(a) Permanent employees of the medical center on the effective date of affiliation shall be deemed qualified for employment or retention and no other qualifications shall be required. Probationary employees on the effective date of affiliation shall retain their probationary status and rights and shall not be deemed to have transferred so as to require serving a new probationary period.
(b) Employment seniority of an employee of the medical center on the effective date of affiliation shall be counted toward seniority in the authority. The authority shall provide for the maintenance of benefits that accompany seniority, including, but not limited to, preference in vacations and scheduling, when applicable. All time spent in the same, equivalent, or higher classification shall be counted toward classification seniority.
(c) The implementation of this chapter shall not be a cause for the modification of the level of medical center employment benefits. Upon consolidation or affiliation of the medical center with at least one other health care facility, employees who serve or work for the medical center immediately prior to the implementation of this chapter shall retain their existing or equivalent classifications and job descriptions upon transfer to the authority, comparable pension benefits, and at least their existing salaries and other benefits that include, but are not limited to, accrued and unused vacation, sick leave, personal leave, health care, retiree health benefits, and deferred compensation plans.
(d) Subject to subdivision (h), and to the extent permitted by federal law, the authority shall contract with the Public Employees’ Retirement System, consistent with the requirements of Section 20508 and other applicable provisions of Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, for the purpose of providing membership in the Public Employees’ Retirement System for authority employees. If the authority contracts with the Public Employees’ Retirement System, the authority, to the extent permitted by federal law, shall provide for the continued membership of medical center employees in the Public Employees’ Retirement System. If permitted under federal law, the authority and the employees’ exclusive representatives may mutually agree to terminate any contract that the authority enters into with the Public Employees’ Retirement System, and mutually agree to an alternative pension plan.
(e) Any transfer of functions from county employee classifications to authority employees established pursuant to this article shall result in the recognition by the hospital authority of the exclusive representative of the classifications performing those functions at the time of transfer.
(f) In order to stabilize labor and employment relations and provide continuity of care and services to the people of the county, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority shall do all of the following for 24 months after the term end date of any medical center memorandum of understanding in existence when the county establishes the authority:
(1) Continue to recognize each exclusive representative of each bargaining unit.
(2) Continue to provide at least the same level of employee benefits to authority employees, who were medical center employees, that had been provided to these employees, whether these benefits arise out of a memorandum of understanding or other agreement or law.
(3) Roll over and continue to be bound by any existing medical center memorandum of understanding or agreement covering the terms and conditions, including the level of wages and benefits, of those employees for 24 months after the term end date of any memorandum of agreement, unless modified by mutual agreement with each of the exclusive representatives, and only to the extent that continuing to provide those pension benefits specified in any memorandum of understanding does not conflict with any Public Employees’ Retirement System regulation or federal law. Any conflicts in the existing agreements as to wages and other terms and conditions of employment shall be resolved only by mutual agreement between the authority and each of the exclusive representatives.
(g) Except as provided in the transfer agreement described in subdivision (d) of Section 101658, subdivision (m) of Section 101661, and this section, nothing in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting the authority from determining the number of employees, the number of full-time equivalent positions, job descriptions, the nature and extent of classified employment positions, and salaries of employees.
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, the authority and employees of the authority shall not participate in the Public Employees’ Retirement System if the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, in its sole discretion, determines that their participation could jeopardize the Public Employees’ Retirement System’s tax-qualified or governmental plan status under federal law.
(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 686, Sec. 1. (AB 276) Effective January 1, 2013.)