees and the county.

B.

Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted as precluding or discouraging the discussion of any and all matters of mutual interest, at the appropriate level, to the end that there be full understanding and cooperation among the parties and that problems be resolved expeditiously.

C.

Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted as precluding or discouraging the county from requesting assistance or advice, whether from outside experts or otherwise, in situations deemed appropriate by the board.

D.

If, after meeting and conferring for a reasonable period of time, representatives of the county and the recognized employee organization fail to reach agreement, the county and the recognized employee organization or recognized employee organizations together may agree upon the appointment of a mediator mutually agreeable to the parties. Costs of mediation shall be divided one-half to the county and one-half to the recognized employee organization or recognized employee organizations.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-1.01—7-1.04)

As used in this chapter:

"Board" means the board of supervisors of Alameda County, either in its capacity as the governing body of Alameda County or as the governing or legislative body of any authority, board, commission or district.

"Confidential employee" means any employee who is privy to the decision-making process of county management affecting employee relations.

"County" means the county of Alameda or any authority, board, commission or district of which the board of supervisors is the governing or legislative body.

"Director" means the director of human resources services of the county and/or their designee(s).

"Employee" means any person employed by the county, excepting those persons elected by popular vote or appointed to office by the Governor of California.

"Employee organization" means any organization which includes employees of the county and which has as one of its primary purposes representing such employees in their relations with the county.

"Management employee" means a department head, his chief deputy, and other positions as designated from time to time by the board of supervisors, after consultation in good faith with employee representatives.

"Mediation" means effort by an impartial third party to assist in reconciling a dispute regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment between representatives of the public agency and the recognized employee organization or recognized employee organizations through interpretation, suggestion and advice.

"Meet and confer" means the mutual obligation personally to meet and confer in good faith in order to exchange freely information, opinions and proposals, and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation.

"Peace officers" means full-time "peace officers" as that term is defined in Sections 830 et seq. of the Penal Code of the State of California.

"Professional employee" means an employee engaged in work requiring specialized knowledge and skills attained through completion of a recognized course of instruction, including, but not limited to, attorneys, physicians, registered nurses, engineers, architects, teachers and the various types of physical, chemical and biological scientists.

"Recognized employee organization" means an employee organization which has been certified pursuant to the provisions of Section 3.04.090 of this chapter as representing the employees in a particular representation unit.

"Regular part-time employee" means an employee who performs work for the county on a regular basis for a sufficient period of time during substantially every pay period as to demonstrate that such employee has a substantial and continuing interest in the wages, hours and working conditions of full-time employees.

"Representation unit" means a unit of county employees established pursuant to the provisions of Section 3.04.080 of this chapter.

"Representative" means a person or person designated and authorized by a recognized employee organization to represent its membership.

"Scope of representation" includes all matters relating to employment conditions and employer-employee relations, including, but not limited to, wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment;

except, however, that the scope of representation shall not include consideration of the merits, necessity, or organization of any service or activity provided by law or executive order.

"Supervisory employee" means an employee working in a classification in which a majority of positions: (1) require the incumbent, on a continuing basis, to assign work to and rate work performance of a subordinate employee, and (2) authorize the incumbent to initiate or review recommendations for dismissal or other disciplinary action.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-2.01—7-2.17)

(Ord. No. 2020-62, § 1, 11-24-20)

A.

Employees shall 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.

B.

Employees shall have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations.

C.

Employees shall have the right to represent themselves individually in their employer-employee relations with the county except on matters met and conferred upon by the recognized employee organization representing the representation unit in which their positions are included.

D.

Neither county nor employee organizations shall interfere with, intimidate, restrain, coerce or discriminate against employees because of the exercise of rights under this section.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-3.01—7-3.04)

County may, without meeting and conferring, determine the nature, extent, merits, necessity, organization and staffing of any service or activity of the county and exercise any other rights, duties or obligations conferred by law.

(Prior admin. code § 7-4.01)

A.

Recognized employee organizations shall have the right to meet and confer with the board or, at the board's discretion, with a designated representative of the board, or his senior assistants. Recognized employee organizations shall be advised of the name and address of the board's representative.

B.

Except in cases of emergency as provided in subsection C of this section, the board shall give reasonable written notice 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 board and shall give such recognized employee organization an opportunity to meet with the board.

C.

In cases of emergency when the board determines that an ordinance, rule, resolution or regulation must be adopted immediately without prior notice or meeting with a recognized employee organization, the board shall provide such notice and opportunity to meet at the earliest practicable time following the adoption of such ordinance, rule, resolution or regulation.

D.

In order to assist employee organizations in the collection of dues, such organizations shall have the right to have members authorize dues deduction from their salaries for payment directly to the employee organization, upon the following terms and conditions:

1.

Applications for deduction of dues or revocation of such deduction shall be made in a form approved by the county, executed by the employee;

2.

The sums to be deducted shall not include initiation fees, special assessments or fines;

3.

Any employee may revoke his dues deduction authorization effective the next succeeding pay period;

4.

County reserves the right to suspend or terminate the deduction of dues in the event that the employee organization or its members engage in unlawful concerted activities; and

5.

In the event that the board certifies an employee organization as the recognized employee organization for a representation unit, no other organization representing employees within the unit shall have the right to have such employees authorize dues deduction under this subsection and all existing dues deduction authorizations of such employees shall terminate effective the pay period next succeeding the certification of the recognized employee organization; provided, however, that the recognized employee organization may request the board to extend, or subsequently to revoke, the dues deduction provisions set forth in this subsection to other organizations representing employees within the representation unit, with regard to such employees, and the board shall consider and determine each such request.

E.

Each county department or agency shall post within the employee work or rest area a written notice which sets forth (1) the classifications included within each representation unit which includes any classification existing in the department or agency, and (2) the name and address of the recognized employee organization for each such unit. The department or agency shall also give a written notice to persons newly employed in representation unit classification which notice shall contain the name and address of the employee organization recognized for such unit.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-5.01—7-5.05)

A.

Management and confidential employees shall not represent any employee organization which represents other than management and confidential employees of the county on matters within the scope of representation.

B.

Professional employees shall not be denied the right to be represented separately from nonprofessional employees by a professional employee organization consisting of such professional employees.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-6.01—7-6.02)

A.

Employee organizations shall register with the director within thirty (30) days following the effective date of this section, or prior to representing their membership in their employee relations with the county, whichever shall last occur, and shall thereafter report to the director in writing any changes in the facts submitted in the registration within thirty (30) days of the occurrence of the change.

B.

No employee organizations shall have rights under this section unless and until it has been registered with the director.

C.

The registration shall consist of:

1.

The name and address of the employee organization;

2.

A list of the officers and principal representatives of the employee organization;

A statement that the employee organization includes employees within its membership;

4.

A statement that the employee organization has, as one of its primary purposes the function of representing employees in their relations with the county;

5.

The designation of two or more persons and their addresses of whom notice, sent by United States mail, will be deemed sufficient notice on the employee organization for any purpose; and

6.

A statement that the employee organization has no restriction on membership based on race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age or citizenship; and that it has a positive program for making members of minority groups aware of employment opportunities within its jurisdiction, and that it will work with the county to increase recruitment of such minorities in the county service.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-7.01—7-7.03)

A.

Representation units shall be established by the board only following submission of requests as hereinafter set forth and submission to the board of recommendations by the director.

B.

Employees or employee organizations may request of the board the establishment of a particular representation unit by listing classifications and positions to be included and submitting a petition signed by at least one-third of the full-time regular and probationary employees within the proposed representation unit, or a showing that, as of the last regular payroll, at least fifty (50) percent of the employees within the proposed representation unit had executed dues deduction authorizations in favor of the employee organization requesting the establishment of the unit.

C.

The director shall verify all petitions and, upon verification, shall within a reasonable time give notice to the employees within the proposed representation unit of the contents of the petition.

D.

Employees within the proposed representation unit shall have ten days from the date of notification to submit petitions requesting changes in the proposed representation unit. Such petitions must be signed by at least one-third of the employees within the proposed modified representation unit.

E.

The director, after consultation with interested employees or their representatives, shall make a recommendation to the board concerning the proposed representation unit, and may recommend a representation unit other than that proposed. No single classification of county employee shall be included in more than one representation unit. Management and confidential employees and classifications having a majority of supervisory employees shall not be included in a representation unit containing classifications having a majority of nonmanagement, nonconfidential and nonsupervisory employees, respectively. The director shall be guided by the policy of the board that any single representation unit shall encompass as many position classifications as possible consistent with the full use by employees of the privileges of organization and representation established by this section. Within the limits of this policy, criteria used in recommending representation units may include, but shall not be limited to, such factors as community of interest among employees, history of representation and the general field of work. No unit shall be established solely on the basis of the extent to which employees in the proposed unit have previously organized.

F.

Petitions for changes in representation units may be submitted not sooner than two years following designation of the representation unit by the board, except that in the event that the end of such two-year period shall occur during the months of April, May or June of any year, such petitions may be submitted on or after December 1st of the preceding year.

G.

For the purpose of this section, only full-time and regular part-time provisional, probationary and regular employees shall be eligible to sign petitions for the establishment of representation units, and, when dues deduction authorizations are submitted as the showing of employee interest, only the dues deduction authorizations of such employees will be considered.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-8.01—7-8.07)

A.

An employee organization shall be considered for certification as a recognized employee organization by the board following the submission of a request for recognition accompanied by, or in the form of, a petition indicating that at least one-third of the employees within the proposed or existing representation unit desire the petitioning employee organization to be their sole representative, or said request may, in the alternative, be accompanied by a showing that, as of the last regular payroll, over fifty (50) percent of the employees within the representation unit have executed dues deduction authorizations in favor of the employee organization requesting recognition.

B.

The director shall verify each petition or dues deduction showing and following verification shall within a reasonable time give notice to all employees within the proposed or existing representation unit, and all employee organizations, of the contents of the request.

C.

Any other employee organization seeking certification as a recognized employee organization to represent the employees of a proposed or existing representation unit for which a request has been submitted and verified pursuant to subsection A and B of this section may, within fifteen (15) days of the date of notice given pursuant to subsection B of this section, request the board for recognition accompanied by, or in the form of, a petition indicating at least one-quarter of the employees within the proposed or existing representation unit desire the petitioning employee organization to be their sole representative, or said request may, in the alternative, be accompanied by a showing that, as of the last regular payroll, at least fifty (50) percent of the employees within the representation unit have executed dues deduction authorizations in favor of the employee organization requesting recognition.

D.

Other employees within a proposed or existing representation unit for which a request has been submitted and verified may, within fifteen (15) days following notice that a request for certification has been submitted and verified, submit a petition on their own indicating that at least one-third of the employees within such unit desire not to be represented by a recognized employee organization.

E.

In the event that a request for recognition is accompanied or in the form of a petition executed by over fifty (50) percent of the employees within the unit and no challenging petition is filed within fifteen (15) days following the date of notice, the director, in his discretion, shall either cause a secret election to be conducted as provided in subsection F of this section or refer the petition to the board, which shall certify the petitioning employee organization as the recognized employee organization for the representation unit.

F.

Except when recognition has been extended by the board as provided in subsection E of this section, the director, upon verifying all petitions or showings of dues deduction authorizations, shall cause a secret election to be conducted or supervised by an agency independent of the county wherein the employees of the representation unit shall be given the opportunity to choose among the petitioning employee organizations and no organization whether or not a petition has been submitted pursuant to subsection D of this section. Employees within the representation unit on the payroll immediately preceding the election shall be entitled to vote.

The board shall certify as the recognized employee organization that organization, if any, receiving a majority of ballots cast in a valid election, or, in the event that a majority of such ballots cast is for no organization, the board shall certify that no recognized employee organization represents the employees within the representation unit. If none of the choices on the ballot receives a majority of the ballots cast, a run-off election shall be held between the choices receiving the two highest number of votes. The board shall certify as the recognized employee organization for the representation unit the choice receiving the most votes in a valid election, or shall certify that no recognized employee organization represents the employees within the representation unit. For any election to be valid, at least fifty (50) percent of the eligible voters must vote.

G.

Requests for certification as a recognized employee organization may be submitted not sooner than two years following the certification that the representation unit shall not be represented by a recognized employee organization.

H.

A request for decertification of a recognized employee organization, or for the certification of an employee organization other than the organization currently certified, must be accompanied by or in the form of a petition executed by at least one-third of the employees within the representation unit. The board may also initiate a decertification proceeding where, because of substantial changes in county functions, organizational structure or job classifications within the representation unit, it appears that the recognized employee organization no longer retains significant support among employees within the representation unit. No decertification petition under this subsection shall be filed earlier than two years following certification of the recognized employee organization or earlier than one hundred twenty (120) days and no later than ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the period of time covered by a memorandum of understanding. The provisions of subsections B, C and D of this section shall apply to a proceeding under this subsection. The director shall cause a secret election to be conducted or supervised by an agency independent of the county wherein the employees within the representation unit on the payroll immediately preceding the election shall be entitled to vote. The recognized employee organization shall be decertified or changed by the board only if a majority of those casting valid ballots in an election vote for decertification or change.

I.

For the purposes of this section, only full-time and regular part-time provisional, probationary and regular employees shall be eligible to sign representation petitions or to vote in representation elections. When dues deduction authorizations are submitted as the showing of employee interest, only the dues deduction authorizations of such employees will be considered.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-9.01—7-9.09)

A.

The designated representative of the board shall meet and confer with representatives of recognized employee organizations on matters within the scope of representation.

B.

Unless otherwise mutually agreed, meetings between the designated representative of the board and representatives of recognized employee organizations on the subject of salaries and/or fringe benefits shall take place during the months of January, February, March and April.

C.

Recognized employee organizations and the board shall make timely requests in writing to meet with designated representatives, including therein a list of the matters to be discussed.

D.

All meetings shall occur at county facilities, unless otherwise mutually agreed.

E.

If the subject of a meeting affects more than one representation unit, the designated representative of the board may require a joint meeting with some or all of the recognized employee organizations affected.

F.

If agreement is reached between the designated representative of the board and a recognized employee organization or recognized employee organizations, they shall jointly prepare and sign a written memorandum of such understanding, which shall not be binding. The memorandum shall then be presented to the board for determination.

G.

Unless otherwise mutually agreed between the designated representative of the board and the recognized employee organization, no more than two county employees, who are representatives of each recognized employee organization, shall be granted reasonable time off without loss of compensation or other benefits when formally meeting and conferring with the designated representatives of the board on matters within the scope of representation; provided, however, that when such matters affect a majority of recognized employee organizations, the recognized employee organizations having the largest and second largest memberships among county employees, as indicated by current dues deduction authorizations, shall be entitled to have two additional county employee representatives and one additional county employee representative, respectively, and any recognized employee organization which represents four or more representation units may have one additional county employee representative, said additional representative or representatives to be granted reasonable time off without loss of compensation or other benefits.

H.

Timely requests in writing for reasonable time off for the purpose of subsection G of this section shall be submitted to the employee's department head or his designated representative. Such requests shall include:

1.

The name of the employee;

2.

The name of the organization represented; and

The time, place, nature and estimated duration of the meeting.

Any such request may be denied by the department head on the basis of an operational emergency, the existence of which shall be reported by the department head to the designated representative of the board, who shall then contact the representative of the recognized employee organization, so that the meeting may be rescheduled, if the recognized employee organization so desires.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-10.01—7-10.08)

A.

Reasonable space shall be allowed on bulletin boards as specified by department heads for use by employees and employee organizations to communicate with departmental employees. Material shall be posted upon the bulletin board space as designated and not upon walls, doors, file cabinets or any other place. Posted material shall not be obscene, defamatory or of a partisan political nature, nor shall it pertain to public issues which do not involve the county or its relation with county employees. All posted material shall bear the identity of the sponsor, shall be neatly displayed and shall be removed when no longer timely.

B.

County facilities may be made available upon timely application for use by employees and employee organizations. Such use shall not occur during regular office hours, other than the lunch period. Application for such use shall be made to the management person under whose control the facility is placed.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-11.01—7-11.02)

A.

Any authorized representative of a recognized employee organization shall have the right to contact individual employees working within the representation unit represented by his organization in county facilities during business hours on matters within the scope of representation providing prior arrangements have been made for each such contact with the department head or his designated representative who shall grant permission for such contact if, in his judgment, it will not disrupt the business of the work unit involved. When contact on the work location is precluded by confidentiality of records, or of work situation, health and safety of employees or the public, or by disturbance to others, the department head or his representative shall have the right to make other arrangements for a contact location removed from the work area.

B.

Meetings of a representative of a recognized employee organization and a group of employees shall not be permitted during working hours, except as provided in Chapter 3.44 of this code. The department head or his designated representative may, upon timely application, allow meetings of a representative of a recognized employee organization and a group of employees during the lunch period in county facilities and at convenient dates.

C.

No contacts shall be permitted during working hours with employees regarding membership, collection of monies, election of officers or other similar internal employee organization business.

D.

Unless otherwise agreed, representatives or employees of employee organizations shall not be permitted to attend meetings or conferences called by departmental personnel to attend to matters arising out of the normal course of department activities.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-12.01—7-12.04)

A.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to deny any person, organization or employee any rights granted by federal, state or local law or Charter provision.

B.

The provisions of this chapter are intended to be consistent with the provisions of Chapter 10, Division 4, Title 1 (Sections 3500, et seq.) of the Government Code of the state of California.

C.

If any provision of this chapter or the application of such provision to any person, organization, employee or circumstance shall be held to be invalid, the remainder of this chapter or the application of such provision to persons, organizations, employees, or circumstances other than those being held invalid shall not be affected thereby.

D.

Subject to the limitations pertaining to supervisory employees and representation units contained in Section 3.04.080E nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit two or more employee organizations from acting jointly, as a single organization, to register, to petition for a representation unit, or to petition for certification as a recognized employee organization, and if certified, to represent the employees within the representation unit.

E.

It is recognized that the provisions of this chapter may require amendments from time to time. The board, or its representative, shall consult with employee organizations prior to enacting such amendments.

(Prior admin. code §§ 7-13.01—7-13.05)