Notwithstanding any other ordinances, rules or regulations of the City and County of San Francisco and its departments, boards and commissions, the City and County of San Francisco, through its duly authorized representatives, and recognized employee organizations representing classifications of employees covered by this part shall have the mutual obligation to bargain in good faith on all matters within the scope of representation as defined by Government code section 3504, relating to the wages, hours, benefits and other terms and conditions of City and County employment, including the establishment of procedures for the resolution of grievances concerning the interpretation or application of any agreement, and including agreements to provide binding arbitration of discipline and discharge; provided, however that, except insofar as they affect compensation, those matters within the jurisdiction of the civil service commission which establish, implement and regulate the civil service merit system shall not be subject to bargaining under this part: the authority, purpose, definitions, administration and organization of the merit system and the civil service commission; policies, procedures and funding of the operations of the civil service commission and its staff; the establishment and maintenance of a classification plan including the classification and reclassification of positions and the allocation and reallocation of positions to the various classifications; status rights; the establishment of standards, procedures and qualifications for employment, recruitment, application, examination, selection, certification and appointment; the establishment, administration and duration of eligible lists; probationary status and the administration of probationary periods, except duration; pre-employment and fitness for duty medical examinations except for the conditions under which referrals for fitness for duty examinations will be made, and the imposition of new requirements; the designation of positions as exempt, temporary, limited tenure, part-time, seasonal or permanent; resignation with satisfactory service and reappointment; exempt entry level appointment of the handicapped; approval of payrolls; and conflict of interest. As to these matters, the Civil Service Commission shall continue to be required to meet and confer pursuant to state law.
Unless and until agreement is reached through bargaining between authorized representatives of the City and County of San Francisco and authorized representatives of recognized employee organizations for the employee classifications covered by this part, or a determination is made through the procedure set forth in section A8.409-4 hereinafter provided, no existing wages, written terms or conditions of employment, fringe benefits, or long-standing past practices for said employees shall be altered, eliminated or changed except in cases of emergency. This paragraph shall be effective only until the approval of the first memorandum of understanding with a covered employee organization or six months from the effective date of this part whichever occurs sooner.
During the term of an MOU, disputes regarding changes in wages, hours, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment shall not be subject to the impasse procedures provided in this part, but may be subject to grievance arbitration.
No bargaining unit may be included in more than one memorandum of understanding with the City and County of San Francisco. Consistent with Charter sections 3.100-2 and 3.103 and subject to the prior written approval of the Human Resources Director which shall not be unreasonably withheld, appointing officers shall have the authority to negotiate agreements with recognized employee representatives. Appointing officers shall consult and coordinate such negotiations with the Human Resources Director. Such memoranda of understanding shall be restricted to non-economic items within the jurisdiction of the department appointing officer which do not conflict with a City-wide memorandum of understanding. Such memoranda of understanding shall come into full force and effect only upon approval by the Mayor and thereafter by a majority vote of the Board of Supervisors or other appropriate governing body. Upon such approval, departmental memoranda of understanding shall be attached as appendices to the employee organization's City-wide memorandum of understanding as negotiated under this part. No memorandum of understanding negotiated pursuant to this paragraph during the term of a City-wide memorandum of understanding shall be subject to the arbitration provisions of this part until re-negotiation of the employee organization's City-wide memorandum of understanding.
Agreements reached pursuant to this part by the authorized representatives for the City and County of San Francisco, on behalf of its departments, boards and commissions, and the authorized representatives of recognized employee organizations, once adopted by ordinance of the Board of Supervisors, shall be binding on the City and County of San Francisco, and on its departments, boards, commissions, officers and employees and on the recognized employee organizations and their successors, and all employees in classifications they represent. Except as specifically set forth in this part, said agreements shall supersede any and all other conflicting procedures, provisions and formulae contained in this Charter, in the ordinances of the Board of Supervisors, or in the rules or regulations of the City and County of San Francisco, relating to wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment.
(Amended March 2004)