(a) There are 2 units for collective bargaining and for purposes of certification and decertification. Members of these units are all County government employees, as defined in Section 33-102(4), and those employees who are limited-scope members of a bargaining unit under subsection (c)(2). The employees are divided into 2 units:
(1) Service, labor, and trades (SLT) unit: This unit is composed of all eligible classes that are associated with service/maintenance and skilled crafts. This means job classes in which workers perform duties that result in or contribute to the comfort and convenience of the general public or that contribute to the upkeep and care of buildings, facilities, or grounds of public property. Workers in this group may operate specialized machinery or heavy equipment. These job classes may also require special manual skill and a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the processes involved in the work that is acquired through on-the-job training and experience or through apprenticeship or other formal training programs.
(2) Office, professional, and technical (OPT) unit: This unit is composed of all eligible classes associated with office, professional, paraprofessional, and technical functions.
(A) Office: Job classes in which workers are responsible for internal and external communication, recording and retrieval of data and/or information, and other paperwork required in an office.
(B) Professional: Job classes that require special and theoretical knowledge that is usually acquired through college training or through work experience and other training that provides comparable knowledge.
(C) Paraprofessional: Job classes in which workers perform, in a supportive role, some of the duties of a professional or technician. These duties usually require less formal training and/or experience than is normally required for professional or technical status.
(D) Technical: Job classes that require a combination of basic scientific or technical knowledge and manual skill that can be obtained throughspecialized post-secondary school education or through equivalent on-the-job training.
(b) Specific job classes included in these units of representation, and not otherwise excluded under Section 33-102(4), shall be based on the designations made by the Chief Administrative Officer under the prior meet and confer process if the job class is not specified in this Article. In the event a new classification is created by the County, or an existing classification’s duties and responsibilities are substantially changed, the County Personnel Director must place the classification in one of the units or state that the classification falls within one of the exceptions to the definition of employee under this Article within sixty (60) days of the creation or substantial alteration of the class and must publish the decision in the Montgomery County Register. Any individual or certified representative disagreeing with the decision of the Personnel Director may, within ten (10) days of publication, file objections to the decision with the labor relations administrator, with notice to the Personnel Director. The Labor Relations Administrator shall promptly decide the question on the basis of the duties and responsibilities of the job classification, the unit definition, and the community of interests between and among employees in the job classification and collective bargaining unit.
(c) Temporary, seasonal, and substitute employees.
(1) A temporary, seasonal, or substitute employee in an occupational class in which the incumbents are predominantly career merit system employees becomes a member of the applicable bargaining unit when the employee has worked 6 months in a position in that occupational class. However, the employee may be terminated for any cause or without cause and without any right of grievance until the employee has completed 1040 hours of service in that position in any 12-month period.
(2) A temporary, seasonal, or substitute employee who is excluded from the definition of “employee” under Section 33-102(4)(H) because the employee is not in an occupational class in which the incumbents are predominantly career merit system employees becomes a limited-scope member of the applicable bargaining unit immediately after the employee begins employment if:
(A) the employee works at least 25 hours per pay period; and
(B) the employee organization which represents that bargaining unit has adopted a reduced scale of dues and service fees for employees in the limited-scope membership group that is generally proportional to the organization’s representational responsibilities for employees in that group relative to the organization’s representational responsibilities for other bargaining unit members, as determined by the employee organization.
Membership in a bargaining unit on a limited-scope basis must not carry any right to continued employment or access to any grievance procedure or other benefit that is extended to other bargaining unit members. (1986 L.M.C., ch. 70, § 3; 1988 L.M.C., ch. 19, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
Editor’s note—Sections 33-75 through 33-85 and Sections 33-101 through 33-112 are cited, and Section 33-80 is quoted, in Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 v. Montgomery County, 436 Md. 1, 80 A.3d 686 (2013).
See County Attorney Opinion dated 9/26/11 regarding a union’s authority to engage in collective bargaining on behalf of current employees, but not on behalf of future employees. See County Attorney Opinion dated 4/30/02 which indicates that, for purposes of a reduction in force, the Regional Service Centers (RSC) are not the same office as the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). This means that only the employees in the RSCs are considered when a position is abolished through a RIF process and not the employees of the CAO’s Office.
2002 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 2, states: The certified representative and the employer must bargain under Sec. 33-107 with respect to temporary, seasonal, and substitute employees who are members of a bargaining unit, including limited-scope employees, immediately after this Act becomes law [May 20, 2002]. The procedures for impasse resolution under Section 33-108 apply to this bargaining process, but the specific action deadlines in that section do not apply. An initial agreement between the certified representative and the employer with respect to temporary, seasonal, and substitute employees must expire on the same date as the existing agreements for the SLT and OPT bargaining units.