2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 1 - Government Organization › Chapter 6 - Merit Personnel System › Subchapter XVII - Labor-Management Relations › § 1–617.09. Unit determination

§ 1–617.09. Unit determination.
(a) The determination of an appropriate unit will be made on a case-to-case basis and will be made on the basis of a properly-supported request from a labor organization. No particular type of unit may be predetermined by management officials nor can there be any arbitrary limit upon the number of appropriate units within an agency. The essential ingredient in every unit is community of interest: Provided, however, that an appropriate unit must also be one that promotes effective labor relations and efficiency of agency operations. A unit should include individuals who share certain interests, such as skills, working conditions, common supervision, physical location, organization structure, distinctiveness of functions performed, and the existence of integrated work processes. No unit shall be established solely on the basis of the extent to which employees in a proposed unit have organized; however, membership in a labor organization may be considered as 1 factor in evaluating the community of interest of employees in a proposed unit.
(b) A unit shall not be established if it includes the following:
(1) Any management official or supervisor: Except, that with respect to fire fighters, a unit that includes both supervisors and nonsupervisors may be considered: Provided, further, that supervisors employed by the District of Columbia Public Schools may form a unit which does not include nonsupervisors;
(2) A confidential employee;
(3) An employee engaged in personnel work in other than a purely clerical capacity;
(4) An employee engaged in administering the provisions of this subchapter;
(5) Both professional and nonprofessional employees, unless a majority of the professional employees vote or petition for inclusion in the unit;
(6) Employees of the Council of the District of Columbia; or
(7) Employees within the Educational Service in the District of Columbia Public Schools and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education who serve without tenure pursuant to [§ 1-608.01a].
(c) Two or more units for which the labor organization holds exclusive recognition within an agency may be consolidated into a single larger unit if the Board determines the larger unit to be appropriate. The Board shall certify the labor organization as the exclusive representative in the new unit when the unit is found appropriate.
(Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-139, § 1709, 25 DCR 5740; Mar. 20, 2008, D.C. Law 17-122, § 2(d), 55 DCR 1506; Aug. 16, 2008, D.C. Law 17-219, § 4019(c), 55 DCR 7598; Mar. 25, 2009, D.C. Law 17-353, § 224(b), 56 DCR 1117.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 1-618.9.
1973 Ed., § 1-347.9.
Section References
This section is referenced in § 1-617.11.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 17-122, in subsec. (b)(1), substituted “Public Schools” for “Board of Education”; in subsec. (b)(5), deleted “or” from the end; in subsec. (b)(6), substituted “; or” for a period; and added subsec. (b)(7).
D.C. Law 17-219, in subsec. (b)(7), substituted “and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education” for “, the Office of the State Superintendent for Education, and the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization”.
D.C. Law 17-353 validated a previously made technical correction in subsec. (b)(5).
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(d) of Public Education Personnel Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-241, January 22, 2008, 55 DCR 983).
For temporary (90 day) amendment, see § 4019(c) of Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2008 (D.C. Act 17-468, July 28, 2008, 55 DCR 8746).