Florida Senate - 2022 SB 1458 By Senator Baxley 12-00956B-22 20221458__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to employee organizations; amending s. 3 447.301, F.S.; requiring employee organizations to 4 provide a notice of employees rights form to 5 specified employees; requiring that such form include 6 a specified statement; requiring an employee 7 organization to revoke an employees membership upon 8 receipt of the employees written request for 9 revocation; prohibiting an employee organization from 10 requiring an employee to state a reason for the 11 revocation; providing nonapplicability with respect to 12 certain employee organizations; amending s. 447.303, 13 F.S.; prohibiting certain employee organizations from 14 having dues and uniform assessments deducted by the 15 employer from certain employees salaries; providing 16 an exception; authorizing public employees to pay 17 their dues and uniform assessments directly to the 18 employee organization; amending s. 447.305, F.S.; 19 revising requirements for applications for renewal of 20 registration of an employee organization; specifying 21 that an incomplete application is not eligible for 22 consideration by the Public Employees Relations 23 Commission; providing requirements and procedures for 24 incomplete applications; requiring certain employee 25 organizations to petition the commission for 26 recertification as a bargaining agent; authorizing a 27 public employer or a bargaining unit employee to 28 challenge an employee organizations application for 29 renewal of registration; requiring the commission or 30 its designated agent to review the application; 31 requiring the commission to revoke the registration 32 and certification under certain circumstances; 33 providing nonapplicability with respect to certain 34 employee organizations; amending s. 1012.2315, F.S.; 35 revising requirements for applications for renewals of 36 registration for employee organizations certified as 37 bargaining agents for units of instructional 38 personnel; requiring the commission to conduct 39 investigations and hold hearings under certain 40 circumstances; authorizing certain representatives to 41 participate in the commissions hearings; requiring 42 the commission to immediately revoke an employee 43 organizations certification as a bargaining agent if 44 a specified determination is made; authorizing the 45 commission to adopt rules; reenacting s. 110.114(3), 46 F.S., relating to employee wage deductions, to 47 incorporate the amendment made to s. 447.303, F.S., in 48 a reference thereto; providing severability; providing 49 applicability; providing an effective date. 50 51 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 52 53 Section 1.Subsection (1) of section 447.301, Florida 54 Statutes, is amended to read: 55 447.301Public employees rights; organization and 56 representation. 57 (1)(a)Public employees shall have the right to form, join, 58 and participate in, or to refrain from forming, joining, or 59 participating in, any employee organization of their own 60 choosing. 61 (b)1.By August 1 of each year, an employee organization 62 must provide a notice of employees rights form directly to the 63 employees of the public employer who are members of the 64 organization. Such form must contain the following statement in 65 bold letters and in at least a 14-point type: 66 67 The State of Florida is a right-to-work state and 68 union membership is not required as a condition of 69 employment. You have the right to refrain from joining 70 and paying dues to an employee organization (union) or 71 to join and pay dues to an employee organization. 72 Union membership and payment of union dues and 73 assessments is voluntary, and you may not be 74 discriminated against in any manner if you refuse to 75 join or financially support a union or if you join and 76 financially support a union. 77 78 2.An employee organization must revoke an employees 79 membership within 30 days after receiving his or her written 80 request for revocation and no further debt to the employee 81 organization from the employee accrues after such revocation. An 82 employee organization may not require a reason for the 83 employees decision to revoke his or her membership in a request 84 for revocation of membership. 85 3.This paragraph does not apply to members of an employee 86 organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent to 87 represent law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or 88 correctional probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 89 943.10(1), (2), and (3), respectively, or firefighters as 90 defined in s. 633.102. 91 Section 2.Section 447.303, Florida Statutes, is amended to 92 read: 93 447.303Dues; deduction and collection. 94 (1)Except as authorized in subsection (2), an employee 95 organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent may 96 not have its dues and uniform assessments deducted by the 97 employer from the salaries of those employees in the unit. 98 Public employees may pay their dues and uniform assessments 99 directly to the employee organization that has been certified as 100 their bargaining agent. 101 (2)(a)An Any employee organization that which has been 102 certified as a bargaining agent to represent law enforcement 103 officers, correctional officers, or correctional probation 104 officers as those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), and 105 (3), respectively, or firefighters as defined in s. 633.102 has 106 shall have the right to have its dues and uniform assessments 107 deducted and collected by the employer from the salaries of 108 those employees who authorize the deduction of said dues and 109 uniform assessments. However, such authorization is revocable at 110 the employees request upon 30 days written notice to the 111 employer and employee organization. Said deductions shall 112 commence upon the bargaining agents written request to the 113 employer. 114 (b)Reasonable costs to the employer of said deductions is 115 shall be a proper subject of collective bargaining. 116 (c)Such right to deduction, unless revoked under pursuant 117 to s. 447.507, is shall be in force for so long as the employee 118 organization remains the certified bargaining agent for the 119 employees in the unit. 120 (3)The public employer is expressly prohibited from any 121 involvement in the collection of fines, penalties, or special 122 assessments. 123 Section 3.Present subsections (3) and (4) of section 124 447.305, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (8) 125 and (9), respectively, and new subsections (3) and (4) and 126 subsections (5), (6), and (7) are added to that section, to 127 read: 128 447.305Registration of employee organization. 129 (3)In addition to subsection (2), an employee organization 130 that has been certified as the bargaining agent for public 131 employees must include for each such certified bargaining unit 132 the following information and documentation in its application 133 for renewal of registration: 134 (a)The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are 135 eligible for representation by the employee organization as of 136 December 31 of that renewal period. 137 (b)The number of employees who are represented by the 138 employee organization as of December 31 of that renewal period, 139 specifying the number of members who pay full membership dues 140 and the number of members who do not pay full membership dues. 141 To confirm such membership numbers, the employee organization 142 must provide a copy of each employees dues authorization form, 143 if applicable, and a copy of each employees employees rights 144 form required under s. 447.301(1)(b) signed by the employee 145 within the previous 12 months. 146 (c)Documentation provided by the public employer verifying 147 the information provided in paragraphs (a) and (b). 148 (d)Documentation provided by the public employer verifying 149 that it was provided a copy of the employee organizations 150 application for renewal of registration. 151 (4)An application for renewal of registration is 152 incomplete and is not eligible for consideration by the 153 commission if it does not include all of the information and 154 documentation required in subsection (3). The commission shall 155 notify the employee organization if the application is 156 incomplete. An incomplete application must be dismissed if the 157 required information and documentation are not provided within 158 10 days after the employee organization receives such notice. 159 (5)Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter relating 160 to collective bargaining, an employee organization whose full 161 dues-paying membership is less than 50 percent of the employees 162 eligible for representation in the bargaining unit must petition 163 the commission pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3) for 164 recertification as the exclusive representative of all employees 165 in the bargaining unit within 1 month after the date on which 166 the employee organization applies for renewal of registration 167 pursuant to subsection (2). The certification of an employee 168 organization that does not comply with this section is revoked. 169 (6)The public employer or a bargaining unit employee may 170 challenge an employee organizations application for renewal of 171 registration if the public employer or bargaining unit employee 172 believes that the application is inaccurate. The commission or 173 one of its designated agents shall review the application to 174 determine its accuracy and compliance with this section. If the 175 commission finds that the application is inaccurate or does not 176 comply with this section, the commission shall revoke the 177 registration and certification of the employee organization. 178 (7)Subsections (3)-(6) do not apply to an employee 179 organization that has been certified as the bargaining agent 180 representing law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or 181 correctional probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 182 943.10(1), (2), or (3), respectively, firefighters as defined in 183 s. 633.102, or instructional personnel as defined in s. 184 1012.01(2). 185 Section 4.Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section 186 1012.2315, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 187 1012.2315Assignment of teachers. 188 (4)COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. 189 (c)1.In addition to the provisions under s. 447.305(2), an 190 employee organization that has been certified as the bargaining 191 agent for a unit of instructional personnel as defined in s. 192 1012.01(2) must include for each such certified bargaining unit 193 the following information in its application for renewal of 194 registration: 195 a.The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are 196 eligible for representation by the employee organization. 197 b.The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are 198 full-dues-paying members of represented by the employee 199 organization as of December 31 of the previous year. To confirm 200 such membership numbers, the employee organization must provide 201 a copy of each employees dues authorization form, if 202 applicable, and a copy of each employees employees rights form 203 required under s. 447.301(1)(b) signed by the employee within 204 the previous 12 months., specifying the number of members who 205 pay dues and the number of members who do not pay dues. 206 2.Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 447 relating 207 to collective bargaining, an employee organization whose full 208 dues-paying dues paying membership is less than 50 percent of 209 the employees represented eligible for representation in the 210 unit, as identified in subparagraph 1., must petition the Public 211 Employees Relations Commission pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3) 212 for recertification as the exclusive representative of all 213 employees in the unit within 1 month after the date on which the 214 organization applies for renewal of registration pursuant to s. 215 447.305(2). The certification of an employee organization that 216 does not comply with this paragraph is revoked. 217 3.Notwithstanding s. 447.305(6), if a petition is filed 218 with the Public Employees Relations Commission which is 219 supported by documentary evidence and which contests information 220 or assertions of an employee organizations application for 221 renewal of registration, the commission must conduct an 222 investigation and hold a hearing to determine the accuracy of 223 such application. Representatives of the petitioner, employee 224 organization, and employer may participate in the hearing. If, 225 by a majority vote of the commissioners, the commission 226 determines that the percentage of employees in the bargaining 227 unit who were full-dues-paying members of the employee 228 organization at the time the application was submitted was less 229 than 50 percent, the commission must immediately revoke the 230 employee organizations certification as a bargaining agent. 231 4.The Public Employees Relations Commission may adopt 232 rules to implement this paragraph. 233 Section 5.For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 234 made by this act to section 447.303, Florida Statutes, in a 235 reference thereto, subsection (3) of section 110.114, Florida 236 Statutes, is reenacted to read: 237 110.114Employee wage deductions. 238 (3)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (1) and 239 (2), the deduction of an employees membership dues deductions 240 as defined in s. 447.203(15) for an employee organization as 241 defined in s. 447.203(11) shall be authorized or permitted only 242 for an organization that has been certified as the exclusive 243 bargaining agent pursuant to chapter 447 for a unit of state 244 employees in which the employee is included. Such deductions 245 shall be subject to the provisions of s. 447.303. 246 Section 6.If any provision of this act or its application 247 to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity 248 does not affect other provisions or applications of the act 249 which can be given effect without the invalid provision or 250 application, and to this end the provisions of this act are 251 severable. 252 Section 7.This act applies to collective bargaining 253 agreements or contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2022, 254 and to existing collective bargaining agreements or contracts 255 that are amended, modified, extended, or otherwise changed or 256 altered in any way on or after July 1, 2022. 257 Section 8.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.