(April 15, 2010) Employers and the California Chamber of Commerce yesterday called on the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee to pass a bill that will provide a simplified, voluntary way for establishing flexible work schedules.

(left to right) Senator Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Senator Cox (R-Fair Oaks)

SB 1335 (Cox; R-Fair Oaks/Dutton; R-Rancho Cucamonga), a CalChamber-sponsored job creator bill, was praised by employers and employees, and supported by 34 local chambers of commerce. The bill provides a simplified process for establishing flexible work schedules and creates a win-win-win for employees, employers and the environment by promoting better work-life balance, improved workplace productivity and retention, and reduced traffic and greenhouse gases

A vote was not taken on the bill because of absent committee members. SB 1335 will up for a vote on Monday, April 19.


ACTION NEEDED: Call members of Senate Labor and Industrial Relations and ask them to support SB 1335.

Incentive to do Business in California

Brian Hawley

In testimony to the committee, Brian Hawley, chairman and chief financial officer of Luminex Software, which has offices in both Riverside and San Diego, emphasized the important message that SB 1335 sends to employers about job creation and to employees about their individual needs.

“You  are telling the employers that you really do want us doing business in California, and not moving or expanding operations in other states which follow more flexible guidelines," Hawley said. “More importantly, you are telling employees that you really do care about their needs.”

Hawley explained to the committee that without this bill, Luminex is unable to accommodate reasonable requests from its employees to work flexible schedules that are more conductive to the employees’ needs.

“It’s frustrating to both employers and employees that something mutually agreeable, perfectly reasonable and very common sense is so difficult to achieve,” he said.

He gave several specific examples of employees who would have benefited from having a flexible work schedule to facilitate weekend custody of their children, reduce commuting time, and further their education.

“As you can see, employees have individual and unique needs,” Hawley said. “A flexible schedule is an incredible benefit that we can give employees allowing them to work a full 40-hour week, but customize their schedule to better meet their personal needs and requirements.”

Flexible Schedules Are ‘Common Sense’

Greg Gierczak, executive director of external relations for SureWest Communications (SureWest) from Roseville, emphasized that restrictive rules, like the current overtime law, affect business and investment decisions for California companies.

(left to right) Greg Gierczak and CalChamber Policy Advocate Kyla Christoffersen

“The current law is just one of many restrictive rules in California as compared to other states that make it more difficult for accompany like SureWest to actually operate in California. . . our SureWest CEO has stated before that California’s restrictive rules are a detriment to maintaining jobs in California,” said Gierczak. “Basically I’m asking that you help fix at least one of these restrictive rules by voting ‘yes’ on this bill.”

Gierczak said that the current process for establishing a flexible workweek is incompatible, unproductive and what the state really needs is a common-sense solution that lets employees and employers work together.

“The current law as it exists today really hinders basically the work hour flexibility because it involves this bureaucratic process that simply doesn’t fit the business environment,” he said. “SureWest is really looking for a common-sense type solution that will provide the employees and employers with the flexibility to run the business and actually to provide services to its customers. This bill really does that, as it does not force either the employee or the employer into any requirement and actually provides for the individual employee the same rights that unions have today under the current law to negotiate a flexible work schedule for themselves that fits their own needs and will fit the businesses’ own needs.”

Summarizing for the committee why SB 1335  really is a job creator, Gierczak said, “It really comes to the issue of when we have to make investments in California or in other states where we operate, we have to consider those rules; is it better to put our investment dollars in other states that are more flexible and easy going and less costly to run?”

Action Needed

Senate Industrial Relations will vote on SB 1335 on Monday, April 19. Contact committee members and urge them to support SB 1335.

Staff Contact: Kyla Christoffersen 

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