Bargaining Update

SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION	STATUS	CASE NAME
Insurance	Employer refused to proceed to arbitration over question of whether it was required to indemnify an officer against a $30,000 judgment awarded in a case where the officer was alleged to have assaulted a suspect.	Mandatory. Employer required to proceed to arbitration.	City of Newark, 29 NJPER ¶38 (N.J. PERC 2003).
Payroll Practices	Employer unilaterally changed from weekly payroll system to monthly system.	Mandatory. Employer required to reinstate past practice.	Sheriff of Worcester County v. Labor Relations Commission, 808 N.E.2d 331 (Mass.App. 2004).@
Residency	Employer refused to bargain over proposals dealing with residency. Court held that residency is not a matter of inherent managerial authority.	Mandatory. Employer required to bargain over issue.	County of Cook v. Illinois LRB, 2004 WL 527782 (Ill.App. 2004).
Subcontracting	Employer eliminated captain’s position, transferring work to lieutenants. Since lieutenants were within the same bargaining unit, no impermissible subcontracting.	Not Mandatory. Employer not required to bargain over issue.	Perry County, 19 PERI ¶124 (Ill. Labor Board 2003).

There are three categories of bargaining topics.

Mandatory. Mandatory subjects must be negotiated if either side raises them during the negotiations process. If a past practice concerns a mandatory subject of bargaining, an employer may not make a change in the practice without first bargaining with the labor organization unless the labor organization has waived its right to negotiate over the subject.

Permissive. Permissive subjects need not be negotiated by either party, but can be negotiated if both sides voluntarily choose to do so. An employer is free to make changes in past practices affecting permissive subjects of bargaining without first bargaining with a labor organization.

Prohibited. Prohibited subjects are excluded from bargaining. A subject is often prohibited if it is “preempted” by another law covering the subject (e.g., a state law might preempt bargaining over the entire subject of pension benefits).