Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8 § 32700

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 32700 - Proof of Support

(a)

(1) Proof of employee support for representation petitions, including petitions for certification, requests for recognition, severance requests or petitions, and those unit modification petitions for which proof of support is required, shall clearly demonstrate that the employee desires to be represented by the petitioning employee organization for the purpose of meeting and negotiating or meeting and conferring on wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.

(2) Proof of employee support for a decertification petition shall clearly demonstrate that the employee no longer desires to be represented by the exclusive representative.

(3) This section governs proof of employee support under all statutes that the Board enforces, except to the extent that an MMBA, Trial Court Act, or Court Interpreter Act employer has promulgated differing reasonable rules regarding proof of employee support. It also governs proof of support under section 8434 of the Education Code and related provisions. When applying this section with respect to providers as defined under section 8431 of the Education Code, the term "employee" used in this section shall include such providers.

(b) Proof of support shall indicate each employee's name. An employee's proof of support shall remain valid provided it is used to support a petition or request that is first submitted within one (1) year from the date the proof of support was obtained, except that proof of support pertaining to childcare providers, pursuant to Education Code Section 8434, shall remain valid provided it is used to support a petition or request that is first submitted within two (2) years from the date the proof of support was obtained. If the proof of support does not show the date on which it was obtained, the party claiming support shall have the burden of establishing by other means that the proof of support remained valid as of the time the relevant petition or request was first submitted. Any proof of support meeting the requirements of this section shall be considered valid even though the employee demonstrated support for more than one employee organization.

(c) For purposes of determining proof of support, a joint petitioner may meet the required percentage by combining the total of the proofs of support for each of the employee organizations which make up the joint petitioner.

(d) Subject to subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section, proof of support may consist of any one of the following or a combination thereof:

(1) Original dues deduction authorization forms signed by employees, or proof of dues payments by the employees;

(2) Original membership applications signed by employees;

(3) Original authorization cards or original petitions signed by employees. The purpose of the petition shall be clearly stated on each page thereof;

(4) A list of employees who are not exclusively represented by an employee organization and who have signed or electronically signed proofs of support clearly demonstrating a desire to be represented by the petitioning employee organization for the purpose of meeting and negotiating or meeting and conferring on wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment, or provided a pdf, screenshot, or image demonstrating their signatures on proofs of support clearly demonstrating such a desire. In order to validate such a list, the employee organization must submit to the Board a sample of such proofs of support, and must establish by sworn declaration that for each employee listed, the employee organization maintains for inspection by the Board, if the Board finds it necessary to request such inspection, one of the following:

(A) An original signed proof of support pursuant to subsection (d)(1), (d)(2), or (d)(3);

(B) Records showing that the employee organization obtained an electronic signature on a proof of support in compliance with the California Civil Code provisions collectively known as the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, codified at Title 2.5 (commencing with Section 1633.1) of Part 2 of Division 3 of the California Civil Code; or

(C) Records showing that an employee organization obtained a proof of support via a process that qualifies as an electronic signature by virtue of including each of the following elements:

(i) The proof of support contains the employee's name and a cellular phone number, email address, or home address;

(ii) the employee organization sent a confirmation transmission to the cellular phone number, email address, or home address provided, indicating the language to which the employee agreed, and such language clearly demonstrates the employee's desire to be represented by the petitioning employee organization for the purpose of meeting and negotiating or meeting and conferring on wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment; and

(iii) the employee organization has submitted to the Board any responses to such confirmation transmissions that the employee organization received by the time of submission.

(5) Other evidence as determined by the Board, provided that such evidence is consistent with the principles underlying this subsection (d).

(e) Documents submitted to the Board as proof of employee support, incuding all documents submitted to the Board under section (d)(4)(C), shall remain confidential and not be disclosed by the Board to any party other than the petitioner, and used only to indicate whether the proof of support is sufficient.

(f) Any party which contends that proof of employee support was obtained by fraud or coercion, or that the signatures on such support documents are not genuine, shall file with the regional office evidence in the form of declarations under penalty of perjury supporting such contention within 20 days after the filing of the petition which the proof of support accompanied. The Board shall refuse to consider any evidence not timely submitted, absent a showing of good cause for late submission. When prima facie evidence is submitted to the Board supporting a claim that proof of support was tainted by such misconduct, the Board shall conduct further investigations. If, as a result of such investigation, the Board determines that the showing of support is inadequate because of such misconduct, the petition shall be dismissed.

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 8, § 32700

1. New chapter 6 (sections 32700-32754, not consecutive) filed 12-31-79 as an emergency; effective upon filing (Register 80, No. 1). A Certificate of Compliance must be filed within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 4-30-80.
2. Repealed by operation of section 11422.1(c), Government Code (Register 80, No. 21).
3. New chapter 6 (sections 32700-32754, not consecutive) filed 5-21-80 as an emergency; effective upon filing (Register 80, No. 21). A Certificate of Compliance must be filed within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 9/19/80.
4. Certificate of Compliance filed 6-18-80 (Register 80, No. 25).
5. Amendment filed 6-18-80; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 80, No. 25).
6. Amendment filed 9-20-82; effective upon filing pursuant to Government Code section 11346.2(d) (Register 82, No. 39).
7. Amendment of subsection (b) filed 10-10-85; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 85, No. 41).
8. Amendment of subsection (e) filed 12-29-88; operative 1-28-89 (Register 89, No. 4).
9. Amendment of subsection (a) and NOTE filed 6-3-94; operative 7-5-94 (Register 94, No. 22).
10. New subsections (f) and (g), and amendment of NOTE filed 1-26-95; operative 2-27-95 (Register 95, No. 4).
11. Amendment of subsection (a) and NOTE filed 1-3-2000 as an emergency; operative 1-3-2000 (Register 2000, No. 1). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 5-2-2000 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
12. Reinstatement of section as it existed prior to 1-3-2000 emergency amendment by operation of Government Code section 11346.1(f) (Register 2000, No. 18).
13. Amendment of subsection (a) and NOTE filed 5-5-2000 as an emergency; operative 5-5-2000 (Register 2000, No. 18). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 9-5-2000 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
14. Certificate of Compliance as to 5-5-2000 order transmitted to OAL 7-26-2000 and filed 9-7-2000 (Register 2000, No. 36).
15. Amendment of subsections (a) and (b) and amendment of NOTE filed 1-3-2001 as an emergency; operative 1-1-2001 (Register 2001, No. 1). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 5-1-2001 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
16. Certificate of Compliance as to 1-3-2001 order transmitted to OAL 4-30-2001 and filed 6-13-2001 (Register 2001, No. 24).
17. Amendment of subsection (a) and amendment of NOTE filed 2-2-2004 as an emergency; operative 2-2-2004 (Register 2004, No. 6). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-1-2004 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
18. Certificate of Compliance as to 2-2-2004 order transmitted to OAL 5-4-2004 and filed 6-8-2004 (Register 2004, No. 24).
19. Amendment designating and amending former subsection (a) as subsection (a)(1), new subsections (a)(2)-(a)(4) and amendment of subsection (f) filed 11-29-2007; operative 12-29-2007 (Register 2007, No. 48).
20. Amendment of subsection (a)(3) and NOTE filed 12-6-2013 as an emergency; operative 12-6-2013 pursuant to Government Code section 110035.5 (Register 2013, No. 51). This regulatory action is deemed an emergency exempt from OAL review and was filed directly by the agency with the Secretary of State pursuant to Government Code section 110035.5. A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-4-2014 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
21. Certificate of Compliance as to 12-6-2013 order transmitted to OAL 5-29-2014 and filed 7-10-2014 (Register 2014, No. 28).
22. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (a)(3) and NOTE filed 5-8-2018 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2018, No. 19).
23. Change without regulatory effect repealing subsections (a)(3)-(4) filed 7-31-2019 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2019, No. 31).
24. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 1-14-2021; operative 2-15-2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2021, No. 3).
25. Amendment of NOTE filed 4-18-2023; operative 7-1-2023 (Register 2023, No. 16).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 3513, 3513(h), 3524.52(a), 3541.3, 3541.3(g) and 3563(f), Government Code; and Section 99561(f), Public Utilities Code. Reference: Sections 3513(h), 3515.7(d), 3520.5, 3524.52(a), 3524.74, 3544, 3544.1, 3544.3, 3544.5, 3544.7, 3546, 3573, 3574, 3575, 3576, 3577 and 3585.5, Government Code; and Sections 99561(c), 99561(e), 99561(k), 99561(l), 99564, 99564.1, 99564.2, 99564.3, 99564.4 and 99566.1, Public Utilities Code; and Sections 8431 and 8434, Education Code.

1. New chapter 6 (sections 32700-32754, not consecutive) filed 12-31-79 as an emergency; effective upon filing (Register 80, No. 1). A Certificate of Compliance must be filed within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 4-30-80.
2. Repealed by operation of section 11422.1(c), Government Code (Register 80, No. 21).
3. New chapter 6 (sections 32700-32754, not consecutive) filed 5-21-80 as an emergency; effective upon filing (Register 80, No. 21). A Certificate of Compliance must be filed within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 9/19/80.
4. Certificate of Compliance filed 6-18-80 (Register 80, No. 25).
5. Amendment filed 6-18-80; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 80, No. 25).
6. Amendment filed 9-20-82; effective upon filing pursuant to Government Code section 11346.2(d) (Register 82, No. 39).
7. Amendment of subsection (b) filed 10-10-85; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 85, No. 41).
8. Amendment of subsection (e) filed 12-29-88; operative 1-28-89 (Register 89, No. 4).
9. Amendment of subsection (a) and Note filed 6-3-94; operative 7-5-94 (Register 94, No. 22).
10. New subsections (f) and (g), and amendment of Note filed 1-26-95; operative 2-27-95 (Register 95, No. 4).
11. Amendment of subsection (a) and Note filed 1-3-2000 as an emergency; operative 1-3-2000 (Register 2000, No. 1). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 5-2-2000 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
12. Reinstatement of section as it existed prior to 1-3-2000 emergency amendment by operation of Government Code section 11346.1(f) (Register 2000, No. 18).
13. Amendment of subsection (a) and Note filed 5-5-2000 as an emergency; operative 5-5-2000 (Register 2000, No. 18). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 9-5-2000 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
14. Certificate of Compliance as to 5-5-2000 order transmitted to OAL 7-26-2000 and filed 9-7-2000 (Register 2000, No. 36).
15. Amendment of subsections (a) and (b) and amendment of Note filed 1-3-2001 as an emergency; operative 1-1-2001 (Register 2001, No. 1). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 5-1-2001 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
16. Certificate of Compliance as to 1-3-2001 order transmitted to OAL 4-30-2001 and filed 6-13-2001 (Register 2001, No. 24).
17. Amendment of subsection (a) and amendment of Note filed 2-2-2004 as an emergency; operative 2-2-2004 (Register 2004, No. 6). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-1-2004 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
18. Certificate of Compliance as to 2-2-2004 order transmitted to OAL 5-4-2004 and filed 6-8-2004 (Register 2004, No. 24).
19. Amendment designating and amending former subsection (a) as subsection (a)(1), new subsections (a)(2)-(a)(4) and amendment of subsection (f) filed 11-29-2007; operative 12-29-2007 (Register 2007, No. 48).
20. Amendment of subsection (a)(3) and Note filed 12-6-2013 as an emergency; operative 12-6-2013 pursuant to Government Code section 110035.5 (Register 2013, No. 51). This regulatory action is deemed an emergency exempt from OAL review and was filed directly by the agency with the Secretary of State pursuant to Government Code section 110035.5. A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-4-2014 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
21. Certificate of Compliance as to 12-6-2013 order transmitted to OAL 5-29-2014 and filed 7/10/2014 (Register 2014, No. 28).
22. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (a)(3) and Note filed 5-8-2018 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2018, No. 19).
23. Change without regulatory effect repealing subsections (a)(3)-(4) filed 7-31-2019 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2019, No. 31).
24. Amendment of section and Note filed 1-14-2021; operative 2/15/2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2021, No. 3).
25. Amendment of Note filed 4-18-2023; operative 7/1/2023 (Register 2023, No. 16).