Management Rights - AELE's Home Page
Management Rights - AELE's Home Page
Management Rights - AELE's Home Page
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Benefits, Compensation and Leaves 16-8<br />
An employer must notify the union of a potential change before it is<br />
implemented, so that the bargaining representative has an opportunity to<br />
present arguments and proposals concerning the physical alternatives. 52<br />
§ 8 OTHER BENEFITS<br />
The Commission has held that certain amenities provided by an employer<br />
at the workplace amount to benefits on which employees may rely as<br />
condition of employment and which constitute mandatory subjects of<br />
bargaining.<br />
Examples include:<br />
Providing lockers and the manner in which they may be<br />
used; 53<br />
free parking; 54<br />
choice and amount of food available to correction officers; 55<br />
gas allotment policy; 56 and<br />
library hours. 57<br />
§ 9 BULLET-RESISTANT VESTS<br />
The LRC reversed a Hearing Officer and ruled that the Town of<br />
Shrewsbury violated the Law by unilaterally implementing a rule that<br />
officers must wear bullet-resistant vests for paid details and court<br />
appearances. 58<br />
The issue in the Shrewsbury case was whether the Police Department<br />
unilaterally changed a condition of employment by the Chief's<br />
memorandum requiring all officers to wear bulletproof vests when on<br />
duty. On appeal, the Union challenged the Hearing Officer's conclusion<br />
that there was no unilateral change and no violation of the Law. The full<br />
Commission disagreed with the Hearing Officer's conclusion and held that<br />
the Town violated the Law, for the reasons set forth below.<br />
A public employer violates the Law when it unilaterally alters a condition<br />
of employment involving a mandatory subject of bargaining without first<br />
bargaining with the exclusive collective bargaining representative to<br />
resolution or impasse. 59 An employer's duty to bargain encompasses<br />
working conditions established through custom and practice, as well as<br />
those governed by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. 60<br />
Commonwealth of Massachusetts