SUBJECT |
DESCRIPTION |
STATUS |
CASE NAME |
Firearms |
After officer was involved in shooting and became the defendant in a civil lawsuit, City assigned him to a non-armed position. Requiring the City to “re-arm” the officer would substantially limit the City’s policy making power to determine the conditions under which it is proper for its officers to be armed. |
Not Mandatory. Employer allowed to maintain assignment. |
City of Newark, 29 NJPER ¶174 (N.J. PERC 2003). |
Insurance |
Proposal would require employer to provide false arrest and indemnity insurance. Proposal mandatory even though it applied to off-duty conduct. |
Mandatory. Employer required to bargain over issue. |
County of Passaic, 29 NJPER ¶91 (N.J. PERC 2003). |
Subcontracting |
Employer unilaterally transferred work of court liaison officer to civilian personnel. |
Mandatory. Employer required to rescind transfer. |
City of Allentown v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 2003 WL 23507828 (Pa.Cmwlth. 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).