§ 1724. Certification procedure
(a)(1) A petition may be filed with the Board, in accordance with rules adopted by the Board:
(A) By an employee or group of employees, or any individual or employee organization purporting
to act on their behalf, alleging that not less than 30 percent of the employees wish
to form a bargaining unit and be represented for collective bargaining, or assert
that the individual or employee organization currently certified as bargaining agent
is no longer supported by at least 51 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit,
or that not less than 51 percent of the employees now included in an approved bargaining
unit wish to form a separate bargaining unit under Board criteria for purposes of
collective bargaining. The employee, group of employees, individual, or employee organization
that files the petition shall, at the same time that the petition is filed with the
Board, provide a copy of the petition to the employer and, if appropriate, the current
bargaining agent.
(B) By the employer alleging that the presently certified bargaining unit is no longer
appropriate under Board criteria. The employer shall provide a copy of the petition
to the current bargaining agent at the same time that the petition is filed with the
Board.
(2)(A)(i) An employer shall, not more than seven business days after receiving a copy of the
petition, file any objections to the appropriateness of the proposed bargaining unit
and raise any other unit determination issues with the Board and provide a copy of
the filing to the employee, group of employees, individual, or employee organization
that filed the petition.
(ii) A hearing shall be held before the Board pursuant to subdivision (d)(1)(B) of this
section in the event the employer challenges the appropriateness of the proposed bargaining
unit, provided that a hearing shall not be held if the parties stipulate to the composition
of the appropriate bargaining unit and resolve any other unit determination issues
before the hearing.
(iii) The Board may endeavor to informally mediate any dispute regarding the appropriateness
of the proposed bargaining unit prior to the hearing.
(B)(i) Within five business days after receiving a copy of the petition, the employer shall
file with the Board and the employee or group of employees, or the individual or employee
organization purporting to act on their behalf, a list of the names and job titles
of the employees in the proposed bargaining unit. To the extent possible, the list
of employees shall be in alphabetical order by last name and provided in electronic
format.
(ii) An employee or group of employees, or any person purporting to act on their behalf,
that is seeking to demonstrate that the current bargaining agent is no longer supported
by at least 51 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit shall not be entitled
to obtain a list of the employees in the bargaining unit from the employer pursuant
to this subdivision (a)(2)(B), but may obtain a list pursuant to subdivision (e)(3)
of this section after the Board has investigated its petition and determined that
a secret ballot election shall be conducted.
(iii) The list shall be kept confidential and shall be exempt from copying and inspection
under the Public Records Act.
(b) The Board, a Board member, or a person or persons designated by the Board shall investigate
the petition and do one of the following:
(1) Determine that the petition has made a sufficient showing of interest pursuant to
subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section.
(2)(A) If it finds reasonable cause to believe that a question of unit determination or representation
exists, the Board shall schedule a hearing to be held before the Board not more than
ten business days after the petition was filed with the Board.
(B) Once scheduled, the date of the hearing shall not be subject to change except as provided
pursuant to subdivision (e)(4) of this section.
(C) Hearing procedure and notification of the results of the hearing shall be in accordance
with rules adopted by the Board, except that the parties shall only be permitted to
submit posthearing briefs within not more than five business days after the hearing
if the parties mutually agree to do so or if the Board requests that the parties submit
posthearing briefs.
(D) The Board shall issue its decision as soon as practicable and, in any event, not more
than five business days after the hearing or the submission of any posthearing briefs.
(3) If the Board finds an absence of substantive evidence, it shall dismiss the petition.
(c) In determining whether a question of representation exists, the Board shall take into
consideration the following criteria:
(1) The similarity or divergence of the interests, needs, and general conditions of employment
of all employees within the proposed bargaining unit. The Board may, in its discretion,
require that a separate vote be taken among any particular class or type of employee
within a proposed unit to determine specifically if the class or type wishes to be
included. No bargaining unit shall include both professional employees and other
municipal employees unless a majority of such professional employees vote for inclusion
in such unit.
(2) Whether overfragmentation of units will result from certification to a degree that
is likely to produce an adverse effect on the effective representation of other employees
of the municipal employer or upon the effective operation of the municipal employer.
(3) In determining whether a unit is appropriate the extent to which the employees have
organized is not controlling.
(d) Nothing in this chapter prohibits the waiving of hearings by stipulation for a consent
election in conformity with rules of decision of the Board.
(e)(1) Except as otherwise provided pursuant to subsection (h) of this section, in determining
the representation of municipal employees in a collective bargaining unit, the Board
shall conduct an election by secret ballot of the employees and certify the results
to the interested parties and to the employer. The election shall be held not more
than 23 business days after the petition is filed with the Board except as otherwise
provided pursuant to subdivision (4) of this subsection.
(2) The original ballot shall permit a vote against representation by anyone named on
the ballot. No representative will be certified with less than a 51 percent affirmative
vote of all votes cast. If it is asserted that the certified bargaining agent is no
longer supported by at least 51 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit and
there is no attempt to seek the election of another employee organization or individual
as bargaining representative, there shall be at least 51 percent negative vote of
all votes cast to decertify the existing bargaining agent.
(3)(A) The employer shall file with the Board and the other parties a list of the employees
in the bargaining unit within two business days after the Board determines that a
secret ballot election shall be conducted.
(B) The list shall include, as appropriate, each employee’s name, work location, shift,
job classification, and contact information. As used in this subdivision (3), “contact
information” includes an employee’s home address, personal email address, and home
and personal cellular telephone numbers to the extent that the employer is in possession
of such information.
(C) To the extent possible, the list of employees shall be in alphabetical order by last
name and provided in electronic format.
(D) The list shall be:
(i) kept confidential by the Board and all of the parties; and
(ii) shall be exempt from copying and inspection under the Public Records Act.
(E) Failure to file the list within the time required pursuant to subdivision (A) of this
subdivision (3) may be grounds for the Board to set aside the results of the election
if an objection is filed within the time required pursuant to the Board’s rules.
(4) The Board may, upon the request of any party or on its own motion, extend any time
period set forth in this subsection or in subsections (a) and (b) of this section
for good cause, provided that the election shall be conducted, or, in the event of
a mail ballot election, that ballots are mailed to the employees, within not more
than 60 calendar days after the date the petition is filed pursuant to subsection
(a) of this section. The Board may further extend the date to conduct the election
by not more than 30 additional calendar days upon the mutual agreement of the parties
or if it determines that extraordinary circumstances have made such an extension necessary.
(f) If in such election none of the choices receive at least a 51 percent affirmative
vote of all votes cast, a runoff election shall be conducted, the ballot providing
for a selection between the two choices receiving the largest and second largest number
of valid votes cast in the original election.
(g) 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 unfair
labor practices.
(h)(1) Notwithstanding subsections (e)–(g) of this section, if following its investigation
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section the Board determines that a petition to
be represented for collective bargaining filed pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section, which identifies a proposed bargaining agent, bears the signatures of at
least 50 percent plus one of the employees in the bargaining unit, the Board shall
certify the individual or labor organization identified as the bargaining agent.
(2) Certification of a bargaining agent shall only be available pursuant to this subsection
when no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized
as the agent of the employees in the bargaining unit.
(i) No election shall be conducted under this section in a bargaining unit or a subdivision
within which in the preceding 12 months a valid election has been held. (Added 1973, No. 111, § 1; amended 1989, No. 135 (Adj. Sess.); 2019, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2021; 2023, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. July 1, 2024; 2025, No. 18, § 36, eff. May 13, 2025.)