What is PERC?
PERC is the agency that administers New Jersey’s Employer-Employee Relations Act, the law governing collective negotiations in public employment. The Act created it in 1968. The Commission has seven members, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Two represent public employees, two represent public employers, and three represent the public. The chair is one of the public members.
PERC hears public-sector cases only. Union matters at private companies generally go to the National Labor Relations Board instead.
What cases does PERC decide?
- Scope of negotiations: whether a subject has to be negotiated, and whether a grievance about it can legally go to arbitration.
- Unfair practice charges, where one side says the other broke an obligation or interfered with a right under the Act.
- Representation cases, which decide whether employees want a union and which bargaining unit they belong in.
- Appeals of interest arbitration awards that set contract terms for police officers and firefighters.
- Contested transfers, where a school employee says they were moved between work sites as discipline, which the Act prohibits.
- Petitions about payroll deduction of representation fees.
PERC also supplies neutrals. When contract talks reach an impasse it can appoint a mediator, a fact-finder or, for police and fire units, an interest arbitrator, and it assigns grievance arbitrators in hundreds of cases a year.
How does a PERC unfair practice charge work?
Most charges go first to an exploratory conference, where a PERC staff member tries to settle the case or narrow the issues. If it does not settle, the Director of Unfair Practices decides whether the allegations, if true, would be an unfair practice. If they would not, no complaint issues, and the case ends unless the charging party appeals to the Commission.
When a complaint does issue, a Hearing Examiner holds a hearing and writes a recommended decision. That recommendation becomes final if neither side files exceptions. If either side does, the full Commission decides.
A charging party who needs the status quo kept in place while the case goes on can ask for interim relief. PERC grants it only on a showing of a substantial likelihood of success and irreparable harm without it.
How long do you have to file an unfair practice charge?
Generally six months from the conduct the charge complains about. PERC regularly dismisses charges filed after that, so the date of the employer’s or union’s action matters as much as what happened.
What is a scope of negotiations petition?
It asks PERC whether a subject is one the employer has to negotiate. The Act requires good-faith negotiation over terms and conditions of employment but does not list them, so PERC and the courts have drawn the line case by case between negotiable subjects and managerial prerogatives the employer decides alone.
These petitions usually come up in one of two ways. In negotiations, one side refuses to bargain over a proposal. In a grievance, the employer argues the dispute cannot legally go to an arbitrator. PERC answers only whether the subject is negotiable. Whether the contract covers the dispute, or whether the grievance was filed on time, is for the arbitrator or a court. For police and firefighters, a grievance can also go to arbitration if the subject is permissively negotiable.
How does police and fire interest arbitration work?
When police or firefighter contract talks reach an impasse, PERC appoints an interest arbitrator from a special panel. Most of these disputes settle with the arbitrator’s help. When one does not, the arbitrator issues an award setting the contract terms after weighing the factors in the statute, among them the public interest, the financial impact of the award, the cost of living, and how the employees compare with others doing similar work. Either side can appeal the award to the Commission.
Can you appeal a PERC decision?
Yes. A final Commission decision can be appealed to the Superior Court, Appellate Division, within 45 days. If a party does not comply with a Commission order, enforcement goes to the Superior Court.
Representation before PERC
Zirrith Law, in Monroe Township, represents unions, employee associations and public employees before PERC, the Civil Service Commission and the New Jersey courts. If you are considering an unfair practice charge, facing a scope petition, or heading toward impasse, call the office or send a message.