New Jersey § 34:13a-5

§ 34:13a-5.

Except as hereinafter provided, public employees shall have, and shall be protected

in the exercise of, the right, freely and without fear of penalty or reprisal, to

form, join and assist any employee organization or to refrain from any such activity;

provided, however, that this right shall not extend to elected officials, members

of boards and commissions, managerial executives, or confidential employees, except

in a school district the term managerial executive shall mean the superintendent of

schools or his equivalent, nor, except where established practice, prior agreement

or special circumstances dictate the contrary, shall any supervisor having the power

to hire, discharge, discipline, or to effectively recommend the same, have the right

to be represented in collective negotiations by an employee organization that admits

nonsupervisory personnel to membership, and the fact that any organization has such

supervisory employees as members shall not deny the right of that organization to

represent the appropriate unit in collective negotiations; and provided further,

that, except where established practice, prior agreement, or special circumstances

dictate the contrary, no policeman shall have the right to join an employee organization

that admits employees other than policemen to membership. The negotiating unit shall be defined with due regard for the community of interest

among the employees concerned, but the commission shall not intervene in matters of

recognition and unit definition except in the event of a dispute. Representatives designated or selected by public employees for the purposes of collective

negotiation by the majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes , by the majority of the employees voting in an election conducted by the commission

as authorized by this act or, at the option of the representative in a case in which the commission finds that

only one representative is seeking to be the majority representative, by a majority

of the employees in the unit signing authorization cards indicating their preference

for that representative, shall be the exclusive representatives for collective negotiation concerning the

terms and conditions of employment of the employees in such unit. An authorization card indicating preference shall not be valid unless it is printed

in a language understood by the employees who signs it. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent any official from meeting with an employee

organization for the purpose of hearing the views and requests of its members in such

unit so long as (a) the majority representative is informed of the meeting; (b) any

changes or modifications in terms and conditions of employment are made only through

negotiation with the majority representative; and (c) a minority organization shall

not present or process grievances. Nothing herein shall be construed to deny to any individual employee his rights

under Civil Service laws or regulations. When no majority representative has been selected as the bargaining agent for the

unit of which an individual employee is a part, he may present his own grievance either

personally or through an appropriate representative or an organization of which he

is a member and have such grievance adjusted. A majority representative of public employees in an appropriate unit shall be entitled

to act for and to negotiate agreements covering all employees in the unit and shall

be responsible for representing the interest of all such employees without discrimination

and without regard to employee organization membership. Proposed new rules or modifications of existing rules governing working conditions

shall be negotiated with the majority representative before they are established. In addition, the majority representative and designated representatives of the public

employer shall meet at reasonable times and negotiate in good faith with respect to

grievances, disciplinary disputes, and other terms and conditions of employment. Nothing herein shall be construed as permitting negotiation of the standards or

criteria for employee performance. When an agreement is reached on the terms and conditions of employment, it shall be

embodied in writing and signed by the authorized representatives of the public employer

and the majority representative. Public employers shall negotiate written policies setting forth grievance and disciplinary

review procedures by means of which their employees or representatives of employees

may appeal the interpretation, application or violation of policies, agreements, and

administrative decisions, including disciplinary determinations, affecting them, provided

that such grievance and disciplinary review procedures shall be included in any agreement

entered into between the public employer and the representative organization. Such grievance and disciplinary review procedures may provide for binding arbitration

as a means for resolving disputes. Except as otherwise provided herein, the procedures agreed to by the parties may

not replace or be inconsistent with any alternate statutory appeal procedure nor may

they provide for binding arbitration of disputes involving the discipline of employees

with statutory protection under tenure or civil service laws, except that such procedures

may provide for binding arbitration of disputes involving the minor discipline of

any public employees protected under the provisions of section 7 of P.L.1968, c. 303

( C.34:13A-5.3 ), other than public employees subject to discipline pursuant to R.S.53:1-10 . Grievance and disciplinary review procedures established by agreement between the

public employer and the representative organization shall be utilized for any dispute

covered by the terms of such agreement. For the purposes of this section, minor discipline shall mean a suspension or fine

of less than five days unless the employee has been suspended or fined an aggregate

of 15 or more days or received more than three suspensions or fines of five days or

less in one calendar year. Where the State of New Jersey and the majority representative have agreed to a disciplinary

review procedure that provides for binding arbitration of disputes involving the major

discipline of any public employee protected under the provisions of this section,

other than public employees subject to discipline pursuant to R.S.53:1-10 , the grievance and disciplinary review procedures established by agreement between

the State of New Jersey and the majority representative shall be utilized for any

dispute covered by the terms of such agreement. For the purposes of this section, major discipline shall mean a removal, disciplinary

demotion, suspension or fine of more than five days, or less where the aggregate number

of days suspended or fined in any one calendar year is 15 or more days or unless the

employee received more than three suspensions or fines of five days or less in one

calendar year. In interpreting the meaning and extent of a provision of a collective negotiation

agreement providing for grievance arbitration, a court or agency shall be bound by

a presumption in favor of arbitration. Doubts as to the scope of an arbitration clause shall be resolved in favor of requiring

arbitration.