I filed a complaint now what?
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Individuals who file complaints with our office are usually filing either an Unfair Labor Practice complaint or a Statutory Violation complaint.
There are other types of cases that can be filed before our Boards which involve matters of negotiation between higher level administration at the schools, universities, or State agencies and the unions. Those cases have different timelines and procedures than those described here. See the section of “Filing Complaints” for a particular Board for those requirements.
If you have filed a Unfair Labor Practice or Statutory Violation complaint with one of the State Labor Relations Boards, you may be wondering how long it will take to get a response or what communications you should expect. The process works as follows:
You should use a PERB charge form, available on this website, to file your charge with PERB. Follow the instructions within and at the end of that form , including to provide a clear and concise statement of the facts constituting the alleged unfair labor practice, and the name and specified contact information of the charging party (or charging party's representative, if any) and the contact information, if known, about any other party named, including for any known representative of any party. You should sign the charge and by doing so affirm, under the penalties of perjury, that based on your knowledge, information, and belief, the charge's allegations are true and correct.
At the time that you file, you should include any and all materials such as letters, emails, or other documents that are relevant to your case. You may be able to send more information later, but it slows down the process considerably each time more material is added.
One of our staff will read over your form to check for any obvious errors or missing information. If there is a problem we might contact you by phone or email and ask you to provide what is missing. Sometimes we know immediately that your charge does not belong in our office – for instance, if you work for a private employer rather than a public sector employer that would not be covered by the Board. In that case, we will let you know that you are in the wrong place so that you can pursue your claim where it can be addressed.
If we find that your charge is complete and could be under the jurisdiction of the Board, we will continue processing your case
We have a standard “processing letter" that goes to the employer or union that you are filing against. We will send the letter to the person and address that you provide in your charge. You will receive a copy of that letter.
There is a deadline set for the charged party to respond to the claim; that date will be in our letter. The letter will also direct the charged party to send you, the petitioner, a copy of that response so that you will know when the response was made and what it says. After you receive that response, you may request the opportunity to reply to it if there are specific things that were not addressed in your original materials.
Public employers, whether charged or charging parties, usually are represented by an attorney, and further communication will come from that attorney's office.
An assigned PERB Deputy Director will investigate the charge. That will include review of all materials from you and the charged party. The Deputy Director might also seek additional documents from the charging or charged parties or both. In addition, the Deputy Director will interview the charging party and probably will also interview other witnesses. The Deputy Director shall also seek from the parties an informal settlement of the charge.
Based on the investigation described above, the Deputy Director shall prepare and provide to the Board a report on the investigation that includes a recommendation on whether the Board should find there is “probable cause" to conclude that the charged party committed one or more unfair labor practices.
For any alleged unfair labor practice that results from a party's conduct in collective bargaining, and that allegedly affected such bargaining, the Deputy Director shall complete the investigation and provide the report and recommendation to the Board within 20 days from the filing of the charge. For these alleged unfair labor practices, the Board shall decide within 30 days of the charge's filing whether to dismiss the charge or to continue processing it by issuing a complaint, and issue a decision within 90 days of the filing of the charge.
For all other alleged unfair labor practice charges, the Deputy Director and the Board have no deadlines, but will complete processing the charge as soon as practicable.
The Board will consider the report and recommendation of the Deputy Director. Like the Deputy Director, the Board might seek informal settlement from the parties. If the parties don’t settle, the Board might dismiss the charge, or issue a complaint and then usually schedule and conduct a hearing. If the Board chooses to dismiss a charge, it will send a dismissal letter or decision to the parties. If the Board issues a complaint, it usually will send the parties a Notice of Complaint and Hearing, notifying them of the allegations it will consider and when and where the hearing will be held.
At the unfair labor practice hearing, the Board presides over the parties' representatives presentation of evidence, which usually includes witness testimony or documents or both. With the Board's permission, parties' representatives may also submit post-hearing briefs to the Board.
In appropriate cases, the Board might grant summary judgment to a party without a hearing, based on material and arguments submitted to the Board.
This part of the process can vary in time. Some cases are more complicated than others and need more research or consultation with our Assistant Attorney General's office. Also, while the Board members are very conscientious about their duties, four of the five serve as volunteers while maintaining responsibilities elsewhere. As the members and counsel review your case, they may have questions or request more information from you. This part of the process can take from a few weeks to a few months. As long as you have received the request response letter from us and a response from the other party, you can be confident that the Board is looking into the matter.
Once the Board has fully considered your case, they will issue a decision. It will be sent to you and the charged party. Near the end of the decision will be a note telling you that you have the right to appeal the Board's decision to a court. (See the link on the website about filing appeals.)
