Ohio § 4117.01

§ 4117.01.

As used in this chapter: (A) “ Person ,” in addition to those included in division (C) of section 1.59 of the Revised Code , includes employee organizations, public employees, and public employers. (B) “ Public employer ” means the state or any political subdivision of the state located entirely within

the state, including, without limitation, any municipal corporation with a population

of at least five thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census;  county;

 township with a population of at least five thousand in the unincorporated area of

the township according to the most recent federal decennial census;  school district;

 governing authority of a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the

Revised Code;  college preparatory boarding school established under Chapter 3328.

of the Revised Code or its operator;  state institution of higher learning;  public

or special district;  state agency, authority, commission, or board;  or other branch

of public employment.  “Public employer” does not include the nonprofit corporation formed under section 187.01 of the Revised Code . (C) “ Public employee ” means any person holding a position by appointment or employment in the service

of a public employer, including any person working pursuant to a contract between

a public employer and a private employer and over whom the national labor relations

board has declined jurisdiction on the basis that the involved employees are employees

of a public employer, except: (1) Persons holding elective office; (2) Employees of the general assembly and employees of any other legislative body of

the public employer whose principal duties are directly related to the legislative

functions of the body; (3) Employees on the staff of the governor or the chief executive of the public employer

whose principal duties are directly related to the performance of the executive functions

of the governor or the chief executive; (4) Persons who are members of the Ohio organized militia, while training or performing

duty under section 5919.29 or 5923.12 of the Revised Code ; (5) Employees of the state employment relations board, including those employees of the

state employment relations board utilized by the state personnel board of review in

the exercise of the powers and the performance of the duties and functions of the

state personnel board of review; (6) Confidential employees; (7) Management level employees; (8) Employees and officers of the courts, assistants to the attorney general, assistant

prosecuting attorneys, and employees of the clerks of courts who perform a judicial

function; (9) Employees of a public official who act in a fiduciary capacity, appointed pursuant

to section 124.11 of the Revised Code ; (10) Supervisors; (11) Students whose primary purpose is educational training, including graduate assistants

or associates, residents, interns, or other students working as part-time public employees

less than fifty per cent of the normal year in the employee's bargaining unit; (12) Employees of county boards of election; (13) Seasonal and casual employees as determined by the state employment relations board; (14) Part-time faculty members of an institution of higher education; (15) Participants in a work activity, developmental activity, or alternative work activity

under sections 5107.40 to 5107.69 of the Revised Code who perform a service for a public employer that the public employer needs but is

not performed by an employee of the public employer if the participant is not engaged

in paid employment or subsidized employment pursuant to the activity; (16) Employees included in the career professional service of the department of transportation

under section 5501.20 of the Revised Code ; (17) Employees of community-based correctional facilities and district community-based

correctional facilities created under sections 2301.51 to 2301.58 of the Revised Code . (D) “ Employee organization ” means any labor or bona fide organization in which public employees participate

and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with public employers

concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, terms, and other conditions of

employment. (E) “ Exclusive representative ” means the employee organization certified or recognized as an exclusive representative

under section 4117.05 of the Revised Code . (F) “ Supervisor ” means any individual who has authority, in the interest of the public employer,

to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or

discipline other public employees;  to responsibly direct them;  to adjust their grievances;

 or to effectively recommend such action, if the exercise of that authority is not

of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment,

provided that: (1) Employees of school districts who are department chairpersons or consulting teachers

shall not be deemed supervisors. (2) With respect to members of a police or fire department, no person shall be deemed

a supervisor except the chief of the department or those individuals who, in the absence

of the chief, are authorized to exercise the authority and perform the duties of the

chief of the department.  Where prior to June 1, 1982, a public employer pursuant to a judicial decision,

rendered in litigation to which the public employer was a party, has declined to engage

in collective bargaining with members of a police or fire department on the basis

that those members are supervisors, those members of a police or fire department do

not have the rights specified in this chapter for the purposes of future collective

bargaining.  The state employment relations board shall decide all disputes concerning the application

of division (F)(2) of this section. (3) With respect to faculty members of a state institution of higher education, heads

of departments or divisions are supervisors;  however, no other faculty member or

group of faculty members is a supervisor solely because the faculty member or group

of faculty members participate in decisions with respect to courses, curriculum, personnel,

or other matters of academic policy. (4) No teacher as defined in section 3319.09 of the Revised Code shall be designated as a supervisor or a management level employee unless the teacher

is employed under a contract governed by section 3319.01 , 3319.011 , or 3319.02 of the Revised Code and is assigned to a position for which a license deemed to be for administrators

under state board rules is required pursuant to section 3319.22 of the Revised Code . (G) “ To bargain collectively ” means to perform the mutual obligation of the public employer, by its representatives,

and the representatives of its employees to negotiate in good faith at reasonable

times and places with respect to wages, hours, terms, and other conditions of employment

and the continuation, modification, or deletion of an existing provision of a collective

bargaining agreement, with the intention of reaching an agreement, or to resolve questions

arising under the agreement.  “ To bargain collectively ” includes executing a written contract incorporating the terms of any agreement reached.  The obligation to bargain collectively does not mean that either party is compelled

to agree to a proposal nor does it require the making of a concession. (H) “ Strike ” means continuous concerted action in failing to report to duty;  willful absence

from one's position;  or stoppage of work in whole from the full, faithful, and proper

performance of the duties of employment, for the purpose of inducing, influencing,

or coercing a change in wages, hours, terms, and other conditions of employment.  “Strike” does not include a stoppage of work by employees in good faith because

of dangerous or unhealthful working conditions at the place of employment that are

abnormal to the place of employment. (I) “ Unauthorized strike ” includes, but is not limited to, concerted action during the term or extended term

of a collective bargaining agreement or during the pendency of the settlement procedures

set forth in section 4117.14 of the Revised Code in failing to report to duty;  willful absence from one's position;  stoppage of

work;  slowdown, or abstinence in whole or in part from the full, faithful, and proper

performance of the duties of employment for the purpose of inducing, influencing,

or coercing a change in wages, hours, terms, and other conditions of employment.  “ Unauthorized strike ” includes any such action, absence, stoppage, slowdown, or abstinence when done partially

or intermittently, whether during or after the expiration of the term or extended

term of a collective bargaining agreement or during or after the pendency of the settlement

procedures set forth in section 4117.14 of the Revised Code . (J) “ Professional employee ” means any employee engaged in work that is predominantly intellectual, involving

the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance and requiring

knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired

by a prolonged course in an institution of higher learning or a hospital, as distinguished

from a general academic education or from an apprenticeship;  or an employee who has

completed the courses of specialized intellectual instruction and is performing related

work under the supervision of a professional person to become qualified as a professional

employee. (K) “ Confidential employee ” means any employee who works in the personnel offices of a public employer and deals

with information to be used by the public employer in collective bargaining;  or any

employee who works in a close continuing relationship with public officers or representatives

directly participating in collective bargaining on behalf of the employer. (L) “ Management level employee ” means an individual who formulates policy on behalf of the public employer, who

responsibly directs the implementation of policy, or who may reasonably be required

on behalf of the public employer to assist in the preparation for the conduct of collective

negotiations, administer collectively negotiated agreements, or have a major role

in personnel administration.  Assistant superintendents, principals, and assistant principals whose employment

is governed by section 3319.02 of the Revised Code are management level employees.  With respect to members of a faculty of a state institution of higher education,

no person is a management level employee because of the person's involvement in the

formulation or implementation of academic or institution policy. (M) “ Wages ” means hourly rates of pay, salaries, or other forms of compensation for services

rendered. (N) “ Member of a police department ” means a person who is in the employ of a police department of a municipal corporation

as a full-time regular police officer as the result of an appointment from a duly

established civil service eligibility list or under section 737.15 or 737.16 of the Revised Code , a full-time deputy sheriff appointed under section 311.04 of the Revised Code , a township constable appointed under section 509.01 of the Revised Code , or a member of a township or joint police district police department appointed under section 505.49 of the Revised Code . (O) “ Members of the state highway patrol ” means highway patrol troopers and radio operators appointed under section 5503.01 of the Revised Code . (P) “ Member of a fire department ” means a person who is in the employ of a fire department of a municipal corporation

or a township as a fire cadet, full-time regular firefighter, or promoted rank as

the result of an appointment from a duly established civil service eligibility list

or under section 505.38 , 709.012 , or 737.22 of the Revised Code . (Q) “ Day ” means calendar day.