Management Rights - AELE's Home Page

Workplace Rules and Practices 13-14
An arbitrator upheld the termination of a Franklin police officer, even in
the absence of a specific written requirement that officers posses a license
to carry firearms.
PRACTICE POINTERS
Given that the deprivation of the right to carry a firearm may render the
police officer unable to perform the duties of the job, police chiefs may deal
with an officer convicted of a domestic violence offense in a number of
ways:
temporary reassignment or leave of absence, if the officer
plans to pursue one or more avenues of relief (pardon by the
governor or by motion to revoke or revise sentence if the
Massachusetts conviction is less than 60 days old); 100
permanent reassignment, to a position not requiring use of a
firearm; or,
discipline/discharge; as long as the department had a written
or long-standing policy of requiring the carrying of a firearm. 101
The issue of a disqualification under Massachusetts law from securing a
License to Carry firearms is more difficult. The provisions of M.G.L. c. 41,
§98 allow a chief to authorize officers to carry weapons without the need
of a License. Unless a department has a rule, or at least a practice, of
requiring all officers to be licensed, it may be difficult for a chief to proceed
in this area. Departments without a rule or practice should relieve an
officer from duty with pay and notify the union of a proposed new rule.
Upon reaching agreement or impasse, the rule may be implemented.
Should an officer be discharged because of his/her inability to carry a
firearm, and he/she challenges the discharge, the courts would evaluate
whether the ability to possess a firearm is rationally related to the
person’s fitness and ability to be a police oficer. 102 Most likely, the
requirement would satisfy the rational relationship test and the discharge
would be upheld.
Decisions about the nature and level of services that a public employer
provides lie within the exclusive prerogative of management, and are not
mandatory subjects of bargaining. 103
The City of Boston’s decision to implement a less lethal force policy
requiring certain unit members to use beanbag shotguns and super-sock
ammunition was clearly a managerial prerogative because it implicated
the nature of the services that the City’s Police Department provided,
Commonwealth of Massachusetts