PERB Upholds the Bargaining Rights Over Telework & Return to Office Policies

On May 8, 2025, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) issued an important and timely decision in Professional Engineers in California Government v. State of California (Department of Transportation) (Case No. LA-CE-771-S), affirming that public sector employers must meet and confer in good faith over changes to telework policies. The ruling held that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) violated the Ralph C. Dills Act by unilaterally altering telework arrangements, reassigning employees to Sacramento headquarters, and eliminating travel reimbursements without negotiating with the Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG). This decision is a critical safeguard for workers’ rights amid California’s push to reduce telework, ensuring that such policy shifts are subject to collective bargaining.

 In a significant win for public employees, PECG successfully challenged Caltrans in this PERB case, exposing violations through unilateral policy changes, refusal to provide critical information, and bad-faith bargaining, underscoring the importance of protecting collective bargaining rights. In April 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom directed state agencies to transition from full telework, adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, to hybrid programs requiring at least two in-person workdays per week, with provisions for exceptions. Caltrans, however, exceeded this directive, imposing severe changes that harmed PECG-represented engineers in Bargaining Unit 9. By reassigning employees living over 50 miles from Sacramento to headquarters, eliminating travel reimbursements, and ignoring prior remote work practices, Caltrans disrupted engineers’ lives, who had relied on job postings designating district offices as their work locations. PEGG filed an unfair practice charge to defend its members’ rights.

The PERB Administrative Law Judge found Caltrans committed multiple unfair labor practices, reflecting a deliberate disregard for its bargaining obligations. Caltrans unilaterally halted travel reimbursements, a long-standing practice confirmed by 83 approved Travel Expense Claims for at least 16 Unit 9 members between 2022 and June 2024, altering wages without notifying or negotiating with PECG, violating Dills Act Section 3519(c). Additionally, reassigning employees to Sacramento headquarters forced them to bear significant commuting costs or relocate, nullifying job postings designating district offices as headquarters and breaching the duty to bargain over telework policies. PECG’s request for TEC records to substantiate past practices was met with a four-month delay, with Caltrans offering misleading excuses about technical limitations despite possessing internal lists that could have expedited the process, hindering PECG’s representational role. Caltrans’ overall conduct, marked by false statements, unilateral actions, and rejection of PECG’s reasonable proposals, such as maintaining reimbursements or allowing local office reporting, amounted to surface bargaining, frustrating negotiations and undermining PECG’s authority. Each violation also interfered with employees’ protected rights and PECG’s representational duties, contravening Dills Act Sections 3519(a) and (b).

The human toll of Caltrans’ actions was profound, as evidenced by affected engineers’ testimonies. two members retired early, losing income and retirement benefits, while another incurred significant expenses after surrendering his San Diego apartment. One member struggled to balance work with an adoption process requiring Fresno residency. These hardships underscored PECG’s commitment to its members. From May 2024, PECG advocated tirelessly, requesting to meet and confer, proposing practical solutions, and filing the unfair practice charge in September, culminating in a robust PERB ruling validating its efforts.  The ALJ ordered Caltrans to cease unilateral changes, rescind reassignments, restore district office headquarters, resume TEC processing with 7% interest compensation, fulfill information requests, negotiate in good faith, and notify Unit 9 employees, including those who left since April 2024. Although PECG’s request for attorney’s fees was denied, the ruling sends a clear message: employers cannot evade bargaining duties without consequences.

This ruling is significant given California’s recent push to reduce or eliminate telework in the public sector. It reaffirms that employers must meet and confer in good faith over telework policies, particularly when reversing emergency measures like those adopted during the pandemic. As state agencies increasingly mandate in-person work, the decision clarifies that unilateral changes to telework arrangements, which affect wages, hours, and working conditions, require notice and negotiation. By upholding the duty to bargain, the ruling protects public sector workers from arbitrary policy shifts, ensuring their rights are respected in an evolving workplace landscape.

PERB Strengthens Employee Discovery Rights in Disciplinary Appeals

To successfully appeal a disciplinary action, access to all relevant or exculpatory information is often critical. Skelly materials are often inadequate, as the disclosures pertain to the employer's investigation and materials the employer relied upon to sustain the charges, not exculpatory or exonerating materials. While firefighters and peace officers have a statutory right to discovery under their respective bills of rights, the labor relations statutes also provide an underutilized right to obtain disciplinary discovery.   A recent ruling from the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in Automotive Machinists Union Local 1414 v. City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency) (49 PERC ¶ 181, 2025) provides a powerful precedent to ensure employers supply essential documents for your appeals.

The Automotive Machinists Union Local 1414 filed an unfair practice charge against the City and County of San Francisco for failing to fully respond to a request for information (RFI) related to a bargaining unit member’s discipline. The union requested notes from investigatory interviews and other documents tied to an investigation. The employer provided some notes but omitted key documents and failed to explain their absence, violating the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA). PERB’s Administrative Law Judge ruled that this failure breached the duty to bargain in good faith and interfered with employees’ rights to union representation. The remedies included a cease-and-desist order, a directive to diligently seek and provide missing notes if requested, and a requirement to post a notice of compliance.

This ruling is a significant win for public employees, as it reinforces their right to obtain all necessary and relevant information for disciplinary appeals. It establishes that employers must promptly provide documents like investigatory notes, witness statements, or pre-written interview questions—or clearly explain why they cannot—to support your union’s representational duties. If an employer provides incomplete information without justification, the employees and their unions can bring an unfair labor practice charge before PERB arguing the agency violated MMBA Sections 3505 and 3506.5. These rights ensure assess to the full scope of evidence needed to build a strong appeal and better chances of success.

Murphy v. City of Petaluma: No Duty to Assess When Medical Aid is Refused

    On November 24, 2024, the court in Murphy v. City of Petaluma addressed a medical negligence claim against the City of Petaluma and its fire department paramedics. Following a head-on car collision, plaintiff Murphy sued, alleging that paramedics’ failure to assess her condition led to a stroke hours later, resulting in permanent brain damage, speech and language impairment, and paralysis. Despite her repeated refusals of treatment or transport, Murphy argued that the paramedics assumed a duty of care by interacting with her at the scene. The court disagreed, holding that merely offering medical care does not impose a duty to perform a comprehensive medical assessment. The judgment in favor of the defendants was affirmed. The Court discussed exceptions to this general rule that emergency personnel, such as paramedics, do not have a duty to perform a full medical assessment or provide medical care when an individual refuses treatment. This rule is grounded in the absence of a voluntary assumption of duty, lack of reliance by the individual, and no increase in the risk of harm caused by the responders' actions. These exceptions highlight that a duty is not automatic but depends on specific actions or reliance.   

    Murphy cited several cases to argue that the paramedics “triggered a duty of care to render medical assistance.” The court analyzed and distinguished each: In Wright v. City of Los Angeles (1990) 219 Cal.App.3d 318, a paramedic conducted a cursory “60-second examination” on a fight victim, checking only for life-threatening injuries. The paramedic neither assessed the decedent’s mental capacity nor recommended hospital transport, advising only that the decedent “probably should see a doctor” before leaving. The decedent soon died from sickle cell anemia complications. Expert testimony indicated that checking pulse or blood pressure could have revealed shock, potentially averting the crisis. Unlike Murphy, the Wright paramedic’s inadequate assessment fell below the standard of care, but the court noted that the duty of care was presumed, not litigated, in Wright.

    In Zepeda v. City of Los Angeles (1990) 223 Cal.App.3d 232, paramedics delayed aid to a gunshot victim until police arrived, resulting in the victim’s death. The trial court found no duty to provide immediate care or even inquire about the victim’s status. The paramedics did not create the peril, assume a special duty, induce reliance, or increase the risk of harm. Thus, emergency personnel are not obligated to assist “whenever and wherever summoned,” reinforcing the absence of a general duty.

    In Camp v. State of California (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 967, highway patrol officers, including a certified Emergency Medical Responder, responded to an accident. They found Camp lying near a car and asked if she was injured or needed an ambulance. Camp declined both. A friend later carried her to a car, and within hours, she was hospitalized with severe spinal cord injuries. The Court of Appeal held that the officer owed no duty, as no voluntary assumption of care occurred, and the officer’s actions did not increase the risk of harm. Liability requires either a voluntary duty or increased risk, neither of which applied.

Conclusion:

    The Murphy ruling clarifies that paramedics do not assume a duty to examine a patient who repeatedly refuses medical aid. The paramedics made no promises, ignored no requests, and left Murphy in the same position as before their arrival. However, this case underscores the importance of assessing and documenting a person’s cognitive capacity to refuse treatment. Had Murphy’s refusals been deemed uninformed or impaired, the outcome might have differed. Emergency responders should prioritize clear documentation to protect against liability while respecting patient autonomy.