Public employees: rights.

The existing Bill of Rights for State Excluded Employees prescribes various rights and terms and conditions of employment for excluded employees, defined as certain supervisory, managerial, and confidential state employees. This bill would enact the Public Employees' Bill of Rights Act that would apply to state employees other than excluded employees. The stated purpose of this act would be to inform public employees of their rights and terms of employment in order to promote harmonious personnel relations between public employees and their employers. This bill would, among other things, provide that state employees shall be entitled to priority over contractors in filling permanent, overtime, and on-call positions. This bill would also prescribe certain rights for employees who are required to maintain a professional license and would authorize the formation of a peer review committee for those licensed professionals, if there are no management or supervisory professional staff employed by the employer, to provide input regarding workplace operations. Existing law requires notice of any adverse action against any state employee for any cause for discipline based on any civil service law to be served within 3 years after the cause for discipline, upon which the notice is based, first arose. Existing law provides that an adverse action based on fraud, embezzlement, or the falsification of records is valid if notice of the adverse action is served within 3 years after the discovery of the fraud, embezzlement, or falsification. This bill would require notice of the adverse action to be served and the investigation to be completed within one year after discovery of the cause for discipline in order for an adverse action to be valid against any state employee for any cause for discipline based on any civil service law of this state. The bill also would provide that an adverse action based on fraud, embezzlement, or the falsification of records is valid if notice of the adverse action is signed within one year after the discovery of the fraud, embezzlement, or falsification.