Sec. 4117.14. (A) The procedures contained in this section govern the settlement of disputes between an exclusive representative and a public employer concerning the termination or modification of an existing collective bargaining agreement or negotiation of a successor agreement, or the negotiation of an initial collective bargaining agreement.
(B)(1) In those cases where there exists a collective bargaining agreement, any public employer or exclusive representative desiring to terminate, modify, or negotiate a successor collective bargaining agreement shall:
(a) Serve written notice upon the other party of the proposed termination, modification, or successor agreement. The party must serve the notice not less than sixty days prior to the expiration date of the existing agreement or, in the event the existing collective bargaining agreement does not contain an expiration date, not less than sixty days prior to the time it is proposed to make the termination or modifications or to make effective a successor agreement.
(b) Offer to bargain collectively with the other party for the purpose of modifying or terminating any existing agreement or negotiating a successor agreement not less than sixty days prior to the expiration date of the existing agreement;
(c) Notify the state employment relations board of the offer by serving upon the board a copy of the written notice to the other party and a copy of the existing collective bargaining agreement not less than sixty days prior to the expiration date of the existing agreement.
(2) In the case of initial negotiations between a public employer and an exclusive representative, where a collective bargaining agreement has not been in effect between the parties, any party may serve notice upon the board and the other party setting forth the names and addresses of the parties and offering to meet, for a period of ninety one hundred twenty days, with the other party for the purpose of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.
If the settlement procedures specified in divisions (B), and (C), and (D) of this section govern the parties, where those procedures refer to the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, it means the expiration of the sixty-day period to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement referred to in this subdivision, or in the case of initial negotiations, it means the ninety-day period referred to in this subdivision.
(3) The parties shall continue in full force and effect all the terms and conditions of any existing collective bargaining agreement, without resort to strike or lock-out, for a period of sixty ninety days after the party gives notice or until the expiration date of the collective bargaining agreement, whichever occurs later, or for a period of ninety one hundred twenty days where applicable.
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(a) The fact-finding panel finder shall, in accordance with rules and procedures established by the board that include the regulation of costs and expenses of fact-finding, gather facts and make recommendations for the resolution of the matter. The board shall by its rules require each party to specify in writing the unresolved issues and its position on each issue to the fact-finding panel finder. The fact-finding panel finder shall make final recommendations as to all the unresolved issues.
(b) The board may continue mediation, order the parties to engage in collective bargaining until the expiration date of the agreement, or both.
(4)(2) The following guidelines apply to fact-finding:
(a) The fact-finding panel finder may establish times and place of hearings which shall be, where feasible, in the jurisdiction of the state.
(b) The fact-finding panel finder shall conduct the hearing pursuant to rules established by the board.
(c) Upon request of the fact-finding panel finder, the board shall issue subpoenas for hearings conducted by the panel.
(d) The fact-finding panel finder may administer oaths.
(e) The board shall prescribe guidelines for the fact-finding panel finder to follow in making findings. In making its recommendations, the fact-finding panel finder shall take into consideration all of the following factors listed in divisions (G)(7)(a) to (f) of this section:
(i) Past collectively bargained agreements, if any, between the parties;
(ii) Comparison of the issues submitted to fact-finding relative to the employees in the bargaining unit involved with those issues related to other public and private employees doing comparable work, giving consideration to factors peculiar to the area and classification involved;
(iii) As the primary consideration, the interests and welfare of the public and the ability of the public employer to finance and administer the issues proposed;
(iv) The lawful authority of the public employer;
(v) The stipulations of the parties;
(vi) The compensation paid by the public employer to the public employer's public employees who are not members of the bargaining unit represented by the exclusive representative or who are members of that bargaining unit but are not members of the exclusive representative;
(vii) The effect of the recommendations on the public employer's employer-wide collective bargaining program and practices, and the potential increases in cost to the public employer;
(viii) Such other factors, not confined to those listed in this section, that are normally or traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of the issues submitted to final offer settlement through voluntary collective bargaining, mediation, fact-finding, or other impasse resolution procedures in the public service or in private employment.
(f) The fact-finding panel finder may attempt mediation at any time during the fact-finding process. From the time of appointment until the fact-finding panel finder makes a final recommendation, it shall not discuss the recommendations for settlement of the dispute with parties other than the direct parties to the dispute.
(5)(3) The fact-finding panel, acting by a majority of its members, finder shall transmit its findings of fact and recommendations on the unresolved issues to the public employer and employee organization involved and to the board no later than fourteen thirty days after the appointment of the fact-finding panel hearing, unless the parties mutually agree to an extension. The fact-finder shall include with its findings of fact and recommendations a written report explaining how each of the factors listed in division (C)(2)(e) of this section factored into the finder's findings of fact and recommendations. The parties shall share the cost of the fact-finding panel finder in a manner agreed to by the parties.
(6)(4)(a) Not later than seven fourteen days after the findings and recommendations are sent, the legislative body, by a three-fifths vote of its total membership, and in the case of the public employee organization, the membership, by a three-fifths vote of the total membership, may reject the recommendations; if. If neither rejects the recommendations, the recommendations shall be deemed agreed upon as the final resolution of the issues submitted and a collective bargaining agreement shall be executed between the parties, including the fact-finding panel's finder's recommendations, except as otherwise modified by the parties by mutual agreement. If either the legislative body or the public employee organization rejects the recommendations, the board shall publicize the findings of fact and recommendations of the fact-finding panel finder. The board shall adopt rules governing the procedures and methods for public employees to vote on the recommendations of the fact-finding panel finder.
(b) As used in division (C)(6)(4)(a) of this section, "legislative body" means the controlling board when the state or any of its agencies, authorities, commissions, boards, or other branch of public employment is party to the fact-finding process.
(D)(1) If the parties are unable to reach agreement within seven fourteen days after the publication of findings and recommendations from the fact-finding panel finder or the collective bargaining agreement, if one exists, has expired, then the:
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(2) After receiving the submissions required under division (D)(1) of this section, the legislative body or a duly authorized committee of the legislative body shall conduct a hearing, as soon as is practicable, at which the parties shall be required to explain their positions with respect to the report of the fact-finder. The legislative body shall hold the hearing open to the public and shall not deem the hearing an executive session of the legislative body. Upon the conclusion of the hearing, the legislative body shall vote to accept either the last best offer of the exclusive representative or the last best offer of the public employer. The parties shall execute a collective bargaining agreement that represents the last best offer chosen by the legislative body and that agreement shall be effective for a term of three years.
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No public employee or employee organization shall engage in a strike, and no public employee or employee organization shall cause, instigate, encourage, or condone a strike. Whenever a strike occurs, the public employer may seek an injunction against the strike in the court of common pleas of the county in which the strike is located.
(B) Any person who violates division (A) of this section may be subject to removal or other disciplinary action provided by law for misconduct. The public employer, the state employment relations board, or any court of competent jurisdiction may not waive the penalties or fines provided in this section as part of the settlement of an illegal strike.
(C) An employee who is absent from work without permission or who abstains wholly or in part from the full performance of the employee's duties in the employee's normal manner without permission, on the date when a strike occurs, shall be presumed to have engaged in the strike on that date.
(D) No person exercising on behalf of any public employer any authority, supervision, or direction over any public employee shall have the power to authorize, approve, condone, or consent to a strike, or the engaging in a strike, by one or more public employees, and such person shall not authorize, approve, condone or consent to such strike or engagement.
(E) In the event that it appears that a violation of this section may have occurred, the chief executive officer of the public employer involved shall, on the basis of such investigation and affidavits as the chief executive officer may deem appropriate, determine whether or not such violation has occurred and the dates of such violation. If the chief executive officer determines that such violation has occurred, the chief executive officer shall also determine, on the basis of such further investigation and affidavits as the chief executive officer may deem appropriate, the names of employees who committed the violation and the dates thereof. Such determination shall not be final until the completion of the procedures provided for in this section.
(F) The chief executive officer shall immediately notify each employee that the chief executive officer has been found to have committed the violation, the dates of the violation, and that the employee has the right to object to the determination under division (H) of this section. The chief executive officer shall also notify the chief fiscal officer of the names of all the employees determined to have violated this section and of the total number of days, or portions thereof, on which it has been determined that the violation occurred. Notice to each employee shall be by personal service or by certified mail to the employee's last address filed by the employee with the employer.
(G) Not earlier than thirty days or later than ninety days following the date of the determination made under division (E) of this section, the chief fiscal officer of the public employer involved shall deduct from the compensation of each such public employee an amount equal to twice the employee's daily rate of pay for each day or part thereof that the chief executive officer determined that the employee violated this section. The employee's daily rate of pay is the employee's rate of pay at the time of the violation. In computing the deduction, credit shall be allowed for amounts already withheld from an employee's compensation on account of the employee's absence from work or other withholding of services on the dates of the violation. In computing the thirty-day to ninety-day period of time following the determination of a violation pursuant to division (E) of this section if the employee's annual compensation is paid over a period of time which is less than fifty-two weeks, that period of time between the last day of the last payroll period of the employment term in which the violation occurred and the first day of the first payroll period of the next succeeding employment term shall be disregarded and not counted.
(H) Within twenty days after the date on which notice was served or mailed to an employee pursuant to division (F) of this section, the employee determined to have violated this section may object to the determination by filing with the chief executive officer the employee's sworn affidavit, supported by available documentary proof, which shall contain a short and plain statement of the facts upon which the employee relies to show that such determination was incorrect. An employee who submits an affidavit pursuant to this division shall be subject to the penalties of perjury.
(1) If the chief executive officer determines that the affidavit and supporting proof establishes that the employee did not violate this section, the chief executive officer shall sustain the objection.
(2) If the chief executive officer determines that the employee did not violate this section, the chief executive officer shall dismiss the objection and so notify the employee.
(3) If the chief executive officer determines that the affidavit and supporting proof raises a question of fact which, if resolved in favor of the employee, would establish that the employee did not violate this section, the chief executive officer shall appoint a hearing officer to determine whether in fact the employee did violate this section. The employee shall bear the burden of proof at the hearing. If the hearing officer determines that the employee failed to establish that the employee did not violate this section, the chief executive officer shall so notify the employee.
(4) If the chief executive officer sustains an objection or the hearing officer determines on a preponderance of the evidence that the employee did not violate this section, the chief executive officer shall immediately notify the chief fiscal officer who shall cease all further deductions and refund any deductions previously made pursuant to division (G) of this section.
(I) The determinations provided in this section shall be reviewable pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(J) An unfair labor practice by a public employer is not a defense to the injunction proceeding noted in division (A) of this section. Allegations of unfair labor practices during the settlement procedures set forth in section 4117.14 of the Revised Code shall receive priority by the state employment relations board.
(C)(K) No public employee is entitled to pay or compensation from the public employer for the period engaged in any strike.
(L) As used in this section and section 4117.27 of the Revised Code "public employee" has the same meaning as in section 4117.01 of the Revised Code, except "public employee" also includes those persons listed in divisions (C)(1) to (18) of that section.
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