2005 California Government Code Sections 71600-71618 Article 1. General Provisions

71600.  This chapter may be cited as the Trial Court Employment
Protection and Governance Act.
71601.  For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
   (a) "Appointment" means the offer to and acceptance by a person of
a position in the trial court in accordance with this chapter and
the trial court's personnel policies, procedures, and plans.
   (b) "Employee organization" means either of the following:
   (1) Any organization that includes trial court employees and has
as one of its primary purposes representing those employees in their
relations with that trial court.
   (2) Any organization that seeks to represent trial court employees
in their relations with that trial court.
   (c) "Hiring" means appointment as defined in subdivision (a).
   (d) "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 trial court
and the recognized employee organization or recognized employee
organizations through interpretation, suggestion, and advice.
   (e) "Meet and confer in good faith" means that a trial court or
representatives as it may designate, and representatives of
recognized employee organizations, shall have the mutual obligation
personally to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party
and continue for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange
freely information, opinions, and proposals, and to endeavor to reach
agreement on matters within the scope of representation.  The
process should include adequate time for the resolution of impasses
where specific procedures for resolution are contained in this
chapter or in a local rule, or when the procedures are utilized by
mutual consent.
   (f) "Personnel rules," "personnel policies, procedures, and plans,"
and "rules and regulations" mean policies, procedures, plans, rules,
or regulations adopted by a trial court or its designee pertaining
to conditions of employment of trial court employees, subject to meet
and confer in good faith.
   (g) "Promotion" means promotion within the trial court as defined
in the trial court's personnel policies, procedures, and plans,
subject to meet and confer in good faith.
   (h) "Recognized employee organization" means an employee
organization that has been formally acknowledged to represent trial
court employees by the county under Sections 3500 to 3510, inclusive,
prior to the implementation date of this chapter, or by the trial
court under Rules 2201 to 2210, inclusive, of the California Rules of
Court, as those rules read on April 23, 1997, Sections 70210 to
70219, inclusive, or Article 3 (commencing with Section 71630) of
this chapter.
   (i) "Subordinate judicial officer" means an officer appointed to
perform subordinate judicial duties as authorized by Section 22 of
Article VI of the California Constitution, including, but not limited
to, a court commissioner, probate commissioner, referee, traffic
referee, juvenile referee, and judge pro tempore.
   (j) "Transfer" means transfer within the trial court as defined in
the trial court's personnel policies, procedures, and plans, subject
to meet and confer in good faith.
   (k) "Trial court" means a superior court or a municipal court.
   (l) "Trial court employee" means a person who is both of the
following:
   (1) Paid from the trial court's budget, regardless of the funding
source.  For the purpose of this paragraph, "trial court's budget"
means funds from which the presiding judge of a trial court, or his
or her designee, has authority to control, authorize, and direct
expenditures, including, but not limited to, local revenues, all
grant funds, and trial court operations funds.
   (2) Subject to the trial court's right to control the manner and
means of his or her work because of the trial court's authority to
hire, supervise, discipline, and terminate employment.  For purposes
of this paragraph only, the "trial court" includes the judges of a
trial court or their appointees who are vested with or delegated the
authority to hire, supervise, discipline, and terminate.
   (m) A person is a "trial court employee" if and only if both
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (l) are true irrespective of
job classification or whether the functions performed by that person
are identified in Rule 810 of the California Rules of Court.  The
phrase "trial court employee" includes those subordinate judicial
officers who satisfy paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (l).  The
phrase "trial court employee" does not include temporary employees
hired through agencies, jurors, individuals hired by the trial court
pursuant to an independent contractor agreement, individuals for whom
the county or trial court reports income to the Internal Revenue
Service on a Form 1099 and does not withhold employment taxes,
sheriffs, and judges whether elected or appointed.  Any temporary
employee, whether hired through an agency or not, shall not be
employed in the trial court for a period exceeding 180 calendar days,
except that for court reporters in a county of the first class, a
trial court and a recognized employee organization may provide
otherwise by mutual agreement in a memorandum of understanding or
other agreement.
71612.  Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, the
enactment of this act shall not be a cause for the modification or
elimination of any existing wages, hours, or terms and conditions of
employment of trial court employees.  However, except as to those
procedures, rights, or practices described in this chapter as minimum
standards, the enactment of this act shall not prevent the
modification or elimination of existing wages, hours or terms and
conditions of employment through the meet and confer in good faith
process or, in those situations in which the employees are either
exempted from representation, or are not represented by a recognized
employee organization, through appropriate procedures.
71614.  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as affecting the
interpretation or operation of Sections 70210 to 70219, inclusive,
for purposes of unification of the trial courts.
71615.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the effective
date of this act shall be its implementation date.
   (b) Representatives of a trial court and representatives of
recognized employee organizations may mutually agree to an
implementation date of this act later than the effective date of this
act.  However, if any provisions of this chapter are governed by an
existing memorandum of understanding or agreement covering trial
court employees, as to those provisions the implementation date shall
be either the date a successor memorandum of understanding or
agreement is effective or, if no agreement for a successor memorandum
of understanding or agreement is reached, 90 days from the date of
the expiration of the predecessor memorandum of understanding or
agreement, unless representatives of the trial court and
representatives of recognized employee organizations mutually agree
otherwise.
   (c) As of the implementation date of this chapter, all of the
following shall apply:
   (1) All persons who meet the definition of trial court employee
shall become trial court employees at their existing or equivalent
classifications.
   (2) Employment seniority of a trial court employee, as calculated
and used under the system in effect prior to the implementation of
this act, shall be calculated and used in the same manner by the
trial court.
   (3) A trial court employee shall have the same status he or she
had as a probationary, permanent, or regular employee under the
system in effect prior to implementation of this act.  A probationary
employee shall not be required to serve a new probationary period
and shall continue the existing probationary period under the terms
of hire.
   (4) Subject to the agreement of the county, and unless prohibited
or limited by charter provisions, the policies regarding transfer
between the trial court and the county that are in place as of the
implementation date of this act shall be continued while an existing
memorandum of understanding or agreement remains in effect or for two
years, whichever is longer, and any further rights of trial court
employees to transfer between the trial court and the county shall be
subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good faith at the
local level between representatives of the trial court and
representatives of recognized employee organizations and local
negotiation between the trial court and the county.  Subject to the
agreement of the county, and unless prohibited or limited by charter
provisions, the policies regarding the portability of seniority,
accrued leave credits, and leave accrual rates that are in effect
upon the implementation date of this act shall be continued if trial
court or county employees transfer between the trial court and the
county or the county and the trial court while an existing memorandum
of understanding or agreement remains in effect, or for a period of
two years, whichever is longer.  Any further right of trial court
employees to portability is subject to the obligation to meet and
confer in good faith between representatives of the trial court and
representatives of recognized employee organizations and local
negotiation between the trial court and the county.
   (5) Each trial court shall be deemed the successor employer of all
trial court employees in the county in which the trial court is
located.
   (d) In establishing local personnel structures for trial court
employees in accordance with this chapter, the trial court shall
comply with contractual obligations, and consideration shall be given
to minimizing disruption of the trial court workforce and protecting
the rights accrued by trial court employees under their current
systems.  However, prior contractual obligations and rights may be
reconsidered subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good
faith, provided both parties give consideration to past contractual
obligations and rights.
   (e) Unrepresented trial court employees are governed by a trial
court's personnel policies, procedures, and plans.  The
implementation of this act may not be a cause for changing a trial
court's personnel policies, procedures, and plans applicable to
unrepresented trial court employees except where required to bring
those policies, procedures, and plans into conformity with this
chapter.  Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act, a trial
court retains all existing rights with respect to revising its
personnel policies, procedures, and plans as applied to unrepresented
trial court employees.
   (f) Upon implementation of this act in a trial court, Sections
68650 to 68655, inclusive, and Rules 2201 to 2210, inclusive, of the
California Rules of Court, shall be inoperative as to that trial
court.
   (g) Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of subdivision (c), both of the
following shall apply:
   (1) Unless prohibited or limited by charter provisions, the
policies regarding transfer between either the trial court and the
county or the county and the trial court that were in effect as of
January 1, 2001, shall be continued while an existing memorandum of
understanding or agreement remains in effect or until January 1,
2005, whichever period is longer.  Thereafter, any rights of trial
court employees to transfer between the trial court and the county
shall be subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good faith
at the local level between representatives of the trial court and
representatives of recognized employee organizations, and local
negotiation between the trial court and the county.
   (2) Unless prohibited or limited by charter provisions, the
policies regarding the portability of seniority, accrued leave
credits, and leave accrual rates that were in effect on January 1,
2001, shall be continued if trial court or county employees transfer
between either the trial court and the county or the county and the
trial court while an existing memorandum of understanding or
agreement remains in effect, or until January 1, 2005, whichever
period is longer.  Thereafter, any right of trial court employees to
portability is subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good
faith between representatives of the trial court and representatives
of recognized employee organizations and local negotiation between
the trial court and the county.
71616.  If any provision of this chapter, or the application
thereof, to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or application of the
chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or
application and, to this end the provisions of this chapter are
severable.
71617.  To the extent this chapter applies to a municipal court, any
action by the municipal court specifying the number, qualification,
or compensation of officers or employees of the municipal court which
differs from that prescribed by the Legislature pursuant to Section
5 of Article VI of the California Constitution shall remain in effect
for a period of no more than two years unless prescribed by the
Legislature within that period.
71618.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the status,
rights, and protections provided to court employees under this
chapter constitute a matter of statewide concern.  Therefore, this
chapter is applicable to all counties, notwithstanding charter
provisions to the contrary.  In order to ensure that effective court
services are provided to all people of this state and to ensure
stable court employer-employee relations, it is necessary that this
chapter be applicable to all trial courts and court employees, as
defined in this chapter, wherever situated within the State of
California.