§ 20298. Settlement Agreements; Review of Objections to Settlement Agreements.

(a) Matters settled: Settlement agreements of all types settle only the allegations contained in the cases, designated by number, which appear in the captions of the agreements and do not constitute settlement of any other cases or allegations, regardless of whether such matters are known to, or readily discoverable by, the General Counsel at the time the agreement is reached.

(b) Difference between formal settlement agreements and informal settlement agreements:

(1) A formal settlement agreement is a written agreement that must be approved by the Regional Director and the Board or the assigned Administrative Law Judge.

(2) An informal settlement agreement is a written agreement that must be approved by the Regional Director, but does not require approval by the Board or assigned Administration Law Judge.

(c) Difference between bilateral and unilateral agreements:

(1) A unilateral settlement agreement is one signed by the Regional Director and the charged party(ies.)

(2) A bilateral settlement agreement is one signed by the Regional Director and both the charging party(ies) and respondent(s) in the case.

(d) Circumstances in which informal and formal settlement agreements are appropriate:

(1) An informal settlement agreement may be used only to adjust a charge or a complaint. It may not be used to adjust a specification, notice of hearing without specification, or previous Board order. It may not be used after the taking of testimony.

(2) A formal settlement agreement may be used to adjust a charge, complaint, specification, notice of hearing without specification, or previous Board order. Any agreement reached after the taking of testimony must be a formal agreement.

(e) Review of informal settlement agreements:

(1) There shall be no review of informal bilateral settlement agreements.

(2) Within 5 days after the Regional Director and the charged party(ies) sign an informal unilateral settlement agreement, the Regional Director shall serve on the charging party(ies) a copy of the agreement and a brief statement of reasons for his/her approval.

(3) Within 10 days after service of the informal unilateral settlement agreement and statement of reasons, the charging party(ies) may file an appeal of the agreement with the General Counsel. A statement of objections to the agreement shall accompany an appeal. A charged party(ies) may file a response within 5 days of service of the appeal.

(f) Review of formal settlement agreements:

(1) Review of formal settlement agreements entered into prior to the taking of testimony or after the issuance of an Administrative Law Judge's decision:

(A) Formal settlement agreements executed before the taking of testimony or after the issuance of an Administrative Law Judge's decision, no matter whether unilateral or bilateral, shall be submitted directly to the Board together with a full statement submitted on behalf of the General Counsel in support of the agreement. If the agreement is unilateral, at the same time as the settlement and the reasons in support thereof are submitted to the Board, they shall also be served upon the charging party(ies). Within 5 days of service of the settlement and statement of reasons, the charging party(ies) may file with the Board a statement of objections to the settlement.

(2) Review of formal settlement agreements entered into after taking of testimony but prior to the issuance of an Administrative Law Judge's decision:

(A) A bilateral formal settlement agreement entered into after the taking of testimony and prior to the issuance of the administrative law judge's decision shall be submitted, together with a full statement in support of the settlement made on behalf of the General Counsel, to the assigned administrative law judge who shall thereupon determine whether the settlement serves the purpose of the Act.

(1) If the assigned administrative law judge recommends approval of the settlement, he/she shall issue an appropriate order, which shall be served upon the parties and shall thereupon become the order of the Board.

(2) If the assigned administrative law judge recommends rejection of the settlement, within 5 days of the rejection, any party may file with the Board a request for review of the administrative law judge's decision.

(B) A unilateral formal settlement agreement entered into after the taking of testimony and prior to the issuance of the administrative law judge's decision shall be submitted, together with a full statement in support of the settlement made on behalf of the General Counsel, to the assigned administrative law judge and served upon the charging party(ies.) If the hearing is in session, the charging party(ies) may make any objection to the settlement upon the record. If the hearing is not in session at the time of submission of the proposed unilateral formal settlement agreement, charging party(ies) shall serve any objections to the settlement upon the administrative law judge, the Regional Director, and the Respondent(s) within 5 days after service of the agreement on the charging party(ies.)

(1) The administrative law judge shall issue an appropriate order recommending approval or rejection of the proposed unilateral formal settlement agreement, which order shall be served upon the parties.

(2) If the administrative law judge recommends approval of the unilateral formal agreement, charging party(ies) shall have five days from service of the order approving the settlements to file a request for review with the Board. If no request for review is filed, the order issued by the administrative law judge shall thereupon become the order of the Board.

(3) If the administrative law judge recommends rejection of the unilateral formal settlement agreement, within five days after service of the order rejecting the proposed settlement, any party may file a request for review of the order rejecting the proposed settlement.

HISTORY

1. New section filed 3-14-78; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 78, No. 11).

2. Amendment filed 8-28-81; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 81, No. 35).

3. Editorial correction of subsection (c) (Register 81, No. 46).

4. Editorial correction of NOTE filed 2-16-83 (Register 83, No. 8).

5. Amendment of subsections (a), (b)(1), (c)(1) and (d)(1) filed 9-20-91; operative 10-21-91 (Register 92, No. 4).

6. Amendment of subsections (d)(2) and (d)(3) filed 7-8-99; operative 8-7-99 (Register 99, No. 28).

7. Amendment of section heading and repealer and new section filed 5-9-2002; operative 6-8-2002 (Register 2002, No. 19).

Note

Note: Authority cited: Section 1144, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 1160.2 and 1160.3, Labor Code.