AB 339 — Requires Agencies to Give 45 Days’ Notice to Employee Organizations Before Contracting

The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) authorizes local public employees to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for representation on matters of labor relations. The MMBA also requires the governing body or management of a public agency to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of recognized employee organizations and to fully consider presentations that are made by the employee organization on behalf of its members before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action. Pursuant to existing legal obligations under the MMBA and Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) case law, an agency has an affirmative obligation to provide notice to a recognized employee organization and to meet and confer with the organization upon request regarding a proposal to contract out work in a bargaining unit.

Government Code section 19130 permits public agencies to contract for services, subject to certain conditions. Public agencies enter into these contracts through various, sometimes competitive methods, such as requesting proposals or quotes from external, private firms.

Starting January 1, 2026, AB 339 requires public agencies to give a recognized employee organization at least 45 days’ written notice before issuing a request for proposal, a request for quotes, or renewing or extending an existing contract to perform services that fall within the scope of work of job classifications represented by that organization.

The notice to the employee organization must include details, including the following:

1. The anticipated contract duration;
2. The scope of work to be performed under the proposed contract;
3. Anticipated costs associated with the proposed contract;
4. A draft of the contract solicitation (or if not yet drafted, any information that would normally be included); and
5. The agency’s justifications for contracting the work at issue.

AB 339 exempts certain contract services from the new law’s notice requirements, including services for public works, software or data services that directly support public works, and services that involve planning, designing, administering, overseeing, or delivering public works projects, buildings, and infrastructure.

Additionally, AB 339 provides that, in emergencies or exigent circumstances that prevent a public agency from providing the requisite 45 days’ notice, an agency must provide notice as soon as practicable under the circumstances.

To the extent that a public agency has negotiated terms related to contracting that are more restrictive or prescriptive than those set forth under AB 339, those contractual obligations continue to apply.

(AB 339 adds section 3504.1 to the Government Code.)