§ 941 - Unit determination, certification, and representation - Vermont Statutes

§ 941. Unit determination, certification, and representation TITLE 3ExecutivePART IGenerallyCHAPTER 27. STATE EMPLOYEES LABOR RELATIONS ACTSubchapter III. Certification Procedure

§ 941. Unit determination, certification, and representation

(a) The board shall determine issues of unit determination, certification, and representation in accordance with this chapter.

(b) No bargaining unit or collective bargaining representative shall be recognized by the employer until the board has determined the appropriate unit to be represented and has formally certified its determination.

(c) A petition may be filed with the board, in accordance with procedures prescribed by the board:

(1) By an employee or group of employees, or any individual or employee organization purporting to act in their behalf, alleging by filing a petition or petitions bearing signatures of not less than thirty percent of the employees, that they wish to form a bargaining unit and be represented for collective bargaining, or that the individual or employee organization currently certified as bargaining agent is no longer supported by at least fifty-one percent of the employees in the bargaining unit, or that they are now included in an approved bargaining unit and wish to form a separate bargaining unit under board criteria for purposes of collective bargaining.

(2) [Repealed.]

(d) The board, a member thereof, or a person or persons designated by the board shall investigate the petition, and

(1) if it finds reasonable cause to believe that a question of unit determination or representation exists, an appropriate hearing shall be scheduled before the board upon due notice. Upon request, the results of the investigation shall be made available by the board to the petitioners and all intervenors, if any, including the duly certified bargaining representative prior to giving notice of hearing. Written notice of the hearing shall be mailed by certified mail to the parties named in the petition not less than seven calendar days before the hearing. Hearing procedure and notification of results of same shall be in accordance with rules prescribed by the board, or

(2) dismiss the petition, based upon the absence of substantive evidence.

(e) Whenever, as a result of a petition and an appropriate hearing, the board finds substantial interest among employees in forming a bargaining unit, a secret ballot election shall be conducted by the board to be taken in such manner as to show separately the wishes of the employees in the voting group involved as to the determination of the collective bargaining unit, including the right not to be organized. In order for a collective bargaining unit to be recognized and certified by the board, there must be a majority vote cast by those employees voting.

(f) In determining the appropriateness of a collective bargaining unit the board shall take into consideration but not be limited to the following criteria:

(1) The authority of governmental officials at the unit level to take positive action on matters subject to negotiation.

(2) The similarity or divergence of the interests, needs, and general conditions of employment of the employees to be represented. The board may, in its discretion, require that a separate vote be taken among any particular class or type of employees within a proposed unit to determine specifically if the class or type wishes to be included.

(3) Whether over-fragmentation of units among state employees will result from certification to a degree which is likely to produce an adverse effect either on effective representation of state employees generally, or upon the efficient operation of state government.

(g)(1) In determining the representation of state employees in a collective bargaining unit the board shall conduct a secret ballot of the employees and certify the results to the interested parties and to the state employer. The original ballot shall be so prepared as to permit a vote against representation by anyone named on the ballot. No representative will be certified with less than a majority of the votes cast.

(2) If in such election none of the choices receive a majority of the votes cast, a runoff election shall be conducted, the ballot providing for a selection between two choices receiving the largest and second largest number of valid votes cast in the original election.

(3) The board's certification of the results of any election shall be conclusive as to findings unless reviewed under proceedings instituted for the prevention of prohibited practices in section 965 of this title.

(h) A representative chosen by secret ballot for the purposes of collective bargaining by a majority of the votes cast shall be the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for a minimum of one year. Such representative shall be eligible for reelection.

(i) The board, by rule, shall prescribe a uniform procedure for the resolution of employee grievances submitted through the collective bargaining machinery. The final step of any negotiated grievance procedure, if required, shall be hearing and final determination by the board. Grievance hearings conducted by the board shall be informal and not subject to the rules of pleading procedure, and evidence of the courts of the state. Any employee or group of employees included in a duly certified bargaining unit may be represented before the board by their bargaining representative's counsel or designated executive staff employees or by any individual the board may permit at its discretion.

(j) Any individual employee or group of employees shall have the right at any time to present complaints to their employer informally, and to have such complaints considered in good faith with or without the intervention of the bargaining representative. Adjustments shall not be inconsistent with the terms of a collective bargaining contract or agreement then in effect. All such complaints shall be considered and a decision formulated and the complainant informed thereof within fifteen days of presentment.

(k) Nothing in this chapter requires an individual to seek the assistance of his or her collective bargaining unit or its representative(s) in any grievance proceeding. He or she may represent himself or herself or be represented by counsel of his or her own choice. Employees who are eligible for membership in a collective bargaining unit who exercise their right not to join such unit may upon agreement with the unit representative avail themselves of the services of the unit representative(s) in grievance proceedings upon payment to the unit of a fee established by the unit representative, provided that in the event a collective bargaining service fee is negotiated, the unit representative shall represent nonmember employees in grievance proceedings without charge.

(l) [Repealed.] (Added 1969, No. 113, § 1; amended 1971, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 9-11, eff. April 3, 1972; 1973, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1-4; 1975, No. 52; 1977, No. 109, §§ 10, 33(e), eff. July 3, 1977; 1993, No. 227 (Adj. Sess.), § 30.)