(A) An employee organization becomes the exclusive representative of all the public employees in an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining by either:

Terms Used In Ohio Code 4117.05

  • Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Day: means calendar day. See Ohio Code 4117.01
  • Employee organization: means any labor or bona fide organization in which public employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with public employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, terms, and other conditions of employment. See Ohio Code 4117.01
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Exclusive representative: means the employee organization certified or recognized as an exclusive representative under section 4117. See Ohio Code 4117.01
  • Public employer: means the state or any political subdivision of the state located entirely within the state, including, without limitation, any municipal corporation with a population of at least five thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census; county; township with a population of at least five thousand in the unincorporated area of the township according to the most recent federal decennial census; school district; governing authority of a community school established under Chapter 3314 of the Revised Code; college preparatory boarding school established under Chapter 3328 of the Revised Code or its operator; state institution of higher learning; public or special district; state agency, authority, commission, or board; or other branch of public employment. See Ohio Code 4117.01
  • state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59

(1) Being certified by the state employment relations board when a majority of the voting employees in the unit select the employee organization as their representative in a board-conducted election under section 4117.07 of the Revised Code;

(2) Filing a request with a public employer with a copy to the state employment relations board for recognition as an exclusive representative. In the request for recognition, the employee organization shall describe the bargaining unit, shall allege that a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit wish to be represented by the employee organization, and shall support the request with substantial evidence based on, and in accordance with, rules prescribed by the board demonstrating that a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit wish to be represented by the employee organization. Immediately upon receipt of a request, the public employer shall either request an election under division (A)(2) of section 4117.07 of the Revised Code, or take the following action:

(a) Post notice in each facility at which employees in the proposed unit are employed, setting forth the description of the bargaining unit, the name of the employee organization requesting recognition, and the date of the request for recognition, and advising employees that objections to certification must be filed with the state employment relations board not later than the twenty-first day following the date of the request for recognition;

(b) Immediately notify the state employment relations board of the request for recognition.

The state employment relations board shall certify the employee organization filing the request for recognition on the twenty-second day following the filing of the request for recognition, unless by the twenty-first day following the filing of the request for recognition it receives:

(i) A petition for an election from the public employer pursuant to division (A)(2) of section 4117.07 of the Revised Code;

(ii) Substantial evidence based on, and in accordance with, rules prescribed by the board demonstrating that a majority of the employees in the described bargaining unit do not wish to be represented by the employee organization filing the request for recognition;

(iii) Substantial evidence based on, and in accordance with, rules prescribed by the board from another employee organization demonstrating that at least ten per cent of the employees in the described bargaining unit wish to be represented by such other employee organization; or

(iv) Substantial evidence based on, and in accordance with, rules prescribed by the board indicating that the proposed unit is not an appropriate unit pursuant to section 4117.06 of the Revised Code.

(B) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit a public employer to recognize, or the state employment relations board to certify, an employee organization as an exclusive representative under Chapter 4117 of the Revised Code if there is in effect a lawful written agreement, contract, or memorandum of understanding between the public employer and another employee organization which, on the effective date of this section, has been recognized by a public employer as the exclusive representative of the employees in a unit or which by tradition, custom, practice, election, or negotiation has been the only employee organization representing all employees in the unit; this restriction does not apply to that period of time covered by any agreement which exceeds three years. For the purposes of this section, extensions of agreement do not affect the expiration of the original agreement.

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