San Francisco County Municipal Code Art. XI-A Officers and Employees Generally

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS Sec. 16.200. Title of Ordinance. Sec. 16.201. Statement of Purpose. Sec. 16.202. Definitions. Sec. 16.203. Employee Relations Division. Sec. 16.204. Powers and Duties of the Civil Service Commission. Sec. 16.205. Utilization of Administrative Law Judges. Sec. 16.206. Management Rights. Sec. 16.207. Employee Rights. Sec. 16.208. Designation of Management, Supervisory and Confidential Employees. Sec. 16.209. Procedure for Registration of Employee Organizations. Sec. 16.210. Establishment of Bargaining Units. Sec. 16.211. Procedure for Recognition of Employee Organization as Exclusive Representative of a Bargaining Unit. Sec. 16.212. Decertification. Sec. 16.213. Unfair Labor Practices – Peace Officers and Management Employees Only. Sec. 16.214. Election of Remedies for Unfair Labor Practices and Other Related Violations – Peace Officers and Management Employees Only. Sec. 16.215. Procedures for Administratively Processing Unfair Labor Practices – Peace Officers and Management Employees Only. Sec. 16.216. Sanctions for Unfair Labor Practices – Peace Officers and Management Employees Only. Sec. 16.217. Meeting and Conferring in Good Faith. Sec. 16.218. Employees Meeting on City and County Time. Sec. 16.219. Dues Deduction. Sec. 16.220. Separability.

This Ordinance shall be known as the Employee Relations Ordinance of the City and County of San Francisco. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

The City and County is hereby authorized to enter into an agreement or contract with the Office of Administrative Hearings, California State Personnel Board, for the purpose of obtaining the services of an administrative law judge. Such agreement or contract shall provide that said administrative law judge shall be responsible for the duties as hereinafter set forth in this Ordinance. The costs involved in obtaining the services of an administrative law judge as necessitated by this Ordinance shall be borne by the City and County of San Francisco, provided, however, that all expenses incurred by the City and County in utilizing the administrative law judge in processing unfair labor practice complaints shall be divided equally among the parties involved. The authority of the administrative law judge shall be to the extent as set forth in this Ordinance and in no event shall any decision of the administrative law judge conflict with, alter or attempt to alter the provisions of the Charter or rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission. Any costs incurred in transcribing and reporting the proceedings shall be borne by the party requesting such transcribing or reporting, unless a contrary agreement is reached by mutual consent. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

The City and County of San Francisco retains all rights as set forth in the provisions in the Charter of the City and County of San

Francisco, existing ordinances and civil service rules establishing and regulating the Civil Service System; provided, however, that amendments to said existing ordinances, and civil service rules may be proposed through the meeting and conferring process. The exercise of City and County rights does not preclude employees or exclusive representatives from consulting or raising grievances on decisions which affect wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. The City and County reserves the right to take whatever action may be necessary in an emergency situation; however, an exclusive representative affected by the action shall be promptly notified. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 109-94, App. 3/11/94; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

Employees of the City and County 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 employee relations. Employees of the City and County shall also have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations. Employees shall also have the right to represent themselves individually in their employment relations with the City and County, consistent with Government Code section 3502. No employee shall be interfered with, intimidated, restrained, coerced or discriminated against because of his or her exercise of those rights. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

(a) The Human Resources Director or designee, in consultation with department heads, shall specify the employees who are to be designated as management, supervisory or confidential for the purpose of this Ordinance. Each such person shall be notified by his or her department head of his or her management, supervisory or confidential status. A list of the employees so designated shall be maintained in the office of the Human Resources Director. (b) If an employee designated as management, supervisory or confidential, or an employee organization, or a department head, disagrees with such designation, the question shall be referred to an administrative law judge for hearing and final determination. (c) Confidential employees may not represent an employee organization which represents other than confidential employees on matters within the scope of representation. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 109-94, App. 3/11/94; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12 , File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

VIOLATIONS – PEACE OFFICERS AND MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES ONLY. Nothing in this ordinance requires peace officers as defined in Penal Code section 830.1, or management employees, or their exclusive representatives, or the City and County to exhaust any local procedure or administrative remedy prior to filing a legal action in Superior Court asserting that a party covered by this section has violated any provision of this Ordinance, the City Charter, or any provision of the MMBA. (Added by Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; amended by Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

(a) Meeting and conferring in good faith between management representatives and the representatives of recognized employee organizations shall take place on all matters relating to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment within the scope of representation. The meet and confer process, whether in the context of bargaining for a successor memorandum of understanding or during the term of an existing memorandum of understanding, shall be conducted in accordance with the City Charter and State law. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to supersede the provisions of the Charter, ordinances, and rules and regulations of the City and County of San Francisco which establish and regulate the Civil Service System. (Amended by Ord. 426-76, App. 10/29/76; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

Official representatives of an exclusive representative shall be allowed time off from their duties without loss of pay for the purpose of meeting and conferring in good faith or consulting with representatives of the City and County on matters within the scope of representation, provided that the number of representatives shall not exceed two without the approval of the Human Resources Director. The use of official time for this purpose shall be reasonable and shall not interfere with the performance of City and County services. Official representatives shall receive approval from their department head in advance of the proposed time away from their work station or assignment. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 109-94, App. 3/11/94; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

Upon completion of the registration procedures provided in Section 16.209, registered employee organizations and exclusive representatives may exercise the privilege of dues deduction, and shall pay the reasonable costs of this service. The Controller of the City

and County of San Francisco shall establish the costs and the procedures for initiating and maintaining this service. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)

If any provision of this Ordinance, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance, or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby. (Amended by Ord. 313-76, App. 7/30/76; Ord. 296-10, File No. 101157, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. 17-12, File No. 111067, App. 2/7/2012, Eff. 3/8/2012)