Chapter 1. General Provisions of California Government Code >> Title 23. >> Chapter 1.

This title shall be known and may be cited as the In-Home Supportive Services Employer-Employee Relations Act.

It is the purpose of this title to promote full communication between the California In-Home Supportive Services Authority (the Statewide Authority) and the recognized employee organization representing individual providers by providing a reasonable method of resolving disputes regarding wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment, as defined in Section 110023, between the Statewide Authority for in-home supportive services and recognized employee organizations. It is also the purpose of this title to promote the improvement of personnel management and employer-employee relations within the Statewide Authority by providing a uniform basis for recognizing the right of individual providers to join organizations of their own choice and be represented by those organizations for purposes of collective bargaining with the Statewide Authority. This title is intended to strengthen methods of administering employer-employee relations through the establishment of uniform and orderly methods of communication between the recognized employee organizations and the Statewide Authority. Except as expressly provided herein, this title is not intended to require changes in existing bargaining units or memoranda of agreement or understanding.

Except as otherwise provided by the Legislature, employees 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 within the scope of representation. Employees also shall have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations.

As used in this title:
  (a) "Board" means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541.
  (b) "Employee" or "individual provider" means any person authorized to provide in-home supportive services pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 12300) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and Sections 14132.95, 14132.952, and 14132.956 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, pursuant to the individual provider mode, as referenced in Section 12302.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. As used in this title, "employee" or "individual provider" does not include any person providing in-home supportive services pursuant to the county-employed homemaker mode or the contractor mode, as authorized in Section 12302 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Individual providers shall not be deemed to be employees of the Statewide Authority for any other purpose, except as expressly set forth in this title.
  (c) "Employee organization" means an organization that includes employees, as defined in subdivision (b), and that has as one of its primary purposes representing those employees in their relations with the Statewide Authority.
  (d) "Employer" means, for the purposes of collective bargaining, the Statewide Authority established pursuant to Section 6531.5. The in-home supportive services recipient shall be the employer of an individual in-home supportive services provider with the unconditional and exclusive right to hire, fire, and supervise his or her provider.
  (e) "In-home supportive services" or "IHSS" means services provided pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 12300) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and Sections 14132.95, 14132.952, and 14132.956 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
  (f) "In-home supportive services recipient" means the individual who receives the in-home supportive services provided by the individual provider. The in-home supportive services recipient is the employer for the purposes of hiring, firing, and supervising his or her respective individual provider.
  (g) "Mediation" means effort by an impartial third party to assist in reconciling a dispute regarding wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment, as defined in Section 110023, between representatives of the employer and the recognized employee organization or recognized employee organizations through interpretation, suggestion, and advice.
  (h) "Meet and confer in good faith" means that the employer, or those 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 prior to the adoption of the annual Budget Act.
  (i) "Predecessor agency" means a county or an entity established pursuant to Section 12301.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code before the effective date of this title.
  (j) "Recognized employee organization" means an employee organization that has been formally acknowledged as follows:
  (1) Before the county implementation date as described in subdivision (a) of Section 12300.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, by a county or an entity established pursuant to Section 12301.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as the representative of individual providers in its jurisdiction.
  (2) On or after the county implementation date as described in subdivision (a) of Section 12300.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, by the Statewide Authority, as the representative of individual providers subject to this title.
  (k) "Statewide Authority" means the California In-Home Supportive Services Authority established pursuant to Section 6531.5.