On September 30, 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 2331 into law, which amends the Firefigthers Procedural Bill of Rights Act to permit appeals procedures that are agreed upon between labor organizations and fire agencies as a part of the collective bargaining process.
Under existing law, appeals procedures for California firefighters must conform to provisions of the California Administrative Procedures Act (APA) beginning at Government Code section 11500. The APA mandates a hearing before a quorum of the governing body of the administrative agency or an administrative law judge (ALJ), specifies certain notice requirements, provides for some prehearing discovery, and specifies many other procedural rules. Many existing grievance arbitration and disciplinary appeals procedures contained in memorandums of understanding and collective bargaining agreements between firefighter union locals oe associations and fire departments do not meet these requirements, but are nonetheless considered sufficiently protective of firefghter rights by both labor and management. For example, final and binding private arbitration does not necessarily conform to all requirements of the APA, but is generally viewed as procedurally adequate.
Under AB 2331, beginning January 1, 2011, appeals procedures that are mutually agreed upon as a part of the labor-management negotiations process but do not necessarily conform the APA are still considered legally sufficient under the FBOR.
This legislation amending the firefighter appeals procedure requirements contained in the FBOR was sponsored by the California Professional Firefighters (CPF).
