Back

D.R. No. 82-9

Synopsis:

The Director of Representation, adopting the recommendation of a Hearing Officer, determines that the newly created title of Transportation Secretary/Assistant to the Supervisor may not be added to the negotiations unit of clerical employees since the individual employed in this title is a confidential employee. The Transportation Secretary is a member of the Board's negotiations committee and, in this capacity, assists in preparing proposals and counterproposals.

PERC Citation:

D.R. No. 82-9, 7 NJPER 524 (¶12231 1981)

Appellate History:



Additional:



Miscellaneous:



NJPER Index:

16.22 33.43

Issues:

    DecisionsWordPerfectPDF
    NJ PERC:.DR 82-009.wpdDR 82-009.pdf - DR 82-009.pdf

    Appellate Division:

    Supreme Court:



    D.R. NO. 82-9 1.
    D.R. NO. 82-9
    STATE OF NEW JERSEY
    PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
    BEFORE THE DIRECTOR OF REPRESENTATION

    In the Matter of

    EAST WINDSOR REGIONAL SCHOOL
    DISTRICT,

    Public Employer,

    -and- Docket No. CU-81-15

    EAST WINDSOR CLERICAL ASSOCIATION,
    N.J.E.A.,

    Petitioner.

    Appearances:

    For the Public Employer
    James E. Major, Director of Special Projects

    For the Petitioner,
    New Jersey Education Association
    (Bernard Gilbert, Field Representative)
    DECISION

    On September 22, 1980, a Petition for Clarification of Unit was filed with the Public Employment Relations Commission (the A Commission @ ) by the East Windsor Clerical Association, N.J.E.A. (the A Association @ ) seeking to add the title A Transportation Secretary/Assistant to Supervisor @ to the existing negotiations unit of clerical employees of the Board of Education of the East Windsor Regional School District (the A Board @ ). The Association argues that this new title shares the requisite community of interest with those titles currently in the unit and should be included in the unit. The Board seeks to have the title excluded from the unit on the grounds that the functional duties and responsibilities of the position are supervisory and/or confidential in nature.
    Pursuant to a Notice of Hearing, a hearing was held before Commission Hearing Officer Michael B. Berman on January 6, 1981, in Trenton, New Jersey, at which all parties were afforded the opportunity to examine and cross-examine witnesses, to present evidence, and to argue orally. The parties have waived their right to submit post-hearing briefs. The Hearing Officer submitted his Report and recommendations on May 8, 1981, a copy of which is attached hereto and made a part hereof. No exceptions to the Hearing Officer = s Report have been filed.
    The undersigned has considered the entire record herein, including the Hearing Officer = s Report and Recommendations and the transcript, and on the basis thereof, finds and determines as follows:
    1. The Board of Education of the East Windsor Regional School District is a public employer within the meaning of the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act, N.J.S.A. 34:13A-1 et seq. (the A Act @ ), is the employer of the employees who are the subject of this Petition and is subject to the provisions of the Act.
    2. The East Windsor Clerical Association, N.J.E.A. is an employee representative within the meaning of the Act, is subject to its provisions, has filed the instant petition to clarify the status of the title in question and requests the including of the titles in the existing unit.
    3. The Association represents a unit consisting of clerks, secretaries, and bookkeepers employed by the Board but excluding professionals, police, managerial executives, confidential employees, craft workers, and supervisors within the meaning of the Act.
    4. The title in question was created and filled during the Summer of 1980, and subsequent to the execution of the current contract between the parties. Therefore, the instant Petition for Clarification of Unit is the appropriate means of raising a question concerning the composition of the existing collective negotiations unit.
    Although the Board seeks the exclusive of the Transportation Secretary/Assistant to the Supervisor because the duties of the position are supervisory and/or confidential, the primary question for resolution herein is whether the employee in question satisfied the Act = s definition of a A confidential employee. @ Under N.J.S.A. 34:13A-3(g),
    A (c)onfidential employees @ of a public employer means employees whose functional responsibilities or knowledge in connection with the issues involved in the collective negotiations process would make their membership in any appropriate negotiating unit incompatible with their official duties.

    An examination of the record reveals that the Transportation Secretary/Assistant to Supervisors A sits directly at the negotiating table, helped in preparing and counter preparing proposals and counter proposals to negotiated agreements with those employees @ (T 10). Such functional responsibility in connection with the issues involved in the collective negotiations process would make the Transportation Secretary = s membership in any appropriate negotiating unit incompatible with her official duties. In re Brookdale Community College, D.R. No. 78-10, 4 NJPER 32 ( & 4018 1977). Therefore, the undersigned, noting the absence of exceptions to the Hearing Officer = s Report and Recommendations and finding ample evidence in the record in support thereof, finds the Transportation Secretary/Assistant to Supervisor to be a confidential employee within the meaning of the Act. N.J.S.A. 34:13A-3(g). Accordingly, the Association = s Petition for Clarification of Unit, seeking to include the title in question, is denied. The undersigned concludes that the question of supervisory status is made moot by virtue of the finding of confidential status, precluding the inclusion of the title in question within the existing negotiations unit.
    BY ORDER OF THE DIRECTOR OF
    REPRESENTATION

    ____________________________
    Carl Kurtzman, Director

    DATED: August 25, 1981
    Trenton, New Jersey
    ***** End of DR 82-9 *****