Notes
| [Note] | ---------- Collective bargaining. (a) It is the policy of Montgomery County that all County employees should have a multi-tier service- connected disability retirement system which includes a: (1) partial incapacity service-connected disability retirement benefit for any injury or illness that prevents an employee from continuing in the employee’s current position but does not prevent the employee from engaging in other substantial gainful employment; and (2) total incapacity service-connected disability retirement benefit for any injury or illness that prevents an employee from engaging in any other substantial gainful employment. (b) It is also the policy of the County that disability benefits are a mandatory subject of collective bargaining with each appropriate certified employee representative. (c) Notwithstanding any County law to the contrary, the County Executive may separately negotiate the terms of an appropriate multi-tier service-connected disability retirement system with the certified employee representative for the police bargaining unit and the certified representative for the OPT and SLT bargaining units, in each case not later than March 1, 2012. If in either case the parties are unable to reach agreement on an appropriate multi-tier system, the parties may submit this issue for resolution through the applicable impasse procedures under the County’s police labor relations law and the County collective bargaining law as a separate matter, not part of or linked to any other collective bargaining procedure. The impasse neutral for the police bargaining unit and the mediator/arbitrator for the OPT and SLT bargaining units must choose the final offer of either party after considering equally the following factors: (1) service-connected disability retirement systems for similar employees of other public employers in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Maryland; (2) best practices for service-connected disability retirement systems for similar employees in the United States; (3) the interest and welfare of the public; and (4) the long-term ability of the employer to finance a disability retirement system, and the effect of the cost of the system on the normal standard of public services provided by the employer. (d) The Executive must submit the results of any collective bargaining process regarding this issue to the Council for legislative action not later than April 1, 2012. |