Under current law, school and community college employee
organizations are already granted this leave time. This leave, sometimes referred to as
“release time,” permits employees to perform union duties without loss
of pay or other benefits. However, other public-sector unions—including local
government employees and transit employees, must negotiate this type of leave
with the employer. Unfortunately, some public employers are uncooperative and
deny union representatives release time.
To fix this problem, SB 1085 extends the current law for
school and community college employees to grant other public employees similar
leave in order allow sufficient time off to participate in matters critical to
their representation needs.
