Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process

Performance

 Policies establishing performance target goals and formulas are within the scope of bargaining. 232

Safety in the Workplace

 When a rule concerns human health and safety, it is within the scope of bargaining regardless of the number of unit members it affects, or of its materiality or significance. 233  Firefighter staffing levels are a mandatory subject of bargaining because they affect safety. 234

Drug Testing

 Mandatory drug testing is within the scope of representation, as it has the potential to affect the continued employment of employees subject to testing. 235  An employer cannot order a represented employee to submit to a drug test, for reasonable suspicion or because the employer has a special need to justify the testing, until the issue of mandatory drug testing has been submitted to the meet and confer process. 236

Civil Service Commission Rules

 Civil Service Commission Rules are a required subject of bargaining if they fall within the scope of wages, hours, or terms and conditions of employment. 237

Charter Amendments

 Charter cities and counties must bargain with unions regarding proposed charter amendments relating to matters within the scope of members’ representation by union. 238 An agency cannot circumvent its meet and confer obligation by using the public initiative process to submit a proposal to the voters that might otherwise have been rejected by the union. 239  For example, a County’s proposed charter amendment ballot measure related to the calculation of prevailing wage rates for County employees related to the mandatory subject of bargaining of wages and the County breached its duty to bargain in good faith by placing it on the ballot without exhausting the meet and confer process. 240  MMBA obligations also apply to any public officer’s official sponsorship of a public (or voter-sponsored) initiative. 241  A change in the practice of allowing police officers involved in a shooting incident access to an attorney before preparing a report is a mandatory subject of bargaining. 242  A policy prohibiting deputy sheriffs from collectively consulting legal counsel and/or labor representatives (“huddling”) following a deputy-involved shooting was found not to have a significant and adverse effect on wages, hours or working conditions. Since the policy’s Right to a Representative

Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 42