In this title, the following words have the meanings indicated.
(1) "Administration" means the County Executive and officers and agents under the County Executive's supervision.
(2) "Appropriate representation unit" means a group of positions in the classified service that under the provisions of this title has been found to be an appropriate group for the purpose of collective negotiations.
(3) "Arbitration" means a procedure by which parties who are unable to agree on a solution to a problem indicate their willingness to be bound by the decision of a third party.
(4) "Budget submission date" means the date by which the proposed budget of the County for the ensuing fiscal year is submitted to the County Council by the County Executive.
(5) "Confidential employee" means an employee whose functional responsibility is to assist and act in a confidential capacity to the County Executive, the Chief Administrative Officer, or any department or office head appointed under the Charter who formulates, determines, and effectuates policies in the field of employee relations.
(6) "Employee organization" means a lawful association, labor organization, federation, council or brotherhood, the primary purpose of which is to represent employees concerning terms and conditions of employment and having a local constitution or bylaws and a roster of officers elected in accordance with the constitution or bylaws, but the term does not include an organization that advocates the overthrow of the constitutional form of government in the United States or that discriminates with regard to the terms or conditions of membership because of race, color, creed, sex, age, national origin, or political affiliation.
(7) "Exclusive representative" means an employee organization that has been certified as the collective negotiating agent for an appropriate representation unit for the purpose of representing all classified employees in the unit, regardless of employee organization membership.
(8) "Grievance" means an appeal brought by a:
(i) non-probationary classified employee pertaining to a disciplinary action suspending, reducing in rank or pay, or removing the employee from the classified service; the methods of examination, certification, or preparation of eligibility lists for appointments or promotion; or any other action designated by law or collective bargaining agreement to be subject to the grievance procedures; or
(9) "Impasse" means when the Administration and exclusive representative are unable to agree on the wages, hours, working conditions, or other terms and conditions of employment to create a memorandum of agreement after a reasonable period of negotiations.
(10) "Intervenor employee organization" means an employee organization that has complied with the provisions of this title that permit it to be included with the petitioning employee organization as one of the choices on the ballot in a representation election.
(11) "Lockout" means the temporary withholding of work from a group of employees in order to bring pressure on them or on their representatives to accept a change in compensation or rights, privileges, obligations, or other terms and conditions of employment by means of shutting down an operation or function of the County.
(12) "Management employee" means an individual whose primary or exclusive functional responsibility is to exercise authority using independent judgment, in the interest of the County, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or effectively to recommend these actions; to direct employees; or to adjust the grievances of employees.
(13) "Mediation" means the process by which the parties to an impasse seek to reconcile their differences through the services of a third party who acts as an intermediary in bringing the parties together and actively seeks to assist the parties in reaching a settlement by making suggestions, providing background information, and noting avenues open to the parties for settlement.
(14) "Professional employee" means an employee engaged in work that is predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work; involves the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance; is of such a character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time; and requires knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning, as distinguished from a general academic education or from an apprenticeship or from training in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical processes.
(15) "Strike" means, by concerted action, the failure to report for duty, the willful absence from one's position, the stoppage or slowdown of work, or the abstinence in whole or in part from the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties of employment for the purpose of inducing, influencing, coercing, or preventing a change in compensation or rights, privileges, obligations, or other terms and conditions of employment.
(16) “Uniformed Public Safety Exclusive Representative” means an exclusive representative for any of the classifications of Deputy Sheriff I, Deputy Sheriff Corporal, Deputy Sheriff II, Deputy Sheriff III, Detention Officer, Detention Corporal, Detention Sergeant, Firefighter II, Firefighter III, Firefighter/Cardiac Rescue Technician, Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician- Paramedic, Fire Lieutenant, Fire Lieutenant/Emergency Medical Technician/Paramedic, Fire Captain, Fire Captain/Emergency Medical Technician/Paramedic, Fire Battalion Chief, Fire Battalion Chief/Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic, Police Officer, Police Officer First Class, Police Corporal, Police Sergeant, and Police Lieutenant, that is authorized under § 812 of the Charter to resolve an impasse with the County through binding arbitration.
(1985 Code, Art. 8, § 4-101) (Bill No. 13-89; Bill No. 52-02; Bill No. 1-03; Bill No. 23-04; Bill No. 20-04; Bill No. 17-11; Bill No. 71-20; Bill No. 44-23)