Bill > SB259

This bill amends the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) to expand the definition of "employee" to include student employees whose employment is dependent on their student status, thereby granting them collective bargaining rights. Previously, the law allowed for student employees to be considered employees only if their work was unrelated to their educational goals or if those goals were secondary to their work, and if granting them these rights would further the purposes of HEERA. This bill removes that restriction, ensuring that student employees at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and the California State University can collectively bargain for their terms and conditions of employment, while also maintaining the existing collective bargaining rights for those student employees who already have them. Additionally, the bill clarifies that the scope of representation for the University of California includes what is required for students to achieve satisfactory progress toward their degrees.