New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 19 - OTHER AGENCIES › PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION › Chapter 12 - NEGOTIATIONS AND IMPASSE PROCEDURES; MEDIATION, FACT-FINDING, SUPER CONCILIATION, GRIEVANCE ARBITRATION, SPECIAL DISCIPLINARY ARBITRATION, BINDING ARBITRATION TO REVIEW IMPASSES OVER EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION ACCESS TO EMPLOYEES, AND NOTICE OF SUBCONTRACTING › Subchapter 4 - FACT-FINDING AND SUPER CONCILIATION › Section 19:12-4.3 - Fact-finder's function

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The appointed
				  fact-finder shall, as soon as possible after appointment, meet with the parties
				  or other representatives, make inquiries and investigations, hold hearings,
				  which shall not be public unless all parties agree to have them public, or take
				  other steps deemed appropriate in order to discharge his or her
				  function.
(b) For the purposes of
				  such hearings, investigations and inquiries, the fact-finder shall have the
				  authority and power to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, administer
				  oaths, take the testimony or deposition of any person under oath, issue
				  subpoenas duces tecum and require the production and examination of any
				  governmental or other books or papers relating to any matter under
				  investigation by or in issue before the fact-finder.
(c) Information disclosed by a party to a
				  fact-finder while functioning in a mediatory capacity shall not be divulged by
				  the fact-finder voluntarily or by compulsion. All files, records, reports,
				  documents or other papers received or prepared by a fact-finder while serving
				  in a mediatory capacity shall be classified as confidential. The fact-finder
				  shall not produce any confidential records of, or testify in regard to, any
				  mediation conducted by him or her, on behalf of any party in any type of
				  proceeding under the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act, as amended,
				  including, but not limited to, unfair practice proceedings under N.J.A.C.
				  19:14.
(d) If the impasse is not
				  resolved, the fact-finder shall make findings of fact and recommend the terms
				  of settlement as soon after the conclusion of the hearing as
				  possible.
(e) Any findings of fact
				  and recommended terms of settlement shall be submitted simultaneously in
				  writing to the parties and the Director of Conciliation.
(f) All individually incurred costs shall be
				  borne by the party incurring them. The cost of the services of the fact-finder,
				  including per diem expenses, if any, and actual and necessary travel and
				  subsistence expenses, and any other necessary expenses of the fact-finding
				  proceeding, shall be borne by the Commission unless mandated otherwise by
				  subsequent legislation.
(g) The
				  parties shall meet within five days after receipt of the fact-finder's findings
				  of fact and recommended terms of settlement, to exchange statements of position
				  and try to reach an agreement. In the event of a continuing impasse, the
				  Commission or the Director of Conciliation may take whatever steps are deemed
				  expedient to effect a voluntary settlement of the impasse, including the
				  appointment of a super conciliator, where appropriate.