§ 17b-706b — Rights of personal care attendants. Prohibitions. Procedure for negotiation and binding arbitration. Election and designation of exclusive bargaining agent.

(a) Personal care attendants shall not be considered state employees and shall be exempt from any and all provisions of the general statutes creating rights, obligations, privileges or immunities to state employees as a result of or incident to their state service. (b) Personal care attendants shall have the right to bargain collectively and shall have such other rights and obligations incident thereto as are created by sections 5-270 to 5-279 , inclusive, except as set forth in subsections (c), (d) and (f) of this section, except: (1) The following shall be prohibited subjects of bargaining: (A) A consumer or surrogate's right to (i) hire or refuse to hire, (ii) supervise, (iii) direct the activities of, or (iv) terminate the employment of any personal care attendant, (B) any proposal that would prevent surrogates from hiring personal care attendants not on the registry list described in section 17b-706a , (C) any proposal that would prevent consumers or surrogates from requiring any additional training, (D) a procedure for grievance arbitration against any consumer or surrogate, and (E) application of state employee benefits to personal care attendants, including, but not limited to, health benefits and pensions; (2) No provision of any agreement or award shall provide for a reduction in Medicaid funds provided to the state, nor shall any provision of any agreement or award provide for a reduction in the services of personal care attendants to consumers. Any provision in any agreement or award which would require an additional appropriation in order to maintain the levels of services provided by existing appropriations shall be submitted to the General Assembly for approval in accordance with subdivision (8) of subsection (c) of this section; (3) The provisions of section 5-280 shall not apply to personal care attendants. An agreement or award reached pursuant to this section may include provisions calling for the state or its fiscal intermediary to deduct from reimbursement payments the regular dues, fees and assessments that a member is charged and nonmember service fees limited to the lesser of dues and initiation fees required of members or the proportionate share of expenses incident to collective bargaining. Dues or fees may be charged only with respect to earnings from participation in the programs covered by this section. No dues or fees may be charged for the first sixty days of a personal care attendant's participation in a program covered by this section. (4) The provisions of sections 5-276a and 5-276b and subsections (b) to (g), inclusive, of section 5-278 shall not apply to collective bargaining involving personal care attendants. Any impasse between the parties shall be resolved in accordance with subsection (c) of this section; (5) In any proceeding which may be filed under section 5-272 , the State Board of Labor Relations shall be without jurisdiction over, or authority to issue any remedy against, any consumer or surrogate; and (6) Any election required in order to resolve any question concerning representation involving personal care attendants shall be conducted by mail ballot. No provision of this section shall grant personal care attendants a right to strike and such strikes are prohibited. (c) (1) If the organization representing personal care attendants and the state do not reach an agreement not later than one hundred fifty days after negotiations have begun, the parties shall jointly select an arbitrator. The arbitrator selected shall have experience as an impartial arbitrator of labor-management disputes and shall not be an individual employed as an advocate or consultant for labor or management in labor-management disputes. If the parties fail to agree on an arbitrator not later than one hundred sixty days after the negotiations have begun, the selection shall be made using the procedures under the voluntary labor arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. (2) Each party shall submit to the arbitrator, and to the other party, a proposal setting forth such party's position on how each of the unresolved issues shall be resolved. (3) The arbitrator shall convene a hearing to allow each party to provide evidence and argument to the arbitrator. Each party shall have the right to submit written briefs to the arbitrator. The arbitration record shall be officially closed at the close of the hearing or the arbitrator's receipt of briefs, whichever is later. (4) The arbitrator's authority is limited to selecting the complete proposal of one party or the other's on any unresolved issue. The arbitrator shall issue an award not later than forty-five days after the close of the record. (5) The factors to be considered by the arbitrator in arriving at a decision are: (A) The nature and needs of the personal care assistance program and the needs and welfare of consumers, including interests in better recruitment, retention and quality with respect to the covered personal care attendants; (B) the history of negotiations between each party including those leading to the proceeding; (C) the existing conditions of employment of similar groups of workers; (D) changes in the cost of living; and (E) the interests and welfare of the covered personal care attendants. (6) The costs of the arbitrator and any fees associated with the arbitration proceeding shall be shared equally by each party. (7) Any agreement or award reached pursuant to this section shall be reduced to writing and submitted to the General Assembly for approval by filing the agreement or award with the clerks of the House of Representatives and Senate. No provision of any agreement or award resulting from the collective bargaining process which would require supersedence of any law or regulation shall take effect without affirmative legislative approval. (8) Notwithstanding any other provision of sections 17b-706a to 17b-706c , inclusive, any provision of any agreement or award requiring the appropriation of additional funds shall be subject to the state's regular budgetary approval process, subject to funds being made available and affirmative legislative approval. Other provisions of the agreement or award shall be deemed approved unless affirmatively rejected by a majority of either house not later than thirty days after the filing with the clerk of that chamber, provided the thirty-day period shall not begin or expire unless the General Assembly is in regular session. Once approved by the General Assembly, any provision of an agreement or award need not be resubmitted by the parties to such agreement or award as part of a future agreement approval process unless changes in the language of such provision are negotiated by the parties. (d) The provisions of this section shall not alter the obligations of the state or the consumer to provide the state's or the consumer's share of Social Security, federal and state unemployment contributions, Medicare or workers' compensation insurance. (e) The bargaining units of personal care attendants appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining shall be (1) a state-wide unit of all personal care attendants, (2) a state-wide unit of personal care attendants who provide services under programs administered by the Department of Social Services, or (3) a state-wide unit of personal care attendants who provide services under programs administered by the Department of Developmental Services. Personal care attendants who are members of the consumer's or surrogate's family shall not be excluded from the bargaining unit because of such personal care attendant's familial relationship to a consumer or surrogate. (f) Any organization certified as the majority representative of personal care attendants in any election held prior to July 1, 2012, pursuant to Executive Order Number 10 of Governor Dannel P. Malloy, may provide proof of such certification to the State Board of Labor Relations and the State Board of Labor Relations shall certify such majority representative as the exclusive bargaining representative for such personal care attendants without the requirement of an additional election unless and until such time as a question concerning representation is appropriately raised under this section and section 17b-705a .

Legislative History

(P.A. 12-33, S. 6; P.A. 14-217, S. 227.) History: P.A. 12-33 effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 14-217 amended Subsec. (b)(3) by deleting “waiver” re programs, effective June 13, 2014.