(a) The Governor, through the Department of Human Resources or the Governor’s designee, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization and, before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action, shall fully consider the presentations made by the certified provider organization on behalf of the family childcare providers it represents.

(b) Unless the Governor otherwise so designates, the Department of Human Resources shall be the representative of the Governor to meet and confer regarding the scope of representation with representatives of the certified provider organization defined in subdivision (a) of Section 8431, for family childcare providers and to carry out the professional functions and responsibilities in labor relations matters in accordance with this article.

(c) As used in this section, “meet and confer in good faith” means that the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources or the Governor’s designee, and representatives of the certified provider organization shall have the mutual obligation to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time in order to freely exchange information, opinions, and proposals, and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation. The duty to meet and confer in good faith also requires the parties to begin negotiations sufficiently in advance of the adoption of the state’s final budget for the ensuing fiscal year so that there is adequate time for agreement to be reached before the adoption of the final budget and for the resolution of an impasse.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 385, Sec. 16. (AB 378) Effective January 1, 2020.)