WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
9:00 Recent Developments In Public Safety Labor Issues
Recent developments from around the country in the area of public safety labor relations, including:
- Review of recent wage and benefit settlements/trends in public safety agencies.
- The impact of inflation and recruiting/retention challenges on public safety bargaining.
- Public attitudes toward policing and the related impact on all public safety employees.
- Recent developments in overtime and wage/hour protections for public employees.
- The First Amendment, labor law principles, and off-duty social media use.
- Cell phones, flash drives, GPS trackers, and other electronic equipment – the privacy rights of public safety employees.
- Developing legal standards regarding marijuana use by public safety employees.
Will Aitchison, Attorney at Law, Public Safety Labor Group, LLP; Founder, LRIS, Richard Poulson, Attorney at Law, Willig, Williams & Davidson.
12:00 Lunch (Included in registration)
1:00 Basic Principles Of Grievances And Arbitration
- A discussion of sample grievance procedure language.
- A discussion of what is grievable and what is not.
- Time limits in a grievance procedure.
- Selecting arbitrators.
- The basics of how an arbitration hearing is conducted.
- The relationship between grievances, unfair labor practices, and lawsuits in court.
Will Aitchison and Richard Poulson.
2:30 The Impact Of Past Practice On Bargaining and Arbitration
- The two ways that a past practice is important: (1) in interpreting a CBA; and (2) in limiting an employer’s ability to make changes in rules and operations.
- The continuing nature of the duty to bargain, and how past practices can require mid-contract negotiations.
- The topics that are mandatory for bargaining, including hours of work issues, disciplinary standards and proceedings, civilianization, staffing, residency, and more.
- The elements that make a past practice binding, and the steps an employer must follow to make changes in past practices.
Will Aitchison and Richard Poulson.
4:00 Adjournment
4:15 Hosted Reception