CHAPTER 7. Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act [71600. - 71675.]

Chapter 7 added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 1010, Sec. 14.

§§ 71600–71675 · 68 sections

1. ARTICLE 1. General Provisions §§ 71600–71618 · 7 sections

   • § 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…
   • § 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…
   • § 71614 Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as affecting the interpretation or operation of Sections 70210 to 70218, inclusive, for purposes of unification of…
   • § 71615 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the effective date of this section shall be January 1, 2004. (b) Representatives of a trial court and…
   • § 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…
   • § 71618 The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the status, rights, and protections provided to court employees under this chapter constitute a matter of…
2. ARTICLE 2. Authority to Hire, Classification, and Compensation §§ 71620–71629 · 13 sections

   • § 71620 (a) Each trial court may establish such job classifications and may appoint such trial court officers, deputies, assistants, and employees as are deemed…
   • § 71622 (a) Each trial court may establish and may appoint any subordinate judicial officers that are deemed necessary for the performance of subordinate judicial…
   • § 71622.5 (a) The Legislature hereby declares that due to the need to implement the 2011 Realignment Legislation addressing public safety (Chapter 15 of the Statutes of…
   • § 71623 (a) Each trial court may establish a salary range for each of its employee classifications. Considerations shall include, but are not limited to, local market…
   • § 71623.5 (a) As of July 1, 2001, trial courts shall provide workers’ compensation coverage for trial court employees under a workers’ compensation program established…
   • § 71624 (a) A county that contracts with the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System as of the implementation date of this chapter and the…
   • § 71625 (a) Trial court policies related to accrued leave benefits, including the type and accrual rate of accrued leave benefits, in effect on the implementation date…
   • § 71626 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with respect to benefits which those persons who are trial court employees on and after the implementation date of…
   • § 71626.1 (a) Any trial court receiving cleaning or maintenance services from persons employed directly by the court or county shall continue to receive those services…
   • § 71626.5 (a) As of the implementation date of this chapter: (1) If a trial court employee receives county retiree group insurance benefits pursuant to Section 71626 and…
   • § 71627 Notwithstanding any other provision of law: (a) As provided in Section 71612, the implementation of this chapter shall not be a cause for the modification of…
   • § 71628 Notwithstanding any other provision of law: (a) As provided in Section 71612, the implementation of this chapter shall not be a cause for the modification of…
   • § 71629 Except as provided in Sections 71624, 71625, 71626, 71626.5, 71627, and 71628, and notwithstanding any other provision of law: (a) As provided in Section…
3. ARTICLE 3. Labor Relations §§ 71630–71639.5 · 25 sections

   • § 71630 (a) It is the purpose of this article to promote full communication between trial courts and their employees by providing a reasonable method for resolving…
   • § 71631 Except as otherwise provided by the Legislature, trial court employees shall have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee…
   • § 71632.5 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule, or regulation, an agency shop agreement may be negotiated between a trial court and a recognized employee…
   • § 71632.6 If the trial court is party to any memorandum of understanding or agreement with any bargaining unit that includes court employees that provides for an agency…
   • § 71633 Recognized employee organizations shall have the right to represent their members in their employment relations with trial courts as to matters covered by this…
   • § 71634 (a) The scope of representation shall include all matters relating to employment conditions and employer-employee relations, including, but not limited to,…
   • § 71634.1 (a) Except in cases of emergency as provided in this section, the trial court shall give reasonable written notice to each recognized employee organization…
   • § 71634.2 (a) The trial court, or those representatives as it may designate, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions…
   • § 71634.3 If agreement is reached by the representatives of the trial court and a recognized employee organization or organizations, they shall jointly prepare a written…
   • § 71634.4 If after a reasonable period of time, representatives of the trial court and the recognized employee organization fail to reach agreement, the trial court and…
   • § 71635 The trial court shall allow a reasonable number of trial court employee representatives of recognized employee organizations reasonable time off, without loss…
   • § 71635.1 Trial courts and employee organizations shall not interfere with, intimidate, restrain, coerce, or discriminate against court employees because of their…
   • § 71636 (a) A trial court may adopt reasonable rules and regulations, after consultation in good faith with representatives of a recognized employee organization or…
   • § 71636.1 In the absence of local procedures for resolving disputes on the appropriateness of a unit of representation, upon the request of any of the parties, the…
   • § 71636.3 (a) Unit determinations and representation elections shall be determined and processed in accordance with rules adopted by a trial court in accordance with…
   • § 71637 (a) For purposes of this article, professional employees shall not be denied the right to be represented separately from nonprofessional employees by a…
   • § 71637.1 For purposes of this article, in addition to those rules and regulations that a trial court may adopt pursuant to, and in the same manner as set forth in,…
   • § 71638 A trial court employee shall have the right to authorize, and the trial court employer shall honor, a dues deduction from his or her salary or wages as…
   • § 71639 (a) As of the implementation date of this chapter, an employee organization that is recognized as a representative of a group of trial court employees or the…
   • § 71639.1 (a) As used in this article, “board” means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541. (b) The powers and duties of the board…
   • § 71639.15 Notwithstanding any other law, if a decision by an administrative law judge regarding the recognition or certification of an employee organization is appealed,…
   • § 71639.2 The enactment of this article shall not be construed as making Section 923 of the Labor Code applicable to trial court employees.
   • § 71639.3 Trial courts and trial court employees are not covered by Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500) of Division 4 of Title 1, or any subsequent changes to…
   • § 71639.4 (a) Any charging party, respondent, or intervenor aggrieved by a final decision or order of the board in an unfair practice case, except a decision of the…
   • § 71639.5 (a) Any written agreements reached through negotiations held pursuant to this article are binding upon the parties, upon adoption under Section 71634.3, and,…
4. ARTICLE 4. Employment Selection and Advancement §§ 71640–71645 · 6 sections

   • § 71640 (a) As of the implementation date of this chapter, each trial court shall establish a trial court employment selection and advancement system which shall…
   • § 71641 Each trial court shall develop personnel rules regarding hiring, promotion, transfer, and classification. Trial courts shall meet and confer in good faith with…
   • § 71642 Hiring and promotion within a trial court shall be done in a nondiscriminatory manner based on job-related factors. Trial court personnel rules shall meet the…
   • § 71643 (a) The following positions are excluded from the competitive selection and promotion processes required by Section 71642: (1) Subordinate judicial officers.…
   • § 71644 Disputes between a trial court and its employees regarding the alleged misapplication, misinterpretation, or violation of the trial court’s rules enacted…
   • § 71645 (a) On and after the implementation date of this chapter, this article shall become the employment, selection, and advancement system for all trial court…
5. ARTICLE 5. Employment Protection System §§ 71650–71658 · 10 sections

   • § 71650 (a) As of the implementation date of this article, as provided in Section 71658, each trial court shall establish a trial court employment protection system…
   • § 71651 (a) The trial court employment protection system in each trial court shall include progressive discipline, as defined by each trial court’s personnel policies,…
   • § 71651.1 (a) Consistent with federal and California labor law, a trial court shall not retaliate against an official reporter or official reporter pro tempore who…
   • § 71652 (a) A trial court employee may be laid off based on the organizational necessity of the court. Each trial court shall develop, subject to meet and confer in…
   • § 71653 Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court shall establish in its personnel rules a process for conducting an evidentiary due process hearing…
   • § 71654 Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court shall establish in its personnel rules a process for the trial court to review a hearing officer’s…
   • § 71655 (a) An employee may challenge the decision of the disciplining trial court, made pursuant to Section 71654, rejecting or modifying the hearing officer’s…
   • § 71656 Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, in a county of the first class as defined in Section 28022 as of January 1, 2001: (a) As of the…
   • § 71657 (a) Disciplinary action served on a trial court employee prior to the implementation date of this chapter shall remain in effect in accordance with the…
   • § 71658 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the implementation date of this article is the effective date of this chapter. (b) Representatives of a trial court…
6. ARTICLE 6. Personnel Files § 71660 · 1 section

   • § 71660 Each trial court shall adopt personnel rules, subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good faith, to provide trial court employees with access to their…
7. ARTICLE 7. Relation to Other Trial Court Statutes §§ 71670–71675 · 6 sections

   • § 71670 Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect the provisions of the Brown-Presley Trial Court Funding Act (Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 77000) of…
   • § 71671 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each trial court employee shall have the protections provided for in Article 5 (commencing with Section 71650) of…
   • § 71672 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each trial court employee shall be entitled to such benefits as are provided for in Article 2 (commencing with…
   • § 71673 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the trial court may exercise the authority and power granted to it pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section…
   • § 71674 The California Law Revision Commission shall determine whether any provisions of law are obsolete as a result of the enactment of this chapter, the enactment…
   • § 71675 (a) Any trial court may adopt a procedure to be used as a preliminary step before petitioning the superior court for relief pursuant to subdivision (b) in…