Organization of PERB

The Board staff consists of approximately 40 employees. PERB is headquartered in Sacramento and maintains regional offices in Los Angeles and Oakland. The major organizational elements of PERB, in addition to the Board itself, are the Office of the General Counsel, the Division of Administrative Law, the Representation Section, and the Administration Section.

The Office of the General Counsel includes PERB's chief legal officer and regional attorneys. The office is responsible for managing the processing of unfair practice charges, and for providing legal representation to PERB in all court proceedings. The Representation Section oversees the statutory process through which employees come to form a bargaining unit and select an organization to represent them in their labor relations with their employer.

The Division of Administrative Law houses PERB's Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), who serve as impartial judges of the labor disputes which fall under PERB's jurisdiction. PERB ALJs conduct informal conferences with the parties to unfair practice cases in an effort to settle disputes before proceeding to formal hearing. If no settlement is reached, PERB ALJs conduct adjudicative proceedings complete with the presentation of evidence and examination of witnesses under oath. The ALJs then issue proposed decisions consisting of written findings of fact and legal conclusions.

The Administration Section provides support services to PERB, such as business services, personnel, accounting, information technology, mail and duplicating. This section also maintains liaison with the Legislature, the Department of Finance and other agencies within state government.