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The County may establish and maintain one or more additional deferred compensation plans for employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. In the case of any collectively bargained plan:
(a) The certified representative must assume the duties and responsibilities of the Board, except for the requirements of Section 33-61(a), and the certified representative must assume the duties and responsibilities of the Chief Administrative Officer and the County under this Article.
(b) The Board, Chief Administrative Officer, and County have no fiduciary or other responsibility for a collectively bargained plan except as required by federal law, including any regulation, ruling, or other guidance issued under that law.
(c) The certified representative must indemnify the County and provide fiduciary liability insurance protecting itself and the County in an amount agreed to by the County and certified representative through collective bargaining.
(d) The officers of the certified representative who have direct responsibility for plan administration, and the trustees of any trust established under this Section, must:
(1) provide financial disclosure to the participants of the plan in a form and manner at least as stringent as that required of the Board; and
(2) establish and conform to a code of ethical conduct, approved by participants in the plan, at least as stringent as that required of the Board.
(e) The collectively bargained plan, and its separate trust, custodial account or annuity contract, must meet, in form and operation, all applicable requirements of the Internal Revenue Code and any regulation, ruling, or other guidance issued under that law.
(f) Any trustee or fiduciary of a collectively bargained plan must not accept any direct or indirect compensation from any person who does business with that plan. (2004 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 1.)
To comply with Section 315 of the County Charter, a firm of certified public accountants, under contract with the Council, must complete an annual independent audit of the County Plan and each Collectively Bargained Plan established and maintained by the County. The complete audit must be filed with the Council, and copies made available for public inspection. (2009 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1.)
Notes
| [Note] | ---------- Sec. 2. Implementation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including § 33-80(a)(7) and § 33- 107(a)(7), the implementation of any amendment to County Code Chapter 33 in Section 1 of this Act concerning disability retirement is not subject to collective bargaining with a certified representative of employees in any bargaining unit. Sec. 3. The amendments to County Code Chapter 33 made in Section 1 of this Act apply to any disability occurring on or after the date this Act takes effect [July 1, 2012]. 2011 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 4, which is effective October 10, 2011, states: 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. |
The public policy of Montgomery County is to promote a harmonious, peaceful, and cooperative relationship between the County government and its fire and rescue employees and to protect the public by assuring, at all times, the responsive, orderly, and efficient operation of the Department of Fire and Rescue Services. Since unresolved disputes in the fire and rescue service harm the public and fire and rescue employees, adequate means should be available to prevent disputes and resolve them when they occur. To that end, it is in the public interest that fire and rescue employees have the opportunity to bargain collectively over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, as authorized by Charter Section 510A, through a representative of their choice, or to refrain from collective bargaining. It is also in the public interest that the County government and a representative of fire and rescue employees bargain collectively in good faith without interference with the orderly process of government, and that they implement any agreement reached through collective bargaining.
Fire and rescue employee organizations and the County government each possess substantial means for initiating actions on wages, hours, and working conditions of employees. Therefore, in order to preserve an appropriate balance between labor and management in the fire and rescue service, once the employees voluntarily select a representative collective bargaining must be used in place of, and not in addition to, existing means to initiate government action on subjects that are appropriate for collective bargaining under this Article. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1.)
Editor’s note—Sections 33-147, 33-153, 33-154, 33-155 & 33-157 are cited, and Sections 33-153(k), 33-153(l) and 33-154(a)(8) are quoted, in Montgomery County Career Firefighters Association v. Montgomery County, 210 Md. App. 200, 62 A.3d 287 (2013).
See County Attorney Opinion dated 3/12/09 explaining the Inspector General’s authority to investigate an ongoing personnel matter as part of the goal of detecting and deterring fraud, waste and abuse. See County Attorney Opinion dated 9/2/03 analyzing that, although permitted under personnel and collective bargaining principles, a grant program to cover closing costs for public safety employees would be taxable income to the employees receiving the benefit.
The following terms have the meaning indicated when used in this Article:
(1) Agency shop means a provision in a collective bargaining agreement requiring, as a condition of continued employment, that bargaining unit employees pay a service fee not greater than the monthly membership dues uniformly and regularly required by the employee organization of all of its members. An agency shop agreement must not require an employee to pay initiation fees, assessments, fines, or any similar collections as a condition of continued employment. A collective bargaining agreement must not require payment of a service fee by any employee who opposes joining or financially supporting an employee organization on religious grounds. However, the collective bargaining agreement may require that employee to pay an amount equal to the service fee to a nonreligious, nonunion charity, or to any other charitable organization, agreed to by the employee and the certified representative, with provision for dispute resolution if there is not agreement, and to give to the employer and the certified representative written proof of this payment. The certified representative must adhere at all times to all federal constitutional requirements in its administration of any agency shop system maintained by it.
(2) Certified representative means an employee organization chosen to represent the unit as the exclusive bargaining agent under this Article or Article VII.
(3) Collective bargaining means meeting at reasonable times and places and negotiating in good faith on appropriate subjects as defined under this Article. This Article does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession.
(4) Employee means a fire and rescue employee in the classification of Fire/Rescue Captain, Fire/Rescue Lieutenant, Master Firefighter/Rescuer, Firefighter/Rescuer III, Firefighter/Rescuer II, and Firefighter/Rescuer I, but not:
(A) an employee in a probationary status;
(B) an employee in the classification of District Chief or an equivalent or higher classification; or
(C) a Fire/Rescue Lieutenant or Captain whose primary assignment is in:
(i) budget;
(ii) internal affairs;
(iii) labor relations;
(iv) human resources;
(v) public information; or
(vi) quality assurance.
(5) Employee organization means any organization that admits employees to membership and that has as a primary purpose the representation of employees in collective bargaining.
(6) Employer means the County Executive and the Executive's designee.
(7) Lockout means any action that the employer takes to interrupt or prevent the continuity of work properly and usually performed by the employees for the purpose and with the intent of either coercing the employees into relinquishing rights guaranteed by this Article or of bringing economic pressure on employees for the purpose of securing the agreement of their certified representative to certain collective bargaining terms.
(8) Mediation means an effort by an impasse neutral chosen under this Article to assist confidentially in resolving, through interpretation, suggestion, and advice, a dispute arising out of collective bargaining between the employer and the certified representative.
(9) Strike means a concerted failure to report for duty, absence, stoppage of work, or abstinence in whole or in part from the full and faithful performance of the duties of employment with the employer, or deviation from normal or proper work duties or activities, where any of these acts are done in a concerted manner for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or coercing the employer in the determination, implementation, interpretation, or administration of terms or conditions of employment or of the rights, privileges, or obligations of employment or of the status, recognition, or authority of the employee or an employee organization.
(10) Unit means all employees, as defined in this section, who are associated with fire suppression, fire protection, fire communications, fire service training, rescue, and emergency medical services, and whose duties include the rescue and safety of individuals and the preservation of structures and physical property. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 15, § 1.)
Editor’s note—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.
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