California Code of Regulations › Title 8 - Industrial Relations › Division 2 - Agricultural Labor Relations Board › Chapter 4 - Mandatory Mediation and Conciliation › Section 20407 - The Mediation and Conciliation Process

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Mediation shall proceed in accordance
				with Labor Code section
				1164(b), (c), and
				(d). The 30-day periods referred to in Labor
				Code section
				1164(c)
				shall commence on the date of the first scheduled mediation session, shall
				proceed for consecutive calendar days, and shall not include any pre-mediation
				conference. The 30-day timelines may be waived by mutual agreement of the
				parties and with the approval of the mediator. Premediation conferences may be
				scheduled at the discretion of the mediator.
(1) No later than seven days after receipt of
				a Board order directing the parties to mandatory mediation and conciliation,
				and prior to their first discovery requests pursuant to section
				20406, each party shall identify
				for the mediator those issues that are in dispute and those that are not in
				dispute, identify the standards which they propose to resolve the disputed
				issues, and provide agreed upon contract language for those issues not in
				dispute. This information shall be served on the other party immediately and on
				the mediator upon the mediator's selection. During the mediation, the parties
				shall provide the mediator with a detailed rationale for each of its contract
				proposals on issues that are in dispute, and shall provide on the record
				supporting evidence to justify those proposals. The failure of any party to
				participate or cooperate in the mediation and conciliation process shall not
				prevent the mediator from filing a report with the Board that resolves all
				issues and establishes the final terms of a collective bargaining agreement,
				based on the presentation of the other party.
(2) The mediator shall preside at the
				mediation, shall rule on the admission and exclusion of evidence and on
				questions of procedure and shall exercise all powers relating to the conduct of
				the mediation. All evidence upon which the mediator relies in writing the
				report required by Labor Code section
				1164(d)
				shall be preserved in an official record through the use of a court reporting
				service or, with the consent of both parties and the approval of the mediator,
				by a stipulated record. The mediator shall cite evidence in the record that
				supports the mediator's findings and conclusions. The mediator shall retain the
				discretion to go off the record at any time to clarify or resolve issues
				informally. All communications taking place off the record shall be subject to
				the limitations on admissibility and disclosure provided by Evidence Code
				section
				1119(a) and
				(c), and shall not be the basis for any
				findings and conclusions in the mediator's report.
(3) The parties shall have the right to be
				represented by counsel or other representative.
(4) The parties to the mediation are entitled
				to be heard, to present evidence and to cross-examine witnesses appearing at
				the hearing, but rules of evidence and rules of judicial procedure need not be
				observed. The testimony of witnesses shall be given under oath.