Ask SSC . . .
Who Selects the Factfinding Chairperson?
Q. I recently attended a workshop presented by someone other than School Services where the presenter said that the district and union had no say in the selection of the neutral chairperson. That is different than what I have heard from you. Has there been a change?
A. We hope that you simply misunderstood the presenter because that is incorrect.
It is absolutely critical that both the district and the bargaining unit be involved in the selection of the chair. This is typically accomplished by both parties leaving the selection of the chair to their appointed partisan panel members. The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) provides a list of eligible chairpersons and allows the panel members a period of time to make a selection. The panel members may agree to anyone on the list and PERB will appoint that person and pay them the small stipend that PERB now offers.
Alternatively, the parties may also agree to select someone who is not on the list and PERB will appoint that person; however, the parties will need to agree to pay the cost of the services of that person. Since PERB has recently reduced the amount it pays the neutral chairperson to $100, we will continue to recommend that the parties select the best qualified neutral and pay the difference.
Only in the rare case where the parties cannot agree on a neutral or don’t respond within the prescribed timeline does PERB make a unilateral appointment. Over the past ten years, we have been involved in the selection of perhaps 200 chairpersons; in our memory only two of them were appointed by PERB in lieu of agreement by the parties.
The only thing worse than a contentious factfinding is a contentious factfinding with an inexperienced chairperson or one who is a poor fit for a particular case. The outcome of a factfinding is far too important to both parties for them to leave selection of the chairperson to chance.
—Ron Bennett and John Gray