The words and terms defined in this section shall have the following meanings in this chapter. Any term not defined herein which is defined in the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act shall have the meaning set forth therein.
Board – The Employee Relations Board established by this chapter.
City – The City of Los Angeles.
Confidential Employee – An employee who is privy to information leading to decisions of City management affecting employee relations.
Consult or Consultation – To communicate orally or in writing for the purpose of presenting or obtaining views or advising of intended actions.
Day – A calendar day.
Determining Body or Official – The body or official who has final authority to make a decision on matters under discussion within the scope of representation.
Employee Relations – The relationship between the City and its employees and their organizations, or when used in a general sense the relationship between management and employees or employee organizations.
Employee Representation Unit – A group of employees constituting an appropriate unit as provided by this chapter.
Fact-Finding – Identification of the major issues in a particular dispute; reviewing the positions of the parties; and the investigation and reporting of the facts by one or more impartial fact-finders; and, when directed by the Board, the making of recommendations for settlement.
Grievance – Any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of a written memorandum of understanding or of departmental rules and regulations governing personnel practices or working conditions. An impasse in meeting and conferring upon the terms of a proposed memorandum of understanding is not a grievance.
For employees in the representation unit Police Officers, Lieutenant and below, excluded from the definition of grievance set forth above and excluded from the scope of the grievance process are disputes concerning discipline and disputes concerning transfers, promotions, promotional examinations, or probationary employee terminations – whether or not such matters involve discipline.
Impasse – A deadlock, after a reasonable period of time, in the meet and confer process between the City’s management representatives and representatives of recognized employee organizations on matters concerning which they are required to meet and confer in good faith or over the scope of matters upon which they are required to meet and confer.
Joint Council – Two or more qualified employee organizations which have joined together for the purpose of seeking certification as a recognized employee organization for an employee representation unit.
Management Employees – An employee having significant responsibilities for formulating or administering City or Departmental policies and programs.
Management Representative – A person designated by a determining body or official, to carry out the responsibilities specified for a management representative under this chapter.
Mediation – Efforts by an impartial party or parties to assist as intermediaries through interpretation, suggestion and advice, in reconciling disputes regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment between the City’s management representatives and representatives of recognized employee organizations.
Meet and Confer in Good Faith (or Meet and Confer) – The mutual obligation of the city’s management representatives and representatives of recognized employee organizations personally to meet and confer within a reasonable period of time in order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals, and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation.
Memorandum of Understanding – A written memorandum, jointly prepared by the parties incorporating matters on which agreement is reached through meeting and conferring between the City’s management representatives and representatives of a recognized employee organization. The memorandum shall be presented to the appropriate determining body or official of the City for determination and implementation.
Professional Employee – An employee engaged in work requiring specialized knowledge and skills attained through completion of a recognized course of instruction, including, but not limited to attorneys, physicians, registered nurses, engineers, architects, teachers, and various types of physical, chemical and biological scientists.
Qualified Employee Organization – An organization which includes employees of the City, which has as one of its primary purposes representing such employees in their relations with the City, and which has complied with the conditions specified in Section 4.820 of this Code.
Recognized Employee Organization – A qualified employee organization or joint council of qualified organizations which has been certified by the Board as the majority representative of employees in an appropriate employee representation unit in accordance with the provisions of Section 4.822 of this Code.
Such certified majority representative shall be the exclusive representative of the employees in the unit, subject to the right of an employee to represent himself as provided in Section 4.857 of this Code.
Regular Employee – An employee who is appointed to a full-time or part-time permanent position.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 141,527, Eff. 3-5-71.
Amended by: Ord. No. 144,210, Eff. 2-10-73; Ord. No. 151,272, Eff. 9-2-78. Second para. added to Grievance definition, Ord. No. 161,882, Eff. 3-17-87.