Governor Brown's office announced yesterday that he has signed into law Assembly Bill 1606, which changes the timeline for making fact-finding requests under Government Code section 3505.4. Previously, the deadline to request fact-finding was within 30 days following the appointment or selection of a mediator pursuant to the parties' agreement or mediation process pursuant to local rules. Now, parties must submit their differences no sooner than 30 days and no later than 45 days.

The bill also clarifies existing law codified in Government Code sections 3505.5 and 3505.7 by mandating that the right to request fact-finding cannot be waived and parties not subject to mediation processes can request fact-finding not later than 30 days following written notice of declaration of impasse by one of the parties.

For a more detailed analysis of fact-finding and its usefulness for labor associations, please click here to read an article drafted by Carroll Burdick partners Gary Messing and Gregg Adam. Please note that this article does not incorporate the timeline changes discussed in the foregoing paragraphs.

If you have any questions, please contact Gary Messing at gary@majlabor.com or Gregg Adam at gregg@majlabor.com.