Opinion ID: 2325323
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: transfer and reassignment provisions

Text: The transfer and reassignment provisions in dispute in State Supervisory Employees Association are as follows: [15] A. Transfer 1. Transfer is the movement of an employee from one job assignment to another within his job classification in another organizational unit or department. 2. An employee shall not be transferred without the approval and consent of the appointing authority from and to whose unit the transfer is sought nor without the consent of the employee, or the approval of the Department of Civil Service, except that: a. The consent of the employees shall not be required when the employee movement is the result of a transfer or combining of functions of one unit to or with another; b. When a temporary transfer is made, the consent of the employee shall not be required; but if the employee objects, he shall have the right to have the transfer reviewed by the Department of Civil Service. c. Any special hardship that may result will be given due consideration. 3. c. When accepted for transfer by an organizational unit or department, the request for transfer shall not be unreasonably withheld by the organizational unit or department where the individual is employed. B. Reassignment 1. Reassignment is the movement of an employee from one job assignment to another within his job classification and within the work unit, organizational unit or department. 2. Reassignments of employees may be made in accordance with the fiscal responsibilities of the appointing authority; to improve or maintain operational effectiveness, or to provide employee development and job training or a balance of employee experience in any work area. Where such reassignments are not mutually agreed to, the appointing authority will make reassignments in the inverse order of the job classification seniority of the employees affected, given the above conditions, providing the employees are capable of doing the work. Any special hardship that may result will be given due consideration. 3. When temporary reassignments are made to achieve any of the objectives in B.2. above, employees to be affected will be given maximum possible notice. The consideration of seniority otherwise applicable in reassignments will not apply. The utilization of the concept of temporary reassignments will not be used unreasonably. 4. When personnel changes in a work unit provide opportunities for shift or schedule changes, interested employees may apply for desired assignments to the work unit supervisor. Such changes in assignment will be made on the basis of the job classification seniority of employees requesting the change, except that priority is given to the assignment of individual employees as provided in B.2. above. 5. When a vacancy is filled by an employee from outside a work unit, the employee joining that work unit shall be assigned the open position on the shift and work schedule which were appropriate to the openings. 6. a. Where the principles in B.2. above are observed, requests for voluntary reassignment within the organizational unit or department shall be given consideration. b. An employee desiring reassignment to any job in his organizational unit or department may submit an application through his supervisor in writing to his personnel officer stating the reasons for the request. Employees who are capable of performing the work and who apply for such reassignments will be considered and reassignments will be made on the basis of these requests. Where more than one request for reassignment from qualified employees deemed capable of performing the work in such a job is on record, any assignment(s) will be made on the basis of the job classification seniority of employees having recorded such a request. 7. An employee may have on record no more than two (2) requests for reassignment in 6.b. above. 8. When an employee is granted a voluntary reassignment, under provisions of 4, 5, or 6 above, he shall then be eligible for only one additional voluntary reassignment in the succeeding twelve (12) month period. Consideration will be given to a request for additional reassignment where special circumstances exist. 10. Permanent employees shall be given preference for consideration for voluntary reassignment as contrasted to provisional or probationary employees. C. Special Requests Requests for transfer or reassignment predicated on extreme personal hardship will be given priority consideration where positions are available which the employee is capable of performing. D. Transfer and Reassignment (For Association Officers and Stewards) 1. The State and the Association recognize that Association Officers and Stewards have in their relationship to their jobs a need for continuity in the assigned shift and location which exceeds that of other fellow employees. It is agreed therefore that these Association Officers and Stewards will not be routinely reassigned or transferred involuntarily. 2. The State and the Association recognize the need to utilize all personnel to meet operational requirements effectively and notwithstanding the commitment in paragraph 1 above, movement of such Association Officers and Stewards may be necessary and appropriate (generally on a temporary basis) in exception to the guideline agreed to in paragraph 1. The exception used in paragraph 2. will not be used arbitrarily. The contract provisions define a transfer as the movement of an employee from one job assignment to another within his job classification in another organizational unit or department. [A.1] It defines reassignment as the movement of an employee from one job assignment to another within his job classification and within the work unit, organizational unit or department. [B.1] There can be no question that the determination of where an employee works and at what tasks intimately and directly affects the employee's work and welfare. The provisions in dispute easily meet the first test for negotiability. One possible source of preemption is N.J.S.A. 11:11-3. This statute provides broad powers to the chief examiner and secretary of the Civil Service Commission to promulgate rules for the transfer and reassignment of employees. [16] Since this statute is discretionary, negotiability is not preempted. More plausible as a source of preemption are the administrative regulations relating to transfer and reassignment. N.J.A.C. 4:1-15.1 and -15.7 define transfer and reassignment in terms almost identical to contract provisions A.1 and B.1. N.J.A.C. 4:1-15.4, governing employee consent to transfer, is highly similar to contract provisions A.2, A.2.a., and A.2.b. Finally, the rule governing employee rights upon transfer, N.J.A.C. 4:1-15.5, is reproduced verbatim in the contract at A.2.d. and A.2.e. The mere fact that proposed contract provisions employ the language of existing statutes or regulations does not by itself prove that the Legislature intended to take those subjects out of the realm of mandatory negotiation. The contract proposals are consistent with the regulatory language. Further, the regulations do not deprive the employer of all discretion in enforcing the rights granted. The provisions are therefore not preempted. State v. State Supervisory Employees Ass'n, 78 N.J. at 80-82. Finally, we decide whether negotiation of the transfer and reassignment provisions would significantly interfere with the determination of governmental policy. In Ridgefield Park, we held that teacher transfers and reassignments are not mandatorily negotiable terms and conditions of employment. 78 N.J. at 156. For the reasons expressed there, the substantive decision to transfer or reassign an employee is preeminently a policy determination. The power of the employer to make the policy decision would be significantly hampered by having to proceed through negotiation. Id. Nonetheless, we have distinguished between substantive policy making powers of employers and procedural rights of employees. We have held that promotional procedures are negotiable terms and conditions of employment even though promotional criteria are not. State v. State Supervisory Employees Ass'n, 78 N.J. at 90-91. Negotiation about the procedures for implementing transfers and reassignment similarly will not significantly interfere with the underlying substantive policy determination. We therefore conclude that contract provisions relating to the procedures for transferring and reassigning public employees are negotiable terms and conditions of employment. We agree with the findings of PERC and the Appellate Division that the following provisions related to substantive criteria for transfer and were therefore non-negotiable matters of managerial prerogative: A.1., A.2., A.2.a., A.2.b., A.2.c., A.3.c., B.1., B.2., B.5., B.8., B.10., and C. Finally, we affirm the holding that only the first sentences in B.4. and B.6.b. are negotiable. [17] Both PERC and the Appellate Division held that clause B.7. was a negotiable term and condition of employment. We disagree and reverse. The provision limits the number of requests for reassignment that an employee may have on record. As such, the clause limits the ability of the employer to know which employees desire a reassignment. While this may further employee interests by equalizing the chances for reassignment, it significantly interferes with the information available to the employer. It therefore impinges on the ability of the employer to make rational decisions on how best to reassign employees to achieve the greatest efficiency. We therefore hold that it is a non-negotiable subject of managerial prerogative. On several clauses, there was a difference of opinion between PERC and the Appellate Division. They agreed as to the first and last sentence of B.3., but disagreed as to the second. We affirm their finding that the first sentence of B.3. is negotiable since it concerns the employee's procedural right of notice with respect to reassignments. We also agree that the last sentence is not negotiable since it concerns the substantive criteria for reassignment. The second sentence states that when temporary assignments are made, consideration of seniority otherwise applicable in reassignments will not apply. PERC found this clause to be negotiable and the Appellate Division reversed. We affirm the Appellate Division finding that this provision related to the substantive criteria for reassignment and is therefore non-negotiable. The Appellate Division partially reversed PERC's finding that clause B.6.a. was non-negotiable. The clause states that [w]here the principles in B.2. above are observed, [requests for voluntary reassignment within the organizational unit or department shall be given consideration]. The phrase in brackets was held negotiable by the Appellate Division. We reverse. Clause B.2. relates to substantive criteria for reassignment. Read in that context, B.6.a. involves not a procedural right to be heard, but a duty on the employer which impinges on the substantive reassignment decision. It is therefore non-negotiable. Finally, we address the provisions at D.1. and D.2. relating to limits on the employer's power to transfer and reassign Association officers and stewards. The Appellate Division reversed PERC's holding that the terms were negotiable on the grounds that they would limit the substantive right of management to transfer employees. In this case, we make an exception to the rule that provisions relating to the substantive criteria for transfer are non-negotiable. While the provisions do impinge on the ability of the employer to decide who will be transferred or reassigned, we conclude that in this instance the interest of the employees predominates over the minimal interference with the employer's policy choices. The clauses are limited in scope and do allow transfers of officers and stewards to meet operational requirements. We therefore hold that negotiation on these provisions would not significantly interfere with the formulation or implementation of public policy and we reverse the Appellate Division. As to Justice Handler's dissent on this point, we can only say that our judgment of the balance of interests differs from his. We agree that it would be an unfair labor practice for a public employer to transfer or assign union officials for the purpose of retaliation or coercion of employees' rights. (At 400-401). However, protection against improper transfers is not the only employee interest at stake. Even when the government has a legitimate reason for transferring union officials, such as economy or efficiency in the delivery of public services, the employees have a countervailing interest in continuity of the relationship between employees and their bargaining representatives. It is true that allowing negotiation on the issue of the transfer of union officials will interfere somewhat with the determination of governmental policy. However, we do not believe the interference will be significant, since the class of employees involved is relatively small and the restriction on transfers is limited in scope. Because the employee interest is dominant, the issue is negotiable.