THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 1033

Author: Cooper (D)

Amended: 5/16/19 in Assembly

Vote: 21

SENATE LABOR, PUB. EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/26/19

AYES: Hill, Morrell, Jackson, Mitchell, Pan

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/30/19

AYES: Portantino, Bates, Bradford, Durazo, Hill, Jones, Wieckowski

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/28/19 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: State employment: new employees: information

SOURCE: Union of American Physicians and Dentists/AFSCME 206

DIGEST:

This bill requires state agencies to provide a job applicant with documents explaining the benefits of the job and of state employment generally before offering the applicant employment.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Authorizes the head of each department, with the approval of the Governor, to appoint such officers and employees as are necessary; and to prescribe their duties, and fix their salaries in accordance with classifications made by the State Personnel Board, except as otherwise provided by law (Government Code §11154).
2. Requires public employers, as specified, to provide the appropriate union mandatory access to its new employee orientations, as specified, to provide new employees’ information about their rights under the civil service and specified collective bargaining statutes (GC 3555 et seq.).
3. Requires public employers to meet and confer with unions, as specified, concerning the content of the mass communication relating to the dissemination of mass communications to public employees or applicants to be public employees concerning public employees’ rights to join or support an employee organization, or to refrain from joining or supporting an employee organization (GC 3553).
4. Requires the public employer to distribute to the public employees, in addition to, and at the same time as, its own mass communication, a communication of reasonable length provided to the public employer by the exclusive representative if the parties cannot agree on the content of a public employer’s mass communication covered by this section, and if the public employer still chooses to disseminate the mass communication. However, this requirement shall not apply to a public employer’s distribution of a communication concerning public employee rights that adopted for employee orientation the Public Employment Relations Board or the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR), as specified. (GC 3553).
5. Defines a “mass communication,” as a written document, or script for an oral or recorded presentation or message, that is intended for delivery to multiple public employees (GC 3553).
6. Establishes CalHR, which is responsible for all matters relating to state employee salaries, benefits, job classification, civil rights, training, exams, and recruitment and retention (GC 19815 et seq.).

This bill:

1. Requires an appointing power, before offering employment to an applicant, to provide the applicant with an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service, as specified.
2. Requires a formal employment offer to contain a written memorialization document acknowledging that the applicant received these materials before accepting employment.
3. Requires CalHR to create documents for dissemination to applicants regarding the benefits of state service before accepting appointment. These documents shall include the following:
   1. A summary of the applicable civil service position, with salary ranges and steps within them, as specified.
   2. Information describing where on CalHR’s Internet Web site the applicant may find information on retirement benefits and civil services benefits, as specified.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 866 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Chapter 53, Statutes of 2018), a Budget Trailer Bill, included provisions relating to new employee orientation and the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or writings of public officials and agencies, as specified.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in unknown annual printing and personnel costs, likely in excess of $50,000 across all state agencies, to implement the provisions of the bill. Specifically, CalHR would incur costs to develop the information required by the bill, have it printed and provide it.

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/30/19)

Union of American Physicians and Dentists/AFSCME 206 (source)

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

California Association of Professional Scientists

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/30/19)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Union of American Physicians and Dentists/AFSCME 206:

AB 1033 is focused on ensuring “that individuals who are offered employment by a state agency are provided an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service as well as provided a written memorialization acknowledging that they received these materials before accepting employment.”

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/28/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Flora, Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooley, Eggman, Frazier, Eduardo Garcia, Gray, Ting

Prepared by: Glenn Miles / L., P.E. & R. / (916) 651-1556

9/1/19 14:15:13

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

AB 1033 (Cooper) - State employment: new employees: information

Bill Summary:

AB 1033 would require state agencies to provide a job applicant with documents explaining the benefits of the job and of state employment generally before offering the applicant employment.

Fiscal Impact:

This bill would result in unknown annual printing and personnel costs, likely in excess of $50,000 across all state agencies, to implement the provisions of the bill. Specifically, the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) would incur costs to develop the information required by the bill, have it printed and provide it (see Staff Comments).

Background:

Currently, prospective state hires are aware of a salary range, availability of a pension, and other employee benefits for a given position/classification via job descriptions. However, they are not apprised of the qualifications or evaluative criteria for each salary range for their classification, nor are they provided a clear explanation of such once hired. Further, they are not given an explanation of the benefits of being part of CalPERS or the benefits and protections provided by the State Civil Service Act. This could potentially lead to uncertainty or confusion when it comes to accepting a state department’s offered terms of employment.

Proposed Law:

This bill would do the following:

• Require an appointing power, before offering employment to an applicant, to provide the applicant with an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service, as specified.
• Require a formal employment offer to contain a written memorialization document acknowledging that the applicant received these materials before accepting employment.
• Require CalHR to create documents for dissemination to applicants regarding the benefits of state service before accepting appointment. These documents shall include (1) a summary of the applicable civil service position, with salary ranges and steps within them, as specified, and (2) information describing where on CalHR’s internet website the applicant may find information on retirement benefits and civil services benefits, as specified.

Related Legislation:

SB 866 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 53, Statues of 2018), a budget trailer bill, included provisions relating to new employee orientation and the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or writings of public officials and agencies, as specified.

Staff Comments:

By requiring that state agencies provide an applicant with an explanation of the benefits of state service (both general and those particular to applicable position) prior to offering employment, this bill would result in increased human resources costs beyond what would occur on the natural. There would be costs to CalHR to develop the information to meet the requirements of the bill, have it printed and provide it. In addition, departments would need to customize these materials specifically related to the positons they offer. The number of packets each department would need would depend on the number of employees to whom they offer employment each year. In addition, because benefits do not remain static over time, the materials would need to be updated on a regular basis.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT

Senator Jerry Hill, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: AB 1033 Hearing Date: June 26, 2019

SUBJECT: State employment: new employees: information

KEY ISSUE

Should state agencies provide a job applicant with documents explaining the benefits of the job and of state employment generally before offering the applicant employment?

ANALYSIS

Existing law:

1. Authorizes the head of each department, with the approval of the Governor, to appoint such officers and employees as are necessary; and to prescribe their duties, and fix their salaries in accordance with classifications made by the State Personnel Board, except as otherwise provided by law (Government Code §11154).
2. Requires public employers, as specified, to provide the appropriate union mandatory access to its new employee orientations, as specified, to provide new employees’ information about their rights under the civil service and specified collective bargaining statutes (GC 3555 et seq.).
3. Requires public employers to meet and confer with unions, as specified, concerning the content of the mass communication relating to the dissemination of mass communications to public employees or applicants to be public employees concerning public employees’ rights to join or support an employee organization, or to refrain from joining or supporting an employee organization (GC 3553).
4. Requires the public employer to distribute to the public employees, in addition to, and at the same time as, its own mass communication, a communication of reasonable length provided to the public employer by the exclusive representative if the parties cannot agree on the content of a public employer’s mass communication covered by this section, and if the public employer still chooses to disseminate the mass communication. However, this requirement shall not apply to a public employer’s distribution of a communication concerning public employee rights that adopted for employee orientation the Public Employment Relations Board or the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR), as specified. (GC 3553).
5. Defines a “mass communication,” as a written document, or script for an oral or recorded presentation or message, that is intended for delivery to multiple public employees (GC 3553).
6. Establishes the California Department of Human Resource (CalHR) which is responsible for all matters relating to state employee salaries, benefits, job classification, civil rights, training, exams, and recruitment and retention (GC 19815 et seq.).

This bill:

1. Requires an appointing power, before offering employment to an applicant, to provide the applicant with an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service, as specified.
2. Requires a formal employment offer to contain a written memorialization document acknowledging that the applicant received these materials before accepting employment.
3. Requires the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to create documents for dissemination to applicants regarding the benefits of state service before accepting appointment. These documents shall include the following:
   1. A summary of the applicable civil service position, with salary ranges and steps within them, as specified.
   2. Information describing where on CalHR’s internet website the applicant may find information on retirement benefits and civil services benefits, as specified.

COMMENTS

1. Need for this bill?

According to the Author,

Currently, prospective hires are aware of a salary range, availability of a pension, and other employee benefits for a given position/classification via job descriptions. However, they are not apprised of the qualifications or evaluative criteria for each salary range for their classification, nor are they provided a clear explanation of such once hired. Further, they are not given an explanation of the benefits of being part of CalPERS or the benefits and protections provided by the State Civil Service Act. This has resulted in employees not being fully aware of what they are actually signing up for when accepting a job working for the state.

Many state doctors are not fully apprised by the State about the current PEPRA benefits in their job interviews. Most are led to believe that their pension benefits (from six years ago) are still applicable. They are not applicable because pension laws were severely curtailed six years ago.

2. Proponent Arguments

According to the Union of American Physicians and Dentists,

AB 1033 is focused on ensuring “that individuals who are offered employment by a state agency are provided an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service as well as provided a written memorialization acknowledging that they received these materials before accepting employment.”

3. Opponent Arguments:

None on file.

4. Prior Legislation:

SB 866 (Chapter 53, Statues of 2018), a budget trailer bill, included provisions relating to new employee orientation and the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or writings of public officials and agencies, as specified.

SUPPORT

Union of American Physicians and Dentists/ AFSCME 206 (Sponsor)

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

OPPOSITION

None on file.

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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1033

Author:(Cooper)

As Amended Ver:May 16, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Requires a state employer as the appointing authority to provide an applicant for employment with an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service, both general and specific to the applicable position, in a form of materials, among other provisions.

Major Provisions

1. Requires the appointing state employer to provide an applicant with an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service in a form of materials before offering employment to the applicant.
2. Requires the department to create documents for dissemination to an applicant regarding the benefits of state service before accepting appointment. The documents must include a summary of the applicable civil service position with salary ranges and steps within them as well as information that describes where an applicant may find the following information on the California Department of Human Resources' (CalHR) internet website:
3. Benefits afforded by membership in the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and
4. Benefits and protections provided to public employees by the State Civil Service Act.
5. Provides that a formal offer of employment must contain a written memorialization document acknowledging that the applicant received these materials before accepting employment.

COMMENTS:

Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill.

According to the Author:

"Assembly Bill (AB) 1033 will ensure that individuals who are offered employment by a state agency are provided an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service. It will stipulate that the employer must provide a written memorialization acknowledging that they received these materials before accepting employment.

"This bill would clarify and mandate that departments provide applicants with (1) an explanation of the salary ranges and intermediate steps within those ranges, (2) the benefits afforded through being in CalPERS, and (3) the benefits and protections provided to public employees by the State Civil Service Act.

"A clear explanation of the salary ranges, benefits, retirement package, and protections afforded to state civil service employees—all work to empower applicants to make the most informed decision about their future, while also laying a foundation of trust and honesty between the employee and the employer."

Arguments in Support:

According to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, "[s]everal reports point to a disappointing reality that disparities in salaries still exist among people of color and women. In California, the state civil service has evidence of [inequities] in their hiring process. According to a 2016 Statewide Workforce planning Report, what contributes to disparities in civil service is that new hires are not given adequate benefits information, which leads to disadvantages in negotiating salaries.

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill would result in unknown, but potentially significant state costs. Costs are likely to be minor for CalHR to develop a boilerplate document with information on where specified information is on the CalHR website. However, costs could be significant for CalHR to develop salary range documents specific to each classification. These costs could be reduced if CalHR is able to simply refer to existing online materials to satisfy the requirements of this bill.

VOTES:

ASM PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT: 7-0-0

YES: Rodriguez, Voepel, Cervantes, Cooley, Cooper, Fong, O'Donnell

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

UPDATED:

VERSION: May 16, 2019

CONSULTANT: Michael Bolden / P.E. & R. / (916) 319-3957 FN: 0000488

Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1033

Author:(Cooper) – As Introduced Ver:February 21, 2019

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires a state employer to provide an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service – including the salary ranges and intermediate steps within those ranges, public retirement benefits and the benefits and protections provided by the State Civil Service Act – to a job applicant prior to an offer of employment. The California Department to Human Resources (CalHR) must create these materials and a formal offer of employment must include a written acknowledgment that the applicant received them.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Unknown, but potentially significant costs across all state employers. While state employers already provide some of this information to new employees, AB 1033 will have the practical impact of requiring a redesign of any materials provided to new hires. Cost drivers will include:

1. Printing costs. If, for example, every one of the 27,366 civil service hires in 2017 received a 50-page packet, aggregate costs would be approximately $70,000 for 1.4 million pages. The total size of the packet is unknown, but could be large given that the varied benefits and protections granted to employees by the State Civil Service Act.
2. Personnel costs. There will be an unknown workload associated with developing the materials and ensuring that the packet meets the standards of this bill. One-time costs from this new workload could be significant, while ongoing personnel costs are likely to be minor.

COMMENTS:

1. Background. CalHR collects and reviews all employment forms used by state agencies for civil service employment and develops standard employment forms for general use. Moreover, CalHR posts online a range of information, including salary ranges, intermediate steps within those ranges, retirement policies and the benefits and protections provided to state employees under the Civil Service Act.
2. Purpose. According to supporters, AB 1033 will ensure that job applicants receive an explanation of a job’s protections and benefits. Supporters argue that this clear explanation will empower applicants to make informed decisions.
3. Equity in civil service. Supporters also point to salary disparities among people of color and women as another reason why AB 1033 is necessary. Their argument is that this information will provide applicants the information and tools necessary to negotiate a better employment outcome. However, it is unclear that this is a meaningful solution to the issue of equity in civil service: According to CalHR’s 2018 report on pay equity in state service, the most important driver of the public sector pay gap is an overrepresentation of men in high-paying occupations.

Analysis Prepared by: Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 3, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT

Freddie Rodriguez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1033 (

Author:Cooper) – As Introduced Ver:February 21, 2019

SUBJECT: State employment: new employees: information

SUMMARY: Requires a state employer as the appointing authority, to provide an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service before offering employment and, before the applicant accepts employment, there must be a written memorialization acknowledging that the applicant received specified materials, among other provisions. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the appointing state employer to provide a prospective employee with an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service in a form of materials, as prescribed, before offering employment to the applicant.
2. Provides that a formal offer of employment must contain a written memorialization acknowledging that the applicant received the materials, as prescribed, before accepting employment.
3. Requires the department to create appropriate materials for dissemination to an applicant, and that the materials relating to the benefits of state service must include, but not be limited to, the following:
4. An explanation of salary ranges and intermediate steps within those ranges, as prescribed;
5. Benefits afforded by membership in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS); and
6. Benefits and protections provided to public employees by the State Civil Service Act.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Provides, pursuant to Section 1 of Article VII of the California Constitution, that the civil service includes every officer and employee of the state except as otherwise provided and that, in the civil service, permanent appointment and promotion be made under a general system based on merit ascertained by competitive examination, and that tenure of civil service employment is subject to good behavior.
2. Establishes the California Department of Human Resource (CalHR) which is responsible for all matters relating to state employee salaries, benefits, job classification, civil rights, training, exams, and recruitment and retention.
3. Establishes, pursuant to Article VII of the California Constitution, the State Personnel Board which is responsible for enforcing civil service statutes, prescribing probationary periods and classifications, adopting other rules established by statute, and reviewing disciplinary actions.
4. Requires that the employment procedures of CalHR and each state agency conform to federal and state laws governing employment practices, including the use of employment forms.

In addition, CalHR and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing are required to work cooperatively to develop uniform employment forms where possible pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Service Act and coordinate their enforcement of the act.

1. Provides that, CalHR is responsible for the collection and review of all employment forms used by state agencies for civil service employment and for the development of standard employment forms for general use by all state agencies, and each state agency must use standard forms; however, nonstandard forms are permissible, as provided.
2. Provides several statutory frameworks under California law to provide public employees collective bargaining rights, govern public employer-employee relations, and limit labor strife and economic disruption in the public sector through a reasonable method of resolving disputes regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment between public employers and recognized public employee organizations or their exclusive representatives.

For state employees, the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) is the statutory framework that governs employer-employee relations.

1. Establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), a quasi-judicial administrative agency charged with administering the Dills Act, among other statutory frameworks for resolving disputes, and enforcing the statutory obligations and rights of public agency employers and employee organizations, but provides the City and County of Los Angeles a local alternative to PERB oversight.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is flagged as fiscal by Legislative Counsel.

COMMENTS: According to the author, “Assembly Bill (AB) 1033 will ensure that individuals who are offered employment by a state agency are provided an explanation of the benefits that accompany state service. It will stipulate that the employer must provide a written memorialization acknowledging that they received these materials before accepting employment.

‘This bill would clarify and mandate that departments provide applicants with (1) an explanation of the salary ranges and intermediate steps within those ranges, (2) the benefits afforded through being in CalPERS, and (3) the benefits and protections provided to public employees by the State Civil Service Act.

‘A clear explanation of the salary ranges, benefits, retirement package, and protections afforded to state civil service employees—all work to empower applicants to make the most informed decision about their future, while also laying a foundation of trust and honesty between the employee and the employer.”

1. Information Required by This Bill is Currently and Publicly Available

Relating to state employment, AB 1033 requires three items to be provided in advance of an offer and acceptance of employment. These items, as mentioned supra, are (a) an explanation of salary ranges and intermediate steps within those ranges, (b) benefits afforded by membership in CalPERS, and (c) benefits and protections provided to public employees by the State Civil Service Act. Information currently made available to employees, applicants and the public are discussed, in turn, below.

1. Explanation of Salary Ranges and Intermediate Steps within Those Ranges

Currently, via its website, CalHR publicly provides information regarding salary and civil service pay scales for state employees.^[1] This information is contained in the department’s State Civil Service Pay Scales Manual, which permits a prospective employee or the general public to find and view state employment opportunities and information regarding salaries, including by job description and civil service pay scales.

1. Benefits Afforded by Membership in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System

Also currently and publicly available via its website, CalHR provides information regarding retirement benefits through CalPERS.^[2] In addition to this information on its own website, a “button” link to the website of CalPERS also is provided for additional and detailed information relating to retirement benefits.^[3]

1. Benefits and Protections Provided to State Employees by the Civil Service Act

The department’s online HR Manual provides a plethora of information for employees and prospective employees relating to state employment.^[4] Information in this manual covers benefits and protections which include collective bargaining, discipline and layoffs.

1. Practical Challenges Other Than the Methods Currently Used to Disseminate the Information Required by this Bill

As stated supra, AB 1033 would require a state employer to provide an explanation of certain information to an applicant prior to offering employment, and the applicant accepting the offer of employment.

An abundance of relevant, detailed and helpful information currently is publicly available on CalHR’s website relating to the benefits of state employment. Thus, it goes to follow that since the information currently is publicly available online, prospective employees can review this information when considering employment with the state.

Determining the potential costs of a proposed measure is not within the jurisdiction of this committee. Nonetheless, as a practical matter for purposes of implementation as a policy matter appropriately before this committee, there likely is a potential significant cost to providing advance information to applicants other than the methods currently available and used by the department as previously discussed.

For purposes of broad dissemination, cost savings, transparency and efficiency, and considering advances in technology, information-sharing, and growing use of these advances, the department continues to review its methods to enhance and increase recruitment, retention, succession planning, providing information, and others to meet the needs of these changes and the economy.

1. Ensuring New Employee Onboarding Procedures and Practices

As previously discussed, the required information to be provided by this measure, as specified, is currently publicly available. However, while CalHR currently has procedures and practices related to the onboarding of new employees which includes providing this information, and obtaining a signed writing from the applicant affirming receipt of this information, it would not be uncommon nor inappropriate for such existing procedures and practices to be placed into law to ensure continuity and consistent use and compliance.

1. Comments by Supporters

According to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, “[s]everal reports point to a disappointing reality that disparities in salaries still exist among people of color and women. In California, the state civil service has evidence of [inequities] in their hiring process. According to a 2016 Statewide Workforce planning Report, what contributes to disparities in civil service is that new hires are not given adequate benefits information, which leads to disadvantages in negotiating salaries.

‘[This bill] hopes to end employment disparities in civil service by ensuring that new hires are made aware of all [of] their benefits. There can be no equal playing field in the workplace if people do not understand what they could possibly be entitled to.”

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (Sponsor)

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Michael Bolden / P.E. & R. / (916) 319-3957

1. http://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/salary-and-benefits.aspx ↑

2. http://www.calhr.ca.gov/retirees/Pages/retirement-benefits.aspx ↑

3. https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/active-members/retirement-benefits/service-disability-retirement ↑

4. http://hrmanual.calhr.ca.gov/Home/ManualItem ↑