California Public Employee Relations (CPER) Papers
CPER Selected Publications
An Update of the Vested Benefits Doctrine and Its Effect on Collective Bargaining
Abstract
The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act obligates public employers to meet and confer in good faith with the exclusive representatives of individual bargaining units who have the authority to represent employees in “all matters of employment conditions and employer-employee relations, including, but not limited to, wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.” However, once a bargain is struck, what elements of that bargain endure, and for how long? This article updates a previous examination of the vested rights doctrine, its origin in the area of pension benefits, and various attempts to expand the doctrine to benefits other than pensions. The article concludes by suggesting that retirement health benefits should not enjoy the same protection as pensions and should be subject to collective bargaining rather than considered a vested right.
Subject Area
Constitutional Law, Contracts, Employment Practice, Government Contracts, Labor Law, State and Local Government Law
Recommended Citation
Arthur A. Hartinger and Amy L. Lyman,
"An Update of the Vested Benefits Doctrine and Its Effect on Collective Bargaining"
(October 2003).
California Public Employee Relations (CPER) Papers.
CPER Selected Publications.
Working Paper 2.
http://law.bepress.com/cperselect/papers/art2
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