Section 3515.7 Of Chapter 10.3. State Employer-employee Relations From California Government Code >> Division 4. >> Title 1. >> Chapter 10.3.
3515.7
. (a) Once an employee organization is recognized as the
exclusive representative of an appropriate unit it may enter into an
agreement with the state employer providing for organizational
security in the form of maintenance of membership or fair share fee
deduction.
(b) The state employer shall furnish the recognized employee
organization with sufficient employment data to allow the
organization to calculate membership fees and the appropriate fair
share fees, and shall deduct the amount specified by the recognized
employee organization from the salary or wages of every employee for
the membership fee or the fair share fee. These fees shall be
remitted monthly to the recognized employee organization along with
an adequate itemized record of the deductions, including, if required
by the recognized employee organization, machine readable data. Fair
share fee deductions shall continue until the effective date of a
successor agreement or implementation of the state's last, best, and
final offer, whichever occurs first. The Controller shall retain,
from the fair share fee deduction, an amount equal to the cost of
administering this section. The state employer shall not be liable in
any action by a state employee seeking recovery of, or damages for,
improper use or calculation of fair share fees.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), any employee who is a member
of a religious body whose traditional tenets or teachings include
objections to joining or financially supporting employee
organizations shall not be required to financially support the
recognized employee organization. That employee, in lieu of a
membership fee or a fair share fee deduction, shall instruct the
employer to deduct and pay sums equal to the fair share fee to a
nonreligious, nonlabor organization, charitable fund approved by the
California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for
receipt of charitable contributions by payroll deductions.
(d) A fair share fee provision in a memorandum of understanding
that is in effect may be rescinded by a majority vote of all the
employees in the unit covered by the memorandum of understanding,
provided that: (1) a request for the vote is supported by a petition
containing the signatures of at least 30 percent of the employees in
the unit; (2) the vote is by secret ballot; and (3) the vote may be
taken at any time during the term of the memorandum of understanding,
but in no event shall there be more than one vote taken during the
term. If the board determines that the appropriate number of
signatures have been collected, it shall conduct the vote in a manner
that it shall prescribe. Notwithstanding this subdivision, the state
employer and the recognized employee organization may negotiate, and
by mutual agreement provide for, an alternative procedure or
procedures regarding a vote on a fair share fee provision.
(e) Every recognized employee organization that has agreed to a
fair share fee provision shall keep an adequate itemized record of
its financial transactions and shall make available annually, to the
board and to the employees in the unit, within 90 days after the end
of its fiscal year, a detailed written financial report thereof in
the form of a balance sheet and an operating statement, certified as
to accuracy by its president and treasurer or comparable officers. In
the event of failure of compliance with this section, any employee
in the unit may petition the board for an order compelling this
compliance, or the board may issue a compliance order on its own
motion.
(f) If an employee who holds conscientious objections pursuant to
subdivision (c) requests individual representation in a grievance,
arbitration, or administrative hearing from the recognized employee
organization, the recognized employee organization is authorized to
charge the employee for the reasonable cost of the representation.
(g) An employee who pays a fair share fee shall be entitled to
fair and impartial representation by the recognized employee
organization. A breach of this duty shall be deemed to have occurred
if the employee organization's conduct in representation is
arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.