Public employment: communication with exclusive representatives.

Existing law generally grants public employees the right to join employee organizations and to be represented by those organizations in their employment relation. Existing law requires a public employer, as specified, to provide the exclusive representative of those employees mandatory access to certain information and to provide public employees with reasonable leaves of absence without loss of compensation or other benefits for purposes related to that representation, as specified. Existing law makes findings and declarations related to these provisions, including that it is the intent of the Legislature that recognized exclusive representatives of California's public employees be provided meaningful access to their represented members, as described. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations related to an exclusive representative's right to communicate with public employees that it represents, and would state the intent of the Legislature to ensure that recognized exclusive representatives of public employees be provided meaningful email access to their represented members, as specified. The bill would require public employers to ensure recognized exclusive representatives have safe or trusted email sender access, and would prohibit public employers from using technology to interfere with or prevent email communications between public employees and their recognized representatives, as provided.