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To amend section 4117.10 and to enact sections | 1 |
5906.01, 5906.02, 5906.03, and 5906.99 of the | 2 |
Revised Code to provide two weeks of leave for any | 3 |
employee who is the spouse or parent of a member | 4 |
of the uniformed services who is called to active | 5 |
duty or is injured, wounded, or hospitalized while | 6 |
serving in a combat zone. | 7 |
Section 1. That section 4117.10 be amended and sections | 8 |
5906.01, 5906.02, 5906.03, and 5906.99 of the Revised Code be | 9 |
enacted to read as follows: | 10 |
Sec. 4117.10. (A) An agreement between a public employer and | 11 |
an exclusive representative entered into pursuant to this chapter | 12 |
governs the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of public | 13 |
employment covered by the agreement. If the agreement provides for | 14 |
a final and binding arbitration of grievances, public employers, | 15 |
employees, and employee organizations are subject solely to that | 16 |
grievance procedure and the state personnel board of review or | 17 |
civil service commissions have no jurisdiction to receive and | 18 |
determine any appeals relating to matters that were the subject of | 19 |
a final and binding grievance procedure. Where no agreement exists | 20 |
or where an agreement makes no specification about a matter, the | 21 |
public employer and public employees are subject to all applicable | 22 |
state or local laws or ordinances pertaining to the wages, hours, | 23 |
and terms and conditions of employment for public employees. Laws | 24 |
pertaining to civil rights, affirmative action, unemployment | 25 |
compensation, workers' compensation, the retirement of public | 26 |
employees, and residency requirements, the minimum educational | 27 |
requirements contained in the Revised Code pertaining to public | 28 |
education including the requirement of a certificate by the fiscal | 29 |
officer of a school district pursuant to section 5705.41 of the | 30 |
Revised Code, the provisions of division (A) of section 124.34 of | 31 |
the Revised Code governing the disciplining of officers and | 32 |
employees who have been convicted of a felony, and the minimum | 33 |
standards promulgated by the state board of education pursuant to | 34 |
division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code prevail over | 35 |
conflicting provisions of agreements between employee | 36 |
organizations and public employers. The law pertaining to the | 37 |
leave of absence and compensation provided under section 5923.05 | 38 |
of the Revised Code prevails over any conflicting provisions of | 39 |
such agreements if the terms of the agreement contain benefits | 40 |
which are less than those contained in that section or the | 41 |
agreement contains no such terms and the public authority is the | 42 |
state or any agency, authority, commission, or board of the state | 43 |
or if the public authority is another entity listed in division | 44 |
(B) of section 4117.01 of the Revised Code that elects to provide | 45 |
leave of absence and compensation as provided in section 5923.05 | 46 |
of the Revised Code. The law pertaining to the leave established | 47 |
under section 5906.02 of the Revised Code prevails over any | 48 |
conflicting provision of an agreement between an employee | 49 |
organization and public employer if the terms of the agreement | 50 |
contain benefits that are less than those contained in section | 51 |
5906.02 of the Revised Code. Except for sections 306.08, 306.12, | 52 |
306.35, and 4981.22 of the Revised Code and arrangements entered | 53 |
into thereunder, and section 4981.21 of the Revised Code as | 54 |
necessary to comply with section 13(c) of the "Urban Mass | 55 |
Transportation Act of 1964," 87 Stat. 295, 49 U.S.C.A. 1609(c), as | 56 |
amended, and arrangements entered into thereunder, this chapter | 57 |
prevails over any and all other conflicting laws, resolutions, | 58 |
provisions, present or future, except as otherwise specified in | 59 |
this chapter or as otherwise specified by the general assembly. | 60 |
Nothing in this section prohibits or shall be construed to | 61 |
invalidate the provisions of an agreement establishing | 62 |
supplemental workers' compensation or unemployment compensation | 63 |
benefits or exceeding minimum requirements contained in the | 64 |
Revised Code pertaining to public education or the minimum | 65 |
standards promulgated by the state board of education pursuant to | 66 |
division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code. | 67 |
(B) The public employer shall submit a request for funds | 68 |
necessary to implement an agreement and for approval of any other | 69 |
matter requiring the approval of the appropriate legislative body | 70 |
to the legislative body within fourteen days of the date on which | 71 |
the parties finalize the agreement, unless otherwise specified, | 72 |
but if the appropriate legislative body is not in session at the | 73 |
time, then within fourteen days after it convenes. The legislative | 74 |
body must approve or reject the submission as a whole, and the | 75 |
submission is deemed approved if the legislative body fails to act | 76 |
within thirty days after the public employer submits the | 77 |
agreement. The parties may specify that those provisions of the | 78 |
agreement not requiring action by a legislative body are effective | 79 |
and operative in accordance with the terms of the agreement, | 80 |
provided there has been compliance with division (C) of this | 81 |
section. If the legislative body rejects the submission of the | 82 |
public employer, either party may reopen all or part of the entire | 83 |
agreement. | 84 |
As used in this section, "legislative body" includes the | 85 |
governing board of a municipal corporation, school district, | 86 |
college or university, village, township, or board of county | 87 |
commissioners or any other body that has authority to approve the | 88 |
budget of their public jurisdiction and, with regard to the state, | 89 |
"legislative body" means the controlling board. | 90 |
(C) The chief executive officer, or the chief executive | 91 |
officer's representative, of each municipal corporation, the | 92 |
designated representative of the board of education of each school | 93 |
district, college or university, or any other body that has | 94 |
authority to approve the budget of their public jurisdiction, the | 95 |
designated representative of the board of county commissioners and | 96 |
of each elected officeholder of the county whose employees are | 97 |
covered by the collective negotiations, and the designated | 98 |
representative of the village or the board of township trustees of | 99 |
each township is responsible for negotiations in the collective | 100 |
bargaining process; except that the legislative body may accept or | 101 |
reject a proposed collective bargaining agreement. When the | 102 |
matters about which there is agreement are reduced to writing and | 103 |
approved by the employee organization and the legislative body, | 104 |
the agreement is binding upon the legislative body, the employer, | 105 |
and the employee organization and employees covered by the | 106 |
agreement. | 107 |
(D) There is hereby established an office of collective | 108 |
bargaining in the department of administrative services for the | 109 |
purpose of negotiating with and entering into written agreements | 110 |
between state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions and | 111 |
the exclusive representative on matters of wages, hours, terms and | 112 |
other conditions of employment and the continuation, modification, | 113 |
or deletion of an existing provision of a collective bargaining | 114 |
agreement. Nothing in any provision of law to the contrary shall | 115 |
be interpreted as excluding the bureau of workers' compensation | 116 |
and the industrial commission from the preceding sentence. This | 117 |
office shall not negotiate on behalf of other statewide elected | 118 |
officials or boards of trustees of state institutions of higher | 119 |
education who shall be considered as separate public employers for | 120 |
the purposes of this chapter; however, the office may negotiate on | 121 |
behalf of these officials or trustees where authorized by the | 122 |
officials or trustees. The staff of the office of collective | 123 |
bargaining are in the unclassified service. The director of | 124 |
administrative services shall fix the compensation of the staff. | 125 |
The office of collective bargaining shall: | 126 |
(1) Assist the director in formulating management's | 127 |
philosophy for public collective bargaining as well as planning | 128 |
bargaining strategies; | 129 |
(2) Conduct negotiations with the exclusive representatives | 130 |
of each employee organization; | 131 |
(3) Coordinate the state's resources in all mediation, | 132 |
fact-finding, and arbitration cases as well as in all labor | 133 |
disputes; | 134 |
(4) Conduct systematic reviews of collective bargaining | 135 |
agreements for the purpose of contract negotiations; | 136 |
(5) Coordinate the systematic compilation of data by all | 137 |
agencies that is required for negotiating purposes; | 138 |
(6) Prepare and submit an annual report and other reports as | 139 |
requested to the governor and the general assembly on the | 140 |
implementation of this chapter and its impact upon state | 141 |
government. | 142 |
Sec. 5906.01. As used in this chapter: | 143 |
(A) "Active duty" means full-time duty in the active military | 144 |
service of the United States or active duty pursuant to an | 145 |
executive order of the president of the United States, an act of | 146 |
the congress of the United States, or a proclamation of the | 147 |
governor. "Active duty" does not include active duty for training, | 148 |
initial active duty for training, or the period of time for which | 149 |
a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose | 150 |
of an examination to determine the fitness of the person to | 151 |
perform any duty unless such period is contemporaneous with an | 152 |
active duty period. | 153 |
(B) "Benefits" means the employment benefits, other than | 154 |
salary or wages, that an employer regularly provides or makes | 155 |
available to employees, including, but not limited to, medical | 156 |
insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, pension plans, | 157 |
and retirement plans. | 158 |
(C) "Employer" means a person who employs fifteen or more | 159 |
employees and includes the state or any agency or instrumentality | 160 |
of the state, and any municipal corporation, county, township, | 161 |
school district, or other political subdivision of the state. | 162 |
(D) "Employee" has the same meaning as in section 4113.51 of | 163 |
the Revised Code. | 164 |
(E) "Uniformed services" means the armed forces, the Ohio | 165 |
organized militia when engaged in full-time national guard duty, | 166 |
the commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other | 167 |
category of persons designated by the president of the United | 168 |
States in time of war or emergency. | 169 |
Sec. 5906.02. (A) An employer shall allow an employee to | 170 |
take leave up to ten days or eighty hours, whichever is less, if | 171 |
all of the following conditions are satisfied: | 172 |
(1) The employer has employed the employee for at least | 173 |
twelve consecutive months and for at least one thousand two | 174 |
hundred fifty hours in the twelve months immediately preceding | 175 |
commencement of the leave. | 176 |
(2) The employee is the parent or spouse of a person who is a | 177 |
member of the uniformed services and who is called into active | 178 |
duty in the uniformed services for a period longer than thirty | 179 |
days. | 180 |
(3) The employee gives notice to the employer that the | 181 |
employee intends to take leave pursuant to this section at least | 182 |
fourteen days prior to taking the leave. | 183 |
(4) The dates on which the employee takes leave pursuant to | 184 |
this section occur no more than two weeks prior to or one week | 185 |
after the deployment date of the employee's spouse or child. | 186 |
(5) The employee does not have any other leave available for | 187 |
the employee's use except sick leave or disability leave. | 188 |
(B) An employer shall continue to provide benefits to the | 189 |
employee during the period of time the employee is on leave | 190 |
pursuant to this section. The employee shall be responsible for | 191 |
the same proportion of the cost of the benefits as the employee | 192 |
regularly pays during periods of time when the employee is not on | 193 |
leave. The employer is not required to pay salary or wages to the | 194 |
employee during the period of time the employee is on leave | 195 |
pursuant to this section. | 196 |
Upon the completion of the leave taken pursuant to this | 197 |
section, the employer shall restore the employee to the position | 198 |
the employee held prior to taking that leave or a position with | 199 |
equivalent seniority, benefits, pay, and other terms and | 200 |
conditions of employment. | 201 |
(C) An employer may require an employee requesting to use the | 202 |
leave established under this section to provide certification from | 203 |
the appropriate military authority to verify that the employee | 204 |
satisfies the criteria described in divisions (A)(2), (3), and | 205 |
(4) of this section. | 206 |
Sec. 5906.03. (A) An employer shall not interfere with, | 207 |
restrain, or deny the exercise or attempted exercise of a right | 208 |
established under this chapter. | 209 |
(B) An employer shall not discharge, fine, suspend, expel, | 210 |
discipline, or discriminate against an employee with respect to | 211 |
any term or condition of employment because of the employee's | 212 |
actual or potential exercise, or support for another employee's | 213 |
exercise, of any right established under this chapter. This | 214 |
division does not prevent an employer from taking an employment | 215 |
action that is independent of the exercise of a right under this | 216 |
chapter. | 217 |
(C) An employer shall not deprive an employee who takes leave | 218 |
pursuant to section 5906.02 of the Revised Code of any benefit | 219 |
that accrued before the date that leave commences. | 220 |
(D) An employer shall not require an employee to waive the | 221 |
rights to which the employee is entitled pursuant to this chapter. | 222 |
(E) On and after the effective date of this section, an | 223 |
employer shall not enter into a collective bargaining agreement or | 224 |
employee benefit plan that limits or requires an employee to waive | 225 |
the rights established under this chapter. An employer shall | 226 |
comply with any collective bargaining agreement or employee | 227 |
benefit plan that provides leave benefits similar to the type | 228 |
established under this chapter that are greater than the leave | 229 |
benefits established under this chapter. | 230 |
(F) An employer may provide leave benefits greater than those | 231 |
established under this chapter. | 232 |
Sec. 5906.99. Whoever violates this chapter is subject to a | 233 |
civil action for injunctive relief or any other relief that a | 234 |
court finds necessary to secure a right provided by this chapter. | 235 |
Section 2. That existing section 4117.10 of the Revised Code | 236 |
is hereby repealed. | 237 |
Section 3. This act does apply to employers and employees, as | 238 |
defined in section 5906.01 of the Revised Code as enacted by this | 239 |
act, who have entered into a collective bargaining agreement or | 240 |
other contract of employment that is in effect before the | 241 |
effective date of this act and that conflicts with this act, but | 242 |
shall apply to such employers and employees immediately upon the | 243 |
expiration of such conflicting agreement or contract. | 244 |