ENROLLED
       2024 Legislature                   CS for SB 1746, 1st Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                             20241746er
    1  
    2         An act relating to public employees; amending s.
    3         447.207, F.S.; revising a prohibition on dues to
    4         certain mass transit employees; amending s. 447.301,
    5         F.S.; deleting obsolete language; requiring certain
    6         public employees of an employee organization to submit
    7         executed forms to the bargaining agent; revising
    8         applicability; amending s. 447.303, F.S.; providing
    9         that specified employee organizations have the right
   10         to have its dues and uniform assessments deducted and
   11         collected by the employer from the salaries of those
   12         employees who authorized such deduction and
   13         collection; conforming a cross-reference; amending s.
   14         447.305, F.S.; revising the application employee
   15         organizations must submit to register as certified
   16         bargaining agents; requiring applications for renewal
   17         of registration to include current annual financial
   18         statements prepared by an independent certified public
   19         accountant; revising the information that must be
   20         included in such applications; revising the timeframe
   21         in which certain bargaining agents must submit
   22         specified information and documentation; requiring
   23         certain employee organizations to petition the Public
   24         Employees Relations Commission for recertification;
   25         revising applicability; authorizing the commission to,
   26         and in a specified circumstance requiring the
   27         commission to, investigate an employee organization’s
   28         application for registration renewal; requiring the
   29         commission to deny such applications under specified
   30         circumstances; exempting certain employee
   31         organizations from specified provisions; revising
   32         requirements for a specified annual financial report;
   33         making technical changes; conforming changes made by
   34         the act; providing transitional provisions regarding
   35         the renewal of registration of employee organizations
   36         during a specified timeframe; prohibiting the
   37         commission from taking certain action on a renewal
   38         application; providing an effective date.
   39          
   40  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   41  
   42         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (12) of section
   43  447.207, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   44         447.207 Commission; powers and duties.—
   45         (12) Upon a petition by a public employer after it has been
   46  notified by the Department of Labor that the public employer’s
   47  protective arrangement covering mass transit employees does not
   48  meet the requirements of 49 U.S.C. s. 5333(b) and would
   49  jeopardize the employer’s continued eligibility to receive
   50  Federal Transit Administration funding, the commission may
   51  waive, to the extent necessary for the public employer to comply
   52  with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. s. 5333(b), any of the
   53  following for an employee organization that has been certified
   54  as a bargaining agent to represent mass transit employees:
   55         (a) The prohibition on dues and assessment deductions
   56  provided in s. 447.303(1) as it applies to a mass transit
   57  employee who has provided a copy of his or her membership
   58  authorization form to the employer as part of the authorization
   59  of dues deduction under a waiver.
   60         Section 2. Section 447.301, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   61  read:
   62         447.301 Public employees’ rights; organization and
   63  representation.—
   64         (1)(a) Public employees shall have the right to form, join,
   65  and participate in, or to refrain from forming, joining, or
   66  participating in, any employee organization of their own
   67  choosing.
   68         (b)1. Beginning July 1, 2023, A public employee who desires
   69  to be a member of an employee organization must sign and date a
   70  membership authorization form, as prescribed by the commission,
   71  and submit the executed form to with the bargaining agent.
   72         2. The membership authorization form must identify the name
   73  of the bargaining agent; the name of the employee; the class
   74  code and class title of the employee; the name of the public
   75  employer and employing agency, if applicable; the amount of the
   76  initiation fee and of the monthly dues which the member must
   77  pay; and the name and total amount of salary, allowances, and
   78  other direct or indirect disbursements, including
   79  reimbursements, paid to each of the five highest compensated
   80  officers and employees of the employee organization disclosed
   81  under s. 447.305(2)(d) s. 447.305(2)(c).
   82         3. The membership authorization form must contain the
   83  following statement in 14-point type:
   84  
   85         The State of Florida is a right-to-work state.
   86         Membership or non-membership in a labor union is not
   87         required as a condition of employment, and union
   88         membership and payment of union dues and assessments
   89         are voluntary. Each person has the right to join and
   90         pay dues to a labor union or to refrain from joining
   91         and paying dues to a labor union. No employee may be
   92         discriminated against in any manner for joining and
   93         financially supporting a labor union or for refusing
   94         to join or financially support a labor union.
   95  
   96         4. A public employee may revoke membership in the employee
   97  organization at any time of the year. Upon receipt of the
   98  employee’s written revocation of membership, the employee
   99  organization must revoke a public employee’s membership. The
  100  employee organization may not limit an employee’s right to
  101  revoke membership to certain dates. If a public employee must
  102  complete a form to revoke membership in the employee
  103  organization, the form may not require a reason for the public
  104  employee’s decision to revoke his or her membership.
  105         5. An employee organization must retain for inspection by
  106  the commission such membership authorization forms and any
  107  revocations.
  108         6. This paragraph does not apply to members of a bargaining
  109  unit the majority of whose employees eligible for representation
  110  are employed as law enforcement officers, correctional officers,
  111  or correctional probation officers as those terms are defined in
  112  s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3), respectively, firefighters as defined
  113  in s. 633.102, 911 public safety telecommunicators as defined in
  114  s. 401.465(1)(a), or emergency medical technicians or paramedics
  115  as defined in s. 401.23 an employee organization that has been
  116  certified as a bargaining agent to represent law enforcement
  117  officers, correctional officers, or correctional probation
  118  officers as those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or
  119  (3), respectively, or firefighters as defined in s. 633.102.
  120         7. The commission may adopt rules to implement this
  121  paragraph.
  122         (2) Public employees shall have the right to be represented
  123  by any employee organization of their own choosing and to
  124  negotiate collectively, through a certified bargaining agent,
  125  with their public employer in the determination of the terms and
  126  conditions of their employment. Public employees shall have the
  127  right to be represented in the determination of grievances on
  128  all terms and conditions of their employment. Public employees
  129  shall have the right to refrain from exercising the right to be
  130  represented.
  131         (3) Public employees shall have the right to engage in
  132  concerted activities not prohibited by law, for the purpose of
  133  collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Public
  134  employees shall also have the right to refrain from engaging in
  135  such activities.
  136         (4) Nothing in this part shall be construed to prevent any
  137  public employee from presenting, at any time, his or her own
  138  grievances, in person or by legal counsel, to his or her public
  139  employer and having such grievances adjusted without the
  140  intervention of the bargaining agent, if the adjustment is not
  141  inconsistent with the terms of the collective bargaining
  142  agreement then in effect and if the bargaining agent has been
  143  given reasonable opportunity to be present at any meeting called
  144  for the resolution of such grievances.
  145         (5) In the case of community colleges and universities, the
  146  student government association of each community college or
  147  university shall establish procedures for the selection of, and
  148  shall select, a student representative to be present, at his or
  149  her discretion, at negotiations between the bargaining agent of
  150  the employees and the board of trustees. Each student
  151  representative shall have access to all written draft agreements
  152  and all other written documents pertaining to negotiations
  153  exchanged by the appropriate public employer and the bargaining
  154  agent, including a copy of any prepared written transcripts of
  155  any negotiating session. Each student representative shall have
  156  the right at reasonable times during the negotiating session to
  157  comment to the parties and to the public upon the impact of
  158  proposed agreements on the educational environment of students.
  159  Each student representative shall have the right to be
  160  accompanied by alternates or aides, not to exceed a combined
  161  total of two in number. Each student representative shall be
  162  obligated to participate in good faith during all negotiations
  163  and shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the Public
  164  Employees Relations Commission. The student representatives
  165  shall have neither voting nor veto power in any negotiation,
  166  action, or agreement. The state or any branch, agency, division,
  167  agent, or institution of the state, including community colleges
  168  and universities, may not expend any moneys from any source for
  169  the payment of reimbursement for travel expenses or per diem to
  170  aides, alternates, or student representatives participating in,
  171  observing, or contributing to any negotiating sessions between
  172  the bargaining parties.
  173         Section 3. Section 447.303, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  174  read:
  175         447.303 Dues; deduction and collection.—
  176         (1) Except as authorized in subsection (2) or subject to a
  177  waiver granted pursuant to s. 447.207(12)(a), an employee
  178  organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent may
  179  not have its dues and uniform assessments deducted and collected
  180  by the employer from the salaries of those employees in the
  181  unit. A public employee may pay dues and uniform assessments
  182  directly to the employee organization that has been certified as
  183  the bargaining agent.
  184         (2)(a) An employee organization that has been certified as
  185  a bargaining agent to represent a bargaining unit the majority
  186  of whose employees eligible for representation are employed as
  187  law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or correctional
  188  probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1),
  189  (2), or (3), respectively, or firefighters as defined in s.
  190  633.102, 911 public safety telecommunicators as defined in s.
  191  401.465(1)(a), or emergency medical technicians or paramedics as
  192  defined in s. 401.23 has the right to have its dues and uniform
  193  assessments for that bargaining unit deducted and collected by
  194  the employer from the salaries of those employees who authorize
  195  the deduction and collection of said dues and uniform
  196  assessments. However, such authorization is revocable at the
  197  employee’s request upon 30 days’ written notice to the employer
  198  and employee organization. Said deductions shall commence upon
  199  the bargaining agent’s written request to the employer.
  200         (b) Reasonable costs to the employer of said deductions is
  201  a proper subject of collective bargaining.
  202         (c) Such right to deduction, unless revoked under s.
  203  447.507, is in force for so long as the employee organization
  204  remains the certified bargaining agent for the employees in the
  205  unit.
  206         (3) The public employer is expressly prohibited from any
  207  involvement in the collection of fines, penalties, or special
  208  assessments.
  209         Section 4. Section 447.305, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  210  read:
  211         447.305 Registration of employee organization.—
  212         (1) Every employee organization seeking to become a
  213  certified bargaining agent for public employees shall register
  214  with the commission pursuant to the procedures set forth in s.
  215  120.60 prior to requesting recognition by a public employer for
  216  purposes of collective bargaining and prior to submitting a
  217  petition to the commission requesting certification as an
  218  exclusive bargaining agent. Further, if such employee
  219  organization is not registered, it may not participate in a
  220  representation hearing, participate in a representation
  221  election, or be certified as an exclusive bargaining agent. The
  222  application for registration required by this section shall be
  223  under oath and in such form as the commission may prescribe and
  224  shall include:
  225         (a) The name and address of the organization and of any
  226  parent organization or organization with which it is affiliated.
  227         (b) The names and addresses of the principal officers and
  228  all representatives of the organization.
  229         (c) The amount of the initiation fee and the amount and
  230  collection frequency of the monthly dues and uniform assessments
  231  that a member which members must pay.
  232         (d) The current annual audited financial statement of the
  233  organization, prepared by an independent certified public
  234  accountant licensed under chapter 473.
  235         (e) The name of its business agent, if any; if different
  236  from the business agent, the name of its local agent for service
  237  of process; and the addresses where such person or persons can
  238  be reached.
  239         (f) A pledge, in a form prescribed by the commission, that
  240  the employee organization will conform to the laws of the state
  241  and that it will accept members without regard to age, race,
  242  sex, religion, or national origin.
  243         (g) A copy of the current constitution and bylaws of the
  244  employee organization.
  245         (h) A copy of the current constitution and bylaws of the
  246  state and national groups with which the employee organization
  247  is affiliated or associated. In lieu of this provision, and upon
  248  adoption of a rule by the commission, a state or national
  249  affiliate or parent organization of any registering labor
  250  organization may annually submit a copy of its current
  251  constitution and bylaws.
  252         (2) A registration granted to an employee organization
  253  pursuant to the provisions of this section runs shall run for 1
  254  year from the date of issuance. A registration must shall be
  255  renewed annually by filing an application for renewal under oath
  256  with the commission, which application must shall reflect any
  257  changes in the information provided to the commission in
  258  conjunction with the employee organization’s preceding
  259  application for registration or previous renewal, whichever is
  260  applicable. Each application for renewal of registration must
  261  shall include a current annual audited financial statement,
  262  prepared certified by an independent certified public accountant
  263  licensed under chapter 473 and signed by the employee
  264  organization’s president and treasurer or corresponding
  265  principal officers, containing the following information in such
  266  detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose its financial
  267  condition and operations for its preceding fiscal year and in
  268  such categories as the commission may prescribe:
  269         (a) Assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the
  270  fiscal year;
  271         (b) Receipts of any kind and the sources thereof;
  272         (c) Disbursements by category;
  273         (d)(c) Salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect
  274  disbursements, including reimbursed expenses, to each officer
  275  and also to each employee who, during such fiscal year, received
  276  more than $10,000 in the aggregate from such employee
  277  organization and any other employee organization affiliated with
  278  it or with which it is affiliated or which is affiliated with
  279  the same national or international employee organization;
  280         (e)(d) Direct and indirect loans made to any officer,
  281  employee, or member which aggregated more than $250 during the
  282  fiscal year, together with a statement of the purpose, security,
  283  if any, and arrangements for repayment; and
  284         (f)(e) Direct and indirect loans to any business
  285  enterprise, together with a statement of the purpose, security,
  286  if any, and arrangements for repayment.
  287         (3) In addition to subsection (2), an employee organization
  288  that has been certified as the bargaining agent for public
  289  employees must include for each such certified bargaining unit
  290  the following information and documentation as of the 30th day
  291  immediately preceding the date upon which its current
  292  registration is scheduled to end of renewal in its application
  293  for any renewal of registration on or after October 1, 2023:
  294         (a) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are
  295  eligible for representation by the employee organization.
  296         (b) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who have
  297  submitted signed membership authorization forms without a
  298  subsequent revocation of such membership.
  299         (c) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who paid
  300  dues to the employee organization.
  301         (d) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who did
  302  not pay dues to the employee organization.
  303         (e) Documentation provided by an independent certified
  304  public accountant retained by the employee organization which
  305  verifies the information provided in paragraphs (a)-(d).
  306         (4) The employee organization must provide a copy of its
  307  application for renewal of registration relating to a public
  308  employer’s employees to the public employer on the same day the
  309  application is submitted to the commission.
  310         (5) An application for renewal of registration is
  311  incomplete and is not eligible for consideration by the
  312  commission if it does not include all of the information and
  313  documentation required in subsection (3). The commission shall
  314  notify the employee organization if the application is
  315  incomplete. An incomplete application must be dismissed if the
  316  required information and documentation are not provided within
  317  10 days after the employee organization receives such notice.
  318         (6) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter relating
  319  to collective bargaining, an employee organization certified as
  320  a bargaining agent to represent a bargaining unit for which that
  321  had less than 60 percent of the unit employees have submitted
  322  membership authorization forms without subsequent revocation and
  323  paid dues to the organization eligible for representation in the
  324  bargaining unit pay dues during its last registration period
  325  must petition the commission pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3)
  326  for recertification as the exclusive representative of all
  327  employees in the bargaining unit within 30 days 1 month after
  328  the date on which the employee organization applies for renewal
  329  of registration pursuant to subsection (2). The certification of
  330  an employee organization that does not comply with this section
  331  is revoked.
  332         (7) The public employer or a bargaining unit employee may
  333  challenge an employee organization’s application for renewal of
  334  registration if the public employer or bargaining unit employee
  335  believes that the application is inaccurate. The commission or
  336  one of its designated agents shall review the application to
  337  determine its accuracy and compliance with this section. If the
  338  commission finds that the application is inaccurate or does not
  339  comply with this section, the commission shall revoke the
  340  registration and certification of the employee organization.
  341         (8) The commission may conduct an investigation to confirm
  342  the validity of any information submitted pursuant to this
  343  section. The commission may revoke or deny an employee
  344  organization’s registration or certification if it finds that
  345  the employee organization:
  346         (a) Failed to cooperate with the investigation conducted
  347  pursuant to this subsection, including refusal to permit the
  348  commission to inspect membership authorization forms or
  349  revocations pursuant to s. 447.301(1)(b)5.; or
  350         (b) Intentionally misrepresented the information it
  351  submitted pursuant to this section subsection (3).
  352  
  353  A decision issued by the commission pursuant to this subsection
  354  is a final agency action that is reviewable pursuant to s.
  355  447.504.
  356         (9) An employee organization is exempt from the
  357  requirements of subsections (3)-(8) only with respect to the
  358  circumstances of each bargaining unit the majority of whose
  359  employees eligible for representation are employed as do not
  360  apply to an employee organization that has been certified as the
  361  bargaining agent to represent law enforcement officers,
  362  correctional officers, or correctional probation officers as
  363  those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3),
  364  respectively, or firefighters as defined in s. 633.102, 911
  365  public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 401.465(1)(a),
  366  or emergency medical technicians or paramedics as defined in s.
  367  401.23.
  368         (10) A registration fee shall accompany each application
  369  filed with the commission. The amount charged for an application
  370  for registration or renewal of registration shall not exceed
  371  $15. All such money collected by the commission shall be
  372  deposited in the General Revenue Fund.
  373         (11) Every employee organization shall keep accurate
  374  accounts of its income and expenses, which accounts shall be
  375  open for inspection at all reasonable times by any member of the
  376  organization or by the commission. In addition, each employee
  377  organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent must
  378  provide to its members an annual audited financial report
  379  prepared by an independent certified public accountant licensed
  380  under chapter 473 that includes a detailed breakdown of revenues
  381  and expenditures in such categories as the commission may
  382  prescribe, and an accounting of membership dues and assessments.
  383  The employee organization must notify its members annually of
  384  all costs of membership.
  385         Section 5. (1)For an application for renewal of
  386  registration as an employee organization filed pursuant to s.
  387  447.305(2), Florida Statutes, between July 1, 2023, and the
  388  effective date of this act, an employee organization may submit
  389  a current annual financial statement containing the information
  390  required by s. 447.305(2), Florida Statutes, prepared by an
  391  independent certified accountant licensed under chapter 473,
  392  Florida Statutes, and signed by the employee organization’s
  393  president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers in
  394  lieu of an annual audited financial statement certified by an
  395  independent certified public accountant licensed under chapter
  396  473, Florida Statutes.
  397         (2)For applications of renewal of registration of employee
  398  organizations filed pursuant to s. 447.305, Florida Statutes,
  399  between July 1, 2023, and the effective date of this act, the
  400  Public Employees Relations Commission may not deny the renewal
  401  or revoke the registration of an employee organization based
  402  solely upon the employee organization’s failure to submit a
  403  current annual audited financial statement certified by an
  404  independent certified public accountant licensed under chapter
  405  473, Florida Statutes.
  406         Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming law.