§ 1017 - Grievance procedures; binding arbitration - Vermont Statutes

§ 1017. Grievance procedures; binding arbitration

(a) The employer and the representative of the employees shall negotiate a procedure for resolving complaints and grievances. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties, the board shall hear and make final determination on a grievance. A grievance hearing shall be conducted in accordance to the rules of the board.

(b) A collective bargaining agreement may provide for binding arbitration as the final step of a grievance procedure. An agreement that includes a binding arbitration provision shall also include the procedure for conducting the grievance arbitration proceedings and the following provisions:

(1) The parties shall mutually agree on an arbitrator from a list of arbitrators provided by the American Arbitration Association. An arbitrator chosen or appointed under this section shall have no authority to add to, subtract from, or modify the collective bargaining agreement.

(2) An acknowledgment of arbitration that provides substantially the following:

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ARBITRATION.

(The parties) understand that this agreement contains an agreement that the final step of the grievance process shall be binding arbitration. After the effective date of this agreement no grievance may be brought to the Vermont Labor Relations Board and no lawsuit concerning any grievance may be brought, unless it involves a question of constitutional or civil rights.

(c) This section shall not apply to labor interest arbitration, which for the purposes of this chapter means the method of concluding labor negotiations by means of a disinterested person to determine the terms of a labor agreement.

(d) A party may apply to the arbitrator for a modification of an award if the application is made within 30 days after delivery of a copy of an award to the applicant. An arbitrator may modify an award only if the arbitrator finds any one of the following:

(1) There was an evident miscalculation of figures or an evident mistake in the description of any person, thing or property referred to in the award.

(2) The award was based on a matter not submitted to the arbitrator, and the award may be corrected without affecting the merits of the decision on the issues submitted.

(3) The award is imperfect in form and the award may be corrected without affecting the merits of the controversy.

(e) A party may apply to the superior court for review of the award provided the application is made within 30 days after delivery of a copy of the award to the applicant or, in case of a claim of corruption, fraud or other undue means, the application is made within 30 days after those grounds are known or should have been known. The superior court shall vacate an arbitration award based on any of the following:

(1) The award was procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means.

(2) There was partiality or prejudicial misconduct by the arbitrator.

(3) The arbitrator exceeded his or her power or rendered an award requiring a person to commit an act or engage in conduct prohibited by law.

(4) There is an absence of substantial evidence on the record as a whole to support the award. (Added 1997, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 9.)