17.4 Employee Relations, Employment Rights & Labor-Management Relations

17.4 Employee Relations, Employment Rights & Labor-Management Relations

Quick Answer: Employee relations depends on clear policies applied consistently, covering conduct, harassment and bullying, privacy and monitoring, complaints, and retaliation. Employees are protected by state workers' compensation and unemployment compensation programs and by Social Security, while federal affirmative action requirements changed when Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246 in January 2025. Because the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) excludes state and local governments, 9-1-1 employees organize and bargain under state law. Labor relations covers union representation, collective bargaining, unfair labor practices, strikes (usually prohibited or restricted for public safety employees), and boycotts. Janus v. AFSCME (2018) bars public employers from requiring non-members to pay union fees.

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1. Policies and Practices

A strong employee relations program starts with written policies that are easy to find, explained in orientation, acknowledged by employees, and applied consistently:

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2. Employment Rights and Privacy

Harassment and Bullying

• Unlawful harassment is unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic that is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment, or that results in a tangible employment action. The Faragher/Ellerth framework and investigation practices are covered in 17.2.
• Guidance status: The EEOC's 2024 harassment enforcement guidance was partly vacated by a federal court in May 2025 and then rescinded entirely by the Commission in January 2026. The underlying statutes and court decisions still apply, so agencies should keep strong prevention, reporting, and investigation practices.
• Bullying: No federal law prohibits workplace bullying that is unrelated to a protected class, but bullying damages morale, retention, and teamwork on the dispatch floor. Many agencies prohibit abusive conduct by policy, and a few states require training on it.

Privacy in the PSAP

Telecommunicators have limited privacy expectations at work: calls, radio traffic, and CAD activity are recorded, and agency systems may be monitored. Agencies should give clear notice of monitoring, restrict access to recordings and personnel files, protect medical information separately (ADA and FMLA), and follow state public records rules when records are requested (18.1).

Affirmative Action Plans

• Executive Order 11246, which had required federal contractors to maintain affirmative action programs for women and minorities, was revoked by Executive Order 14173 on January 21, 2025.
• Federal contractors still have affirmative action obligations for people with disabilities (Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act) and protected veterans (VEVRAA).
• Public agencies may still be subject to state laws, court orders, or voluntary plans. The Supreme Court upheld a public employer's voluntary affirmative action plan in Johnson v. Transportation Agency (1987), but any plan must be narrowly structured to comply with Title VII and constitutional limits.

Workers' Compensation

• State programs provide medical care and wage replacement for work-related injuries and illnesses, generally regardless of fault. In exchange, workers' compensation is usually the employee's exclusive remedy against the employer.
• PSAP claims include repetitive strain and ergonomic injuries, hearing damage from headsets, and stress-related conditions.
• Mental health claims: Many states limit "mental-mental" claims (psychological injury without physical injury). Some states have expanded PTSD coverage or presumptions to include telecommunicators, while others limit them to field responders, which is part of why reclassification matters (17.2).

Unemployment Compensation

• Unemployment insurance is a federal-state program administered by the states under the Social Security Act and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
• Former employees who lose work through no fault of their own may qualify; employees fired for misconduct or who quit without good cause may be disqualified under state law.
• Government employers commonly reimburse the state for benefits actually paid instead of paying ongoing unemployment taxes, so careful documentation of separations helps control costs.

Social Security

• State and local government employees are covered by Social Security through Section 218 agreements or, if they are not in a qualifying public retirement system, by mandatory coverage. Medicare coverage is mandatory for public employees hired after March 31, 1986.
• The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, which had reduced benefits for many public employees with pensions from non-covered work (17.6).

Canada Labour Relations Board (Now the Canada Industrial Relations Board)

Federally regulated employers in Canada fall under the Canada Labour Code. The Canada Labour Relations Board once decided federal labour relations matters; the Canada Industrial Relations Board replaced it in 1999 and now handles certification, bargaining, and unfair labour practice complaints for those employers. Most PSAPs are provincially or municipally run, so provincial labour boards and laws usually apply.

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3. Labor-Management Relations

The Legal Framework

• The NLRA governs most private-sector labor relations, but it excludes states and their political subdivisions. Public-sector bargaining rights therefore come from state laws, which vary widely: some states grant broad bargaining rights and create public employment relations boards, some limit bargaining for certain employees, and a few prohibit collective bargaining contracts for public employees.
• Janus v. AFSCME (2018): The Supreme Court held that public employers may not require non-member employees to pay agency or fair-share fees to a union.

Union Representation

1. Organizing: Employees seek representation, often by signing authorization cards.
2. Petition and showing of interest: The union files with the state labor board (the NLRA uses a 30% showing of interest for private employers; state thresholds vary).
3. Election or card-check recognition: Depending on state law, employees vote by secret ballot or a majority of cards leads to recognition.
4. Certification: The union becomes the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit and owes a duty of fair representation to all unit members, including non-members.

Collective Bargaining

When talks stall, many states provide impasse procedures: mediation, fact-finding, and for some public safety units, binding interest arbitration.

Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs)

• Employer ULPs: Interfering with organizing, dominating a union, retaliating for union activity, refusing to bargain in good faith, or changing mandatory subjects unilaterally.
• Union ULPs: Coercing employees, refusing to bargain in good faith, or failing the duty of fair representation.
• Process: Charges go to the state labor board, which investigates and can order remedies.

Strikes and Boycotts

• Strikes: Most states prohibit or tightly restrict strikes by public employees, especially public safety employees, and many impose penalties. Interest arbitration often substitutes for the right to strike.
• Boycotts: A primary boycott targets the employer in the dispute; a secondary boycott pressures a neutral third party to stop doing business with that employer. Secondary boycotts are restricted under federal labor law for private-sector unions, and state laws address public-sector conduct.
• Continuity planning: PSAPs should plan for job actions such as sick-outs or overtime refusals, which can affect 9-1-1 service even where strikes are illegal.

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4. Operational Traps & ENP Exam Watch

• NLRA Does Not Cover Public Employers: 9-1-1 centers run by state or local governments bargain under state law.
• Janus: Public employers cannot require non-members to pay union fees.
• EO 11246 Is Revoked: Section 503 and VEVRAA obligations remain for federal contractors.
• Workers' Comp Is Exclusive: It is usually the sole remedy against the employer for workplace injuries.
• Exclusive Representation Brings a Duty: A certified union must fairly represent all unit members, including non-members.