Illinois Administrative Code › Title 80 - PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES › Part 1210 - REPRESENTATION PROCEEDINGS › Section 1210.100 - Processing of Petitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
			 Representation Petitions Seeking an Election
1) The Board shall provide the employer with
			 a Notice to Employees of the filing of a representation or decertification
			 petition. The Notice to Employees shall be posted on bulletin boards and other
			 places where notices to employees in the proposed bargaining unit are
			 customarily posted. The Notice to Employees shall inform employees that a
			 petition has been filed with the Board and shall outline intervention
			 procedures. The Notice shall remain posted until replaced by the Board-issued
			 Notice of Election, unless the petition has been dismissed or withdrawn. It
			 shall be incumbent upon the parties to contact the Board to correct any errors
			 that may appear on the Notice to Employees.
2) Within 7 days after service of a petition,
			 the employer shall file with the Board a list containing the full names and
			 titles of the employees in the proposed bargaining unit. In the event the
			 employer does not supply the list within 7 days, the Board shall
			 administratively determine the adequacy of the showing of interest, based on
			 the information provided by the union.
3) All employers served with a representation
			 petition and all unions served with a decertification petition shall file a
			 written response to the petition. The response filed shall set forth the
			 party's position with respect to the matters asserted in the petition,
			 including, but not limited to, the appropriateness of the bargaining unit and,
			 to the extent known, whether any employees sought by petitioner to be included
			 in the unit are supervisory, managerial or confidential. If a party agrees to
			 the appropriateness of the unit proposed in the petition, it shall so indicate.
			 If a party disagrees with the unit proposed in the petition, it shall describe
			 with particularity what it considers to be an appropriate unit, and shall
			 include a description of the job titles and classifications of the employees to
			 be included and of those to be excluded.
4) The setting forth of a party's position
			 with respect to the appropriate unit shall not be deemed to waive or otherwise
			 preclude the right of that party to subsequently assert a different position
			 with respect to what unit it considers appropriate.
5) Petitions to intervene in the election may
			 be filed with the Board no later than 15 days prior to the date of the
			 election. However, any intervenor who files after the date set for hearing or,
			 if no hearing is held, after the approval of a consent election agreement or
			 the direction of an election shall have waived objections to the bargaining
			 unit.
6) Upon receipt of the
			 petition, the Board or its agent shall investigate the petition. If, for any
			 reason during the investigation, the Board or its agent discovers that the
			 petition may be inappropriate, the Board or its agent may issue an order to
			 show cause requesting that the petitioner provide sufficient evidence to
			 overcome the inappropriateness. Failure to provide sufficient evidence of the
			 petition's appropriateness can result in the dismissal of the petition.
			 Moreover, in conjunction with subsection (a)(3), if, for any reason during the
			 investigation, the Board or its agent discovers that the employer's objections
			 to the representation petition or the union's objections to the decertification
			 petition are insufficient in either law or fact, the Board or its agent may
			 issue an order to show cause requesting that the employer or union provide
			 sufficient evidence to support its defenses. Failure to provide sufficient
			 evidence can result in the waiver of defenses.
7) Results of the Investigation
A) After the investigation, the Executive
			 Director shall dismiss a petition, or the Administrative Law Judge shall
			 recommend to the Board that a petition be dismissed, when a petition has been
			 filed untimely; when the bargaining unit is clearly inappropriate; when the
			 showing of interest is not adequate; when the employer is not covered by the
			 Act; when the employees are not covered by the Act; or for any other reason
			 there is no reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation
			 exists. Parties may appeal the Executive Director's order or the Administrative
			 Law Judge's recommended decision and order in accordance with 80 Ill. Adm. Code
			 1200.135.
B) If, at the conclusion of the
			 investigation, the parties agree to an election in the petitioned-for
			 bargaining unit, the parties may file a stipulation for consent election in
			 accordance with Section
			 1210.105.
C) If, at the conclusion of the
			 investigation, the only issues remaining between the parties are logistical,
			 e.g., the date of the election, or the positions in dispute comprise 10% or
			 less of the petitioned for bargaining unit, the Executive Director or
			 Administrative Law Judge may issue an Order Directing an Election. Parties may
			 appeal the Order in accordance with 80 Ill. Adm. Code 1200.135.
D) If the investigation discloses that there
			 is reasonable cause to believe that there are unresolved issues relating to the
			 question concerning representation, the Board shall set the matter for hearing
			 before an Administrative Law Judge. All parties shall be given a minimum of 14
			 days notice of the hearing.
8) The Executive Director may, in his or her
			 discretion or at the request of the charging party, suspend the processing of a
			 petition if an unfair labor practice charge is filed containing allegations
			 regarding conduct that may either affect the existence of a question concerning
			 representation or have a tendency to interfere with a fair and free
			 election.