In Rio Honda Community College Dist. (March 21, 2013) PERB Dec. No. 2313, PERB decided employers must meet and confer with labor associations over the impacts of video cameras, including whether they might create new kinds of evidence in discipline cases. PERB's reasoning should apply equally to in-car cameras and GPS devices.
The Board held the union had a legitimate concern the new cameras could be used to monitor employees' compliance with workplace rules, and would create previously unavailable evidence to support discipline or evaluations. How video recordings might be used in discipline and evaluation is therefore a negotiable effect of the decision to install the cameras.
PERB's decision expands an earlier ruling about use of technology to monitor employees. In Trustees of the California State University (2003) PERB Decision No. 1507-H, PERB held rules about internet use were negotiable. Here, PERB said the impacts of using video cameras presents "the same concerns" as "monitoring employee internet usage." As a result, under this ruling, unions likely can demand to meet and confer about the impacts of other types of electronic surveillance, such as in-car cameras and GPS devices.
