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hb965_00_IN
As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 965
2025-2026
Representative Dean
To
amend sections 9.81, 4117.09, and 4117.11 of the Revised Code
to
prohibit requiring public employees to pay dues or fees to an
employee organization.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 9.81, 4117.09, and 4117.11 of the Revised Code be amended to
read as follows:
Sec.
9.81.
After
an authorization adopted under section 9.80 of the Revised Code, any
public officer or employee of any department or division of the
state, any political subdivision or school district thereof, or of
any institution supported in whole or in part by the state, a county,
or municipal corporation, who desires to make a contribution by the
payroll deduction plan to one or more of the specified charitable
agencies which are corporations not for profit, community chests,
united funds, or other similar united community fund organizations,
may be permitted to have such contribution payments deducted from the
salary or wages due such public officer or employee by filing a
written request and authorization signed by such public officer or
employee and specifying the amount of the deduction in each payroll
period with the fiscal officer of the state, political subdivision,
or school district, or institution by which such public officer or
employee is employed. Such authorization may be withdrawn in writing
by such public officer or employee at any time. No funds may be
withheld from the salary or wages of any such public officer or
employee for the purposes permitted by sections 9.80 and 9.81 of the
Revised Code unless the withholding is specifically, freely, and
voluntarily authorized by that public officer or employee in writing.
Upon
receipt of evidence of such request by the appropriate fiscal
officer, or upon receipt of a written deduction authorization under
division (B)(2)
or
(C)
of
section 4117.09 of the Revised Code, such fiscal officer shall make
such deduction and shall, at periodic intervals to the extent of the
amount collected, pay the designated charitable agencies which are
corporations not for profit, community chests, united funds, or other
similar united community fund organizations, or the exclusive
representative designated under section 4117.05 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4117.09.
(A)
The parties to any collective bargaining agreement shall reduce the
agreement to writing and both execute it.
(B)
The agreement shall contain a provision that:
(1)
Provides for a grievance procedure which may culminate with final and
binding arbitration of unresolved grievances, and disputed
interpretations of agreements, and which is valid and enforceable
under its terms when entered into in accordance with this chapter. No
publication thereof is required to make it effective. A party to the
agreement may bring suits for violation of agreements or the
enforcement of an award by an arbitrator in the court of common pleas
of any county wherein a party resides or transacts business.
(2)
Authorizes the public employer to deduct the periodic dues,
initiation fees, and assessments of members of the exclusive
representative upon presentation of a written deduction authorization
by the employee.
(C)
The
agreement may contain a provision that requires as a condition of
employment, on or after a mutually agreed upon probationary period or
sixty days following the beginning of employment, whichever is less,
or the effective date of a collective bargaining agreement, whichever
is later, that the employees in the unit who are not members of the
employee organization pay to the employee organization a fair share
fee. The arrangement does not require any employee to become a member
of the employee organization, nor shall fair share fees exceed dues
paid by members of the employee organization who are in the same
bargaining unit. Any public employee organization representing public
employees pursuant to this chapter shall prescribe an internal
procedure to determine a rebate, if any, for nonmembers which
conforms to federal law, provided a nonmember makes a timely demand
on the employee organization. Absent arbitrary and capricious action,
such determination is conclusive on the parties except that a
challenge to the determination may be filed with the state employment
relations board within thirty days of the determination date
specifying the arbitrary or capricious nature of the determination
and the board shall review the rebate determination and decide
whether it was arbitrary or capricious. The deduction of a fair share
fee by the public employer from the payroll check of the employee and
its payment to the employee organization is automatic and does not
require the written authorization of the employee.
The
internal rebate procedure shall provide for a rebate of expenditures
in support of partisan politics or ideological causes not germaine to
the work of employee organizations in the realm of collective
bargaining.
Any
public employee who is a member of and adheres to established and
traditional tenets or teachings of a bona fide religion or religious
body which has historically held conscientious objections to joining
or financially supporting an employee organization and which is
exempt from taxation under the provisions of the Internal Revenue
Code shall not be required to join or financially support any
employee organization as a condition of employment. Upon submission
of proper proof of religious conviction to the board, the board shall
declare the employee exempt from becoming a member of or financially
supporting an employee organization. The employee shall be required,
in lieu of the fair share fee, to pay an amount of money equal to the
fair share fee to a nonreligious charitable fund exempt from taxation
under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code mutually agreed
upon by the employee and the representative of the employee
organization to which the employee would otherwise be required to pay
the fair share fee. The employee shall furnish to the employee
organization written receipts evidencing such payment, and failure to
make the payment or furnish the receipts shall subject the employee
to the same sanctions as would nonpayment of dues under the
applicable collective bargaining agreement.
No
public employer shall agree to a provision requiring that a public
employee become a member of
,
or pay dues or fees to,
an employee organization as a condition for securing or retaining
employment.
(D)
As used in this division, "teacher" means any employee of a
school district certified to teach in the public schools of this
state.
The
agreement may contain a provision that provides for a peer review
plan under which teachers in a bargaining unit or representatives of
an employee organization representing teachers may, for other
teachers of the same bargaining unit or teachers whom the employee
organization represents, participate in assisting, instructing,
reviewing, evaluating, or appraising and make recommendations or
participate in decisions with respect to the retention, discharge,
renewal, or nonrenewal of, the teachers covered by a peer review
plan.
The
participation of teachers or their employee organization
representative in a peer review plan permitted under this division
shall not be construed as an unfair labor practice under this chapter
or as a violation of any other provision of law or rule adopted
pursuant thereto.
(E)
No agreement shall contain an expiration date that is later than
three years from the date of execution. The parties may extend any
agreement, but the extensions do not affect the expiration date of
the original agreement.
Sec.
4117.11.
(A)
It is an unfair labor practice for a public employer, its agents, or
representatives to:
(1)
Interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the
rights guaranteed in
Chapter
4117. of the Revised Code
this
chapter
or
an employee organization in the selection of its representative for
the purposes of collective bargaining or the adjustment of
grievances;
(2)
Initiate, create, dominate, or interfere with the formation or
administration of any employee organization, or contribute financial
or other support to it; except that a public employer may permit
employees to confer with it during working hours without loss of time
or pay, permit the exclusive representative to use the facilities of
the public employer for membership or other meetings, or permit the
exclusive representative to use the internal mail system or other
internal communications system;
(3)
Discriminate in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or
condition of employment on the basis of the exercise of rights
guaranteed by
Chapter
4117. of the Revised Code. Nothing precludes any employer from making
and enforcing an agreement pursuant to division (C) of section
4117.09 of the Revised Code
this
chapter
.
(4)
Discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because
he
the
employee
has filed charges or given testimony under
Chapter
4117. of the Revised Code
this
chapter
;
(5)
Refuse to bargain collectively with the representative of
his
the
employer's
employees recognized as the exclusive representative or certified
pursuant to
Chapter
4117. of the Revised Code
this
chapter
;
(6)
Establish a pattern or practice of repeated failures to timely
process grievances and requests for arbitration of grievances;
(7)
Lock out or otherwise prevent employees from performing their
regularly assigned duties where an object thereof is to bring
pressure on the employees or an employee organization to compromise
or capitulate to the employer's terms regarding a labor relations
dispute;
(8)
Cause or attempt to cause an employee organization, its agents, or
representatives to violate division (B) of this section.
(B)
It is an unfair labor practice for an employee organization, its
agents, or representatives, or public employees to:
(1)
Restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed
in
Chapter
4117. of the Revised Code
this
chapter
.
This division does not impair the right of an employee organization
to prescribe its own rules with respect to the acquisition or
retention of membership therein, or an employer in the selection of
his
the
employer's
representative for the purpose of collective
brgaining
bargaining
or the adjustment of grievances.
(2)
Cause or attempt to cause an employer to violate division (A) of this
section;
(3)
Refuse to bargain collectively with a public employer if the employee
organization is recognized as the exclusive representative or
certified as the exclusive representative of public employees in a
bargaining unit;
(4)
Call, institute, maintain, or conduct a boycott against any public
employer, or picket any place of business of a public employer, on
account of any jurisdictional work dispute;
(5)
Induce or encourage any individual employed by any person to engage
in a strike in violation of
Chapter
4117. of the Revised Code
this
chapter
or
refusal to handle goods or perform services; or threaten, coerce, or
restrain any person where an object thereof is to force or require
any public employee to cease dealing or doing business with any other
person, or force or require a public employer to recognize for
representation purposes an employee organization not certified by the
state employment relations board;
(6)
Fail to fairly represent all public employees in a bargaining unit;
(7)
Induce or encourage any individual in connection with a labor
relations dispute to picket the residence or any place of private
employment of any public official or representative of the public
employer;
(8)
Engage in any picketing, striking, or other concerted refusal to work
without giving written notice to the public employer and to the state
employment relations board not less than ten days prior to the
action. The notice shall state the date and time that the action will
commence and, once the notice is given, the parties may extend it by
the written agreement of both.
(C)
The determination by the board or any court that a public officer or
employee has committed any of the acts prohibited by divisions (A)
and (B) of this section shall not be made the basis of any charge for
the removal from office or recall of the public officer or the
suspension from or termination of employment of or disciplinary acts
against an employee, nor shall the officer or employee be found
subject to any suit for damages based on such a determination;
however nothing in this division prevents any party to a collective
bargaining agreement from seeking enforcement or damages for a
violation thereof against the other party to the agreement.
(D)
As to jurisdictional work disputes, the board shall hear and
determine the dispute unless, within ten days after notice to the
board by a party to the dispute that a dispute exists, the parties to
the dispute submit to the board satisfactory evidence that they have
adjusted, or agreed upon the method for the voluntary adjustment of,
the dispute.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 9.81, 4117.09, and 4117.11 of the Revised Code are
hereby repealed.