The Ohio State Employment Relations Board (SERB) will hold a public hearing on August 23, 2010. At issue in the hearing will be new procedural regulations that SERB posted to its website last month.
The proposed regulations modify a number of different provisions of the SERB’s procedural regulations. The most significant changes in the draft regulations include:
- Electronic filing. Many documents required in various SERB cases could be filed via e-mail with SERB. Those documents could also be served on other parties in the same fashion.
- Mutually agreed upon dispute resolution procedures. Any such agreement must be included in the Notice to Negotiate. Parties would have an obligation to "regularly, or upon request" update SERB of the "status and/or progress" of that procedure. Either party could file a motion with SERB to declare the procedure "concluded."
In light of these developments, a labor professional in the public sector may want to:
- View the draft regulations here (.pdf).
- Consider whether the changes could affect the way in which the public employer handles negotiations or labor disputes, especially if the public employer utilizes a mutually agreed upon dispute resolution procedure.
- Understand the electronic filing rules and procedures.
- Determine whether it should attend the public hearing SERB has announced.