Florida Senate - 2023 SB 256 By Senator Ingoglia 11-00031G-23 2023256__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to employee organizations representing 3 public employees; amending s. 447.301, F.S.; requiring 4 a public employee who desires to be a member of an 5 employee organization to sign a membership 6 authorization form beginning on a specified date; 7 requiring that such form include a specified 8 statement; authorizing a public employee to revoke 9 membership in an employee organization at any time of 10 the year; requiring an employee organization to revoke 11 a public employees membership upon receipt of his or 12 her written request for revocation; prohibiting an 13 employee organization from limiting an employees 14 right to revoke membership to certain dates; 15 prohibiting a revocation form from requiring a reason 16 for the public employees decision to revoke his or 17 her membership; requiring employee organizations to 18 retain such authorization forms and requests for 19 revocation for inspection by the Public Employees 20 Relations Commission; providing applicability with 21 respect to certain employee organizations; authorizing 22 the commission to adopt rules; amending s. 447.303, 23 F.S.; prohibiting certain employee organizations from 24 having dues and uniform assessments deducted and 25 collected by the employer from certain salaries; 26 authorizing public employees to pay dues and uniform 27 assessments directly to the employee organization; 28 authorizing certain employee organizations to have 29 dues and uniform assessments deducted and collected by 30 the employer from certain salaries; amending s. 31 447.305, F.S.; revising requirements for applications 32 for initial registrations and renewals of registration 33 of employee organizations; providing procedures for 34 incomplete applications; requiring certain employee 35 organizations to petition the commission for 36 recertification as bargaining agents; authorizing a 37 public employer or bargaining unit employee to 38 challenge an employee organizations application for 39 renewal of registration; requiring the commission or 40 one of its designated agents to review the 41 application; requiring the commission to revoke the 42 registration and certification of the employee 43 organization in certain circumstances; authorizing the 44 commission to conduct investigations for specified 45 purposes; authorizing the commission to revoke or deny 46 an employee organizations registration or 47 certification under certain circumstances; specifying 48 that certain decisions issued by the commission are 49 reviewable final agency actions; providing 50 applicability with respect to certain employee 51 organizations; requiring certain employee 52 organizations to provide its members with an annual 53 audited financial report; requiring employee 54 organizations to notify its members annually of all 55 costs of membership; amending s. 447.509, F.S; 56 revising prohibitions for employee organizations and 57 certain persons and entities relating to employee 58 organizations; amending s. 1012.2315, F.S.; removing 59 duplicative provisions; reenacting ss. 110.114(3) and 60 447.507(6)(a), F.S., relating to employee wage 61 deductions and violation of strike prohibition and 62 penalties, respectively, to incorporate the amendment 63 made to s. 447.303, F.S., in references thereto; 64 providing effective dates. 65 66 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 67 68 Section 1.Subsection (1) of section 447.301, Florida 69 Statutes, is amended to read: 70 447.301Public employees rights; organization and 71 representation. 72 (1)(a)Public employees shall have the right to form, join, 73 and participate in, or to refrain from forming, joining, or 74 participating in, any employee organization of their own 75 choosing. 76 (b)1.Beginning July 1, 2023, a public employee who desires 77 to be a member of an employee organization must sign and date a 78 membership authorization form, as prescribed by the commission, 79 with the bargaining agent. 80 2.The membership authorization form must identify the name 81 of the bargaining agent, the name of the employee, the class 82 code and class title of the employee, the name of the public 83 employer and employing agency, if applicable, and the amount of 84 the initiation fee and of the monthly dues which the member must 85 pay. 86 3.The membership authorization form must contain the 87 following statement in 14-point type: 88 89 The State of Florida is a right-to-work state. 90 Membership or non-membership in a labor union is not 91 required as a condition of employment, and union 92 membership and payment of union dues and assessments 93 are voluntary. Each person has the right to join and 94 pay dues to a labor union or to refrain from joining 95 and paying dues to a labor union. No employee may be 96 discriminated against in any manner for joining and 97 financially supporting a labor union or for refusing 98 to join or financially support a labor union. 99 100 4.A public employee may revoke membership in the employee 101 organization at any time of the year. Upon receipt of the 102 employees written revocation of membership, the employee 103 organization must revoke a public employees membership. The 104 employee organization may not limit an employees right to 105 revoke membership to certain dates. If a public employee must 106 complete a form to revoke membership in the employee 107 organization, the form may not require a reason for the public 108 employees decision to revoke his or her membership. 109 5.An employee organization must retain for inspection by 110 the commission such membership authorization forms and any 111 revocations. 112 6.This paragraph does not apply to members of an employee 113 organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent to 114 represent law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or 115 correctional probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 116 943.10(1), (2), or (3), respectively, or firefighters as defined 117 in s. 633.102. 118 7.The commission may adopt rules to implement this 119 paragraph. 120 Section 2.Effective July 1, 2023, section 447.303, Florida 121 Statutes, is amended to read: 122 447.303Dues; deduction and collection. 123 (1)Except as authorized in subsection (2), an employee 124 organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent may 125 not have its dues and uniform assessments deducted and collected 126 by the employer from the salaries of those employees in the 127 unit. A public employee may pay dues and uniform assessments 128 directly to the employee organization that has been certified as 129 the bargaining agent. 130 (2)(a)An Any employee organization that which has been 131 certified as a bargaining agent to represent law enforcement 132 officers, correctional officers, or correctional probation 133 officers as those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or 134 (3), respectively, or firefighters as defined in s. 633.102 has 135 shall have the right to have its dues and uniform assessments 136 deducted and collected by the employer from the salaries of 137 those employees who authorize the deduction and collection of 138 said dues and uniform assessments. However, such authorization 139 is revocable at the employees request upon 30 days written 140 notice to the employer and employee organization. Said 141 deductions shall commence upon the bargaining agents written 142 request to the employer. 143 (b)Reasonable costs to the employer of said deductions is 144 shall be a proper subject of collective bargaining. 145 (c)Such right to deduction, unless revoked under pursuant 146 to s. 447.507, is shall be in force for so long as the employee 147 organization remains the certified bargaining agent for the 148 employees in the unit. 149 (3)The public employer is expressly prohibited from any 150 involvement in the collection of fines, penalties, or special 151 assessments. 152 Section 3.Effective October 1, 2023, section 447.305, 153 Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 154 447.305Registration of employee organization. 155 (1)Every employee organization seeking to become a 156 certified bargaining agent for public employees shall register 157 with the commission pursuant to the procedures set forth in s. 158 120.60 prior to requesting recognition by a public employer for 159 purposes of collective bargaining and prior to submitting a 160 petition to the commission requesting certification as an 161 exclusive bargaining agent. Further, if such employee 162 organization is not registered, it may not participate in a 163 representation hearing, participate in a representation 164 election, or be certified as an exclusive bargaining agent. The 165 application for registration required by this section shall be 166 under oath and in such form as the commission may prescribe and 167 shall include: 168 (a)The name and address of the organization and of any 169 parent organization or organization with which it is affiliated. 170 (b)The names and addresses of the principal officers and 171 all representatives of the organization. 172 (c)The amount of the initiation fee and of the monthly 173 dues which members must pay. 174 (d)The current annual audited financial statement of the 175 organization. 176 (e)The name of its business agent, if any; if different 177 from the business agent, the name of its local agent for service 178 of process; and the addresses where such person or persons can 179 be reached. 180 (f)A pledge, in a form prescribed by the commission, that 181 the employee organization will conform to the laws of the state 182 and that it will accept members without regard to age, race, 183 sex, religion, or national origin. 184 (g)A copy of the current constitution and bylaws of the 185 employee organization. 186 (h)A copy of the current constitution and bylaws of the 187 state and national groups with which the employee organization 188 is affiliated or associated. In lieu of this provision, and upon 189 adoption of a rule by the commission, a state or national 190 affiliate or parent organization of any registering labor 191 organization may annually submit a copy of its current 192 constitution and bylaws. 193 (i)A pledge, in a form prescribed by the commission, that 194 the annual salary of an official of the employee organization 195 will not exceed the highest salary of any employee member in its 196 organization. This paragraph does not apply to an employee 197 organization that has been certified as the bargaining agent to 198 represent law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or 199 correctional probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 200 943.10(1), (2), or (3), respectively, or firefighters as defined 201 in s. 633.102. 202 (2)A registration granted to an employee organization 203 pursuant to the provisions of this section shall run for 1 year 204 from the date of issuance. A registration shall be renewed 205 annually by filing application for renewal under oath with the 206 commission, which application shall reflect any changes in the 207 information provided to the commission in conjunction with the 208 employee organizations preceding application for registration 209 or previous renewal, whichever is applicable. Each application 210 for renewal of registration shall include a current annual 211 audited financial statement, certified by an independent 212 certified public accountant licensed under chapter 473 and 213 report, signed by the employee organizations its president and 214 treasurer or corresponding principal officers, containing the 215 following information in such detail as may be necessary 216 accurately to disclose its financial condition and operations 217 for its preceding fiscal year and in such categories as the 218 commission may prescribe: 219 (a)Assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the 220 fiscal year; 221 (b)Receipts of any kind and the sources thereof; 222 (c)Salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect 223 disbursements, including reimbursed expenses, to each officer 224 and also to each employee who, during such fiscal year, received 225 more than $10,000 in the aggregate from such employee 226 organization and any other employee organization affiliated with 227 it or with which it is affiliated or which is affiliated with 228 the same national or international employee organization; 229 (d)Direct and indirect loans made to any officer, 230 employee, or member which aggregated more than $250 during the 231 fiscal year, together with a statement of the purpose, security, 232 if any, and arrangements for repayment; and 233 (e)Direct and indirect loans to any business enterprise, 234 together with a statement of the purpose, security, if any, and 235 arrangements for repayment. 236 (3)In addition to subsection (2), an employee organization 237 that has been certified as the bargaining agent for public 238 employees must include for each such certified bargaining unit 239 the following information and documentation as of the 30th day 240 immediately preceding the date of renewal in its application for 241 any renewal of registration on or after October 1, 2023: 242 (a)The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are 243 eligible for representation by the employee organization. 244 (b)The number of employees in the bargaining unit who have 245 submitted signed membership authorization forms without a 246 subsequent revocation of such membership. 247 (c)The number of employees in the bargaining unit who paid 248 dues to the employee organization. 249 (d)The number of employees in the bargaining unit who did 250 not pay dues to the employee organization. 251 (e)Documentation provided by the public employer verifying 252 the information provided in paragraph (a). 253 (f)Documentation provided by an independent certified 254 public accountant retained by the employee organization which 255 verifies the information provided in paragraphs (b), (c), and 256 (d). 257 (4)The employee organization must provide a copy of its 258 application for renewal of registration relating to a public 259 employers employees to the public employer on the same day the 260 application is submitted to the commission. 261 (5)An application for renewal of registration is 262 incomplete and is not eligible for consideration by the 263 commission if it does not include all of the information and 264 documentation required in subsection (3). The commission shall 265 notify the employee organization if the application is 266 incomplete. An incomplete application must be dismissed if the 267 required information and documentation are not provided within 268 10 days after the employee organization receives such notice. 269 (6)Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter relating 270 to collective bargaining, an employee organization that had less 271 than 60 percent of the employees eligible for representation in 272 the bargaining unit pay dues during its last registration period 273 must petition the commission pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3) 274 for recertification as the exclusive representative of all 275 employees in the bargaining unit within 1 month after the date 276 on which the employee organization applies for renewal of 277 registration pursuant to subsection (2). The certification of an 278 employee organization that does not comply with this section is 279 revoked. 280 (7)The public employer or a bargaining unit employee may 281 challenge an employee organizations application for renewal of 282 registration if the public employer or bargaining unit employee 283 believes that the application is inaccurate. The commission or 284 one of its designated agents shall review the application to 285 determine its accuracy and compliance with this section. If the 286 commission finds that the application is inaccurate or does not 287 comply with this section, the commission shall revoke the 288 registration and certification of the employee organization. 289 (8)The commission may conduct an investigation to confirm 290 the validity of any information submitted pursuant to this 291 section. The commission may revoke or deny an employee 292 organizations registration or certification if it finds that 293 the employee organization: 294 (a)Failed to cooperate with the investigation conducted 295 pursuant to this subsection; or 296 (b)Intentionally misrepresented the information it 297 submitted pursuant to subsection (3). 298 299 A decision issued by the commission pursuant to this subsection 300 is a final agency action that is reviewable pursuant to s. 301 447.504. 302 (9)Subsections (3)-(8) do not apply to an employee 303 organization that has been certified as the bargaining agent to 304 represent law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or 305 correctional probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 306 943.10(1), (2), or (3), respectively, or firefighters as defined 307 in s. 633.102. 308 (10)(3)A registration fee shall accompany each application 309 filed with the commission. The amount charged for an application 310 for registration or renewal of registration shall not exceed 311 $15. All such money collected by the commission shall be 312 deposited in the General Revenue Fund. 313 (11)(4)Every employee organization shall keep accurate 314 accounts of its income and expenses, which accounts shall be 315 open for inspection at all reasonable times by any member of the 316 organization or by the commission. In addition, each employee 317 organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent must 318 provide to its members an annual audited financial report that 319 includes a detailed breakdown of revenues and expenditures, and 320 an accounting of membership dues and assessments. The employee 321 organization must notify its members annually of all costs of 322 membership. 323 Section 4.Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 324 447.509, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraphs (d) and 325 (e) are added to that subsection, to read: 326 447.509Other unlawful acts. 327 (1)Employee organizations, their members, agents, or 328 representatives, or any persons acting on their behalf are 329 hereby prohibited from: 330 (b)1.Distributing literature during working hours in areas 331 where the actual work of law enforcement officers, firefighters, 332 correctional officers, or correctional probation officers public 333 employees is performed, such as offices, warehouses, schools, 334 police stations, fire stations, and any similar public 335 installations. This section shall not be construed to prohibit 336 the distribution of literature during the employees lunch hour 337 or in such areas not specifically devoted to the performance of 338 the employees official duties. 339 2.Distributing literature in areas where the actual work 340 of public employees other than law enforcement officers, 341 firefighters, correctional officers, or correctional probation 342 officers is performed, such as offices, warehouses, schools, and 343 any similar public installations. 344 (d)Offering anything of value to a public officer as 345 defined in s. 112.313(1) which the public officer is prohibited 346 from accepting under s. 112.313(2). 347 (e)Offering any compensation, payment, or thing of value 348 to a public officer as defined in s. 112.313(1) which the public 349 officer is prohibited from accepting under s. 112.313(4). 350 Section 5.Effective October 1, 2023, paragraph (c) of 351 subsection (4) of section 1012.2315, Florida Statutes, is 352 amended to read: 353 1012.2315Assignment of teachers. 354 (4)COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. 355 (c)1.In addition to the provisions under s. 447.305(2), an 356 employee organization that has been certified as the bargaining 357 agent for a unit of instructional personnel as defined in s. 358 1012.01(2) must include for each such certified bargaining unit 359 the following information in its application for renewal of 360 registration: 361 a.The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are 362 eligible for representation by the employee organization. 363 b.The number of employees who are represented by the 364 employee organization, specifying the number of members who pay 365 dues and the number of members who do not pay dues. 366 2.Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 447 relating 367 to collective bargaining, an employee organization whose dues 368 paying membership is less than 50 percent of the employees 369 eligible for representation in the unit, as identified in 370 subparagraph 1., must petition the Public Employees Relations 371 Commission pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3) for recertification 372 as the exclusive representative of all employees in the unit 373 within 1 month after the date on which the organization applies 374 for renewal of registration pursuant to s. 447.305(2). The 375 certification of an employee organization that does not comply 376 with this paragraph is revoked. 377 Section 6.Effective July 1, 2023, for the purpose of 378 incorporating the amendment made by this act to section 447.303, 379 Florida Statutes, in a reference thereto, subsection (3) of 380 section 110.114, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 381 110.114Employee wage deductions. 382 (3)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (1) and 383 (2), the deduction of an employees membership dues deductions 384 as defined in s. 447.203(15) for an employee organization as 385 defined in s. 447.203(11) shall be authorized or permitted only 386 for an organization that has been certified as the exclusive 387 bargaining agent pursuant to chapter 447 for a unit of state 388 employees in which the employee is included. Such deductions 389 shall be subject to the provisions of s. 447.303. 390 Section 7.Effective July 1, 2023, for the purpose of 391 incorporating the amendment made by this act to section 447.303, 392 Florida Statutes, in a reference thereto, paragraph (a) of 393 subsection (6) of section 447.507, Florida Statutes, is 394 reenacted to read: 395 447.507Violation of strike prohibition; penalties. 396 (6)(a)If the commission determines that an employee 397 organization has violated s. 447.505, it may: 398 1.Issue cease and desist orders as necessary to ensure 399 compliance with its order. 400 2.Suspend or revoke the certification of the employee 401 organization as the bargaining agent of such employee unit. 402 3.Revoke the right of dues deduction and collection 403 previously granted to said employee organization pursuant to s. 404 447.303. 405 4.Fine the organization up to $20,000 for each calendar 406 day of such violation or determine the approximate cost to the 407 public due to each calendar day of the strike and fine the 408 organization an amount equal to such cost, notwithstanding the 409 fact that the fine may exceed $20,000 for each such calendar 410 day. The fines so collected shall immediately accrue to the 411 public employer and shall be used by him or her to replace those 412 services denied the public as a result of the strike. In 413 determining the amount of damages, if any, to be awarded to the 414 public employer, the commission shall take into consideration 415 any action or inaction by the public employer or its agents that 416 provoked, or tended to provoke, the strike by the public 417 employees. 418 Section 8.Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 419 act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.