2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 21 - Labor › Chapter 22 - Vermont Municipal Labor Relations Act › § 1727. Prevention of unfair labor practices

§ 1727. Prevention of unfair labor practices
(a) The Board may prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice. Whenever a charge is made that any person has engaged in or is engaging in any unfair labor practice, the Board may issue and cause to be served upon that person a complaint stating the charges and containing a notice of hearing before the Board at a place and time noted therein which shall be at least 14 days after the complaint is served. The Board may amend the complaint at any time before it issues an order based thereon. No complaint shall issue based on any unfair labor practice occurring more than six months prior to the filing of the charge with the Board unless the person aggrieved thereby was prevented from filing the charge by reason of service in the U.S. Armed Forces, in which event the six-month period shall be computed from the day of his or her discharge. The Board may waive the six-month period if it finds that:
(1) the aggrieved person did not understand that an unfair labor practice had been perpetrated against him or her; or
(2) the offending person had actively concealed his, her, or its perpetration of that unfair labor practice.
(b) The person complained of shall have the right to file an answer to the original or amended complaint and appear in person or through his or her representative and present evidence in connection therewith at the time and place fixed in the complaint. In the discretion of the Board, any other person may be permitted to intervene and present evidence in the matter. Any proceeding under this section shall so far as practicable, be conducted in accordance with rules of evidence used in the courts of law or equity. The Board shall provide for the making of a transcript of the testimony presented at the hearing.
(c) The Board shall have power to administer oaths and take testimony under oath relative to the matter of inquiry. At any hearing ordered by the Board, the Board shall have the power to subpoena witnesses and to demand the production of books, papers, records, and documents for its examination. Officers who serve subpoenas issued by the Board and witnesses attending hearings conducted by the Board shall receive fees and compensation at the same rates as officers and witnesses in cases before the Criminal Division of the Superior Court, to be paid on vouchers of the Board.
(d) If upon the preponderance of the evidence, the Board finds that any person named in the complaint has engaged in or is engaging in any unfair labor practice, it shall state its finding of fact in writing and shall issue and cause to be served on that person an order requiring him or her to cease and desist from the unfair labor practice, and to take such affirmative action as the Board shall order. If upon the preponderance of the evidence the Board does not find that the person named in the complaint has engaged in or is engaging in any unfair labor practice, it shall state its findings of fact in writing and dismiss the complaint.
(e) In determining whether a complaint shall issue alleging that an unfair labor practice has been committed, and in deciding those cases, the same regulations and rules of decision shall apply irrespective of whether the employee organization affected is affiliated with an employee organization national or international in scope.
(f) No order of the Board shall require the reinstatement of any individual as an employee who has been suspended or discharged or the payment to him or her of any back pay, if such individual has recourse to binding arbitration under a labor contract grievance procedure for such suspension or discharge. (Added 1973, No. 111, § 1; amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238.)