TITLE XXIII
LABOR

Chapter 273-C
DOG AND HORSE RACING EMPLOYEES

Section 273-C:1

    273-C:1 Statement of Purpose. –
I. The National Labor Relations Board has declined to exercise jurisdiction over employers who are licensed to operate race tracks. The general court hereby declares that employees of such employers and those employers should have the right to appear before the public employee labor relations board established under RSA 273-A:2 for the purposes set forth under this chapter.
II. The general court hereby confers jurisdiction to the board over such employers and employees for the sole and express purposes set forth in this chapter and the board's powers shall be limited solely and exclusively to the provisions of this chapter.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:2

    273-C:2 Definitions. –
In this chapter:
I. "Board" means the public employee labor relations board established under RSA 273-A:2.
II. "Employee" means any person employed by an employer, as defined in RSA 273-C:2, IV, except persons in a probationary or temporary status, or employed irregularly or on call. For the purposes of this chapter, however, no employee shall be determined to be in a probationary status who shall have been employed for more than 12 months or who has an individual contract with his employer.
III. "Employee organization" means any organization certified as the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit by the board under this chapter.
IV. "Employer" means an employing unit which is engaged in dog or horse racing, or both, and is licensed to operate a race track under RSA 284 and which, in the current calendar year, has or had employees.
V. "Professional employee" means any employee engaged in work predominantly intellectual and varied in character, involving the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment, and requiring knowledge in a discipline customarily acquired in a formal program of advanced study.
VI. "Terms and conditions of employment" means wages, hours and other conditions of employment, other than managerial policy within the exclusive prerogative of the employer. The phrase "managerial policy within the exclusive prerogative of the employer" shall be construed to include, but shall not be limited to, the function, programs, operations, and methods of the employer and its business, including the use of the technology, the organizational structure of the employer, the scheduling of racing days, events, and racing seasons, the selection, direction and number of its personnel, including employees, and other matters of management imposed upon or delegated to the employer by statute or rule, including without limitation, RSA 284, as it may be amended and the rules of the lottery commission, in order to continue control of the race track and its business by the employer.

Source. 1990, 214:1. 2008, 25:1, eff. July 11, 2008. 2015, 276:127, eff. July 1, 2015.

Section 273-C:3

    273-C:3 Jurisdiction. – The board shall have jurisdiction, subject to the provisions of this chapter, over employers and employees as defined in RSA 273-C:2, who, but for an express declination by the federal National Labor Relations Board to exercise jurisdiction, would be regulated by that federal board.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:4

    273-C:4 Obligation to Bargain. – It is the obligation of the employer and the employee organization certified by the board as the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit to negotiate in good faith. "Good faith" negotiation involves meeting at reasonable times and places in an effort to reach agreement on the terms of employment, but the obligation to negotiate in good faith shall not compel either party to agree to a proposal or to make a concession.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:5

    273-C:5 Grievance Procedures. – Every agreement negotiated under the terms of this chapter shall be reduced to writing and shall contain workable grievance procedures.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:6

    273-C:6 Unfair Labor Practices Prohibited. –
I. It shall be a prohibited practice for any employer:
(a) To restrain, coerce or otherwise interfere with its employees in the exercise of the rights conferred by this chapter.
(b) To dominate or to interfere in the formation or administration of any employee organization.
(c) To discriminate in the hiring or tenure, or the terms and conditions of employment of its employees for the purpose of encouraging or discouraging membership in any employee organization.
(d) To discharge or otherwise discriminate against any employee because he has filed a complaint, affidavit or petition, or given information or testimony under this chapter.
(e) To refuse to negotiate in good faith with the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit.
(f) To invoke a lockout during the term of the existing agreement.
(g) To fail to comply with this chapter or any rule adopted under this chapter.
(h) To breach a collective bargaining agreement.
II. It shall be a prohibited practice for the exclusive representative of any employee:
(a) To restrain, coerce or otherwise interfere with employees in the exercise of their rights under this chapter.
(b) To restrain, coerce or otherwise interfere with employers in their selection of agents to represent them in collective bargaining negotiations or the settlement of grievances.
(c) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of RSA 273-C:6, I(c), or to discriminate against any employee whose membership in an employee organization has been denied or terminated for reasons other than failure to pay membership dues.
(d) To refuse to negotiate in good faith with the employer.
(e) To engage in a strike or other form of job action during the term of the existing agreement.
(f) To breach a collective bargaining agreement.
(g) To fail to comply with this chapter or any rule adopted hereunder.
III. This section shall apply only to prohibited practices which occur or arise on or after the effective date of this section.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:7

    273-C:7 Violations. –
I. The board shall have primary and exclusive jurisdiction of all violations of RSA 273-C:6.
II. Complaints shall be filed by affidavit. A copy of the complaint shall be given to the party complained against at the time the complaint is filed. The board shall hold a hearing within 45 days under rules adopted by the board pursuant to RSA 541-A and shall give 5 working days' notice of the hearing by certified mail to all persons required to appear and to the representative of a party against whom a complaint has been filed.
III. The board may issue a cease and desist order if it deems one necessary in the public interest, pending the hearing.
IV. The board shall have the power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents by the issuance of subpoenas, and to take testimony under oath, as provided in RSA 516, and may delegate such powers to any persons it may appoint.
V. Both parties shall have the right to be represented by counsel.
VI. The board shall render its decision within 45 days after the hearing, in accordance with rules adopted by the board pursuant to RSA 541-A. Upon finding that a party has violated RSA 273-C:6, the board may (a) issue a cease and desist order; (b) order reinstatement of an employee with back pay; (c) require periodic reporting of compliance; (d) order payment of the costs incurred by a party negotiating in good faith in negotiations found by the board to have been carried on not in good faith by the other party, if the board finds such penalty appropriate to the circumstances; or (e) order such other relief as the board may deem necessary, but in no event shall the board have the authority to void an existing collective bargaining agreement.
VII. The board shall summarily dismiss any complaint of an alleged violation of RSA 273-C:6 which occurred more than 180 days prior to the filing of the complaint with the board.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:8

    273-C:8 Injunctions. –
The board shall petition the superior court for the county in which the party sought to be enjoined is principally located for such order of the court as may be necessary to compel obedience to an order of the board and the superior court shall issue its order upon satisfying itself that:
I. The order of the board was within its jurisdiction to issue; and
II. There is substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole to support the finding of the board.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:9

    273-C:9 Determining Bargaining Unit. –
I. The board or its designee shall determine the appropriate bargaining unit and shall certify the exclusive representative thereof when petitioned to do so under RSA 273-C:10. In making its determination the board should take into consideration the principle of community of interest. The community of interest may be exhibited by one or more of the following criteria, although it is not limited to such:
(a) Employees with the same conditions of employment.
(b) Employees with a history of workable and acceptable collective negotiations.
(c) Employees in the same historic craft or profession.
(d) Employees functioning within the same organizational unit.
II. The board may certify a bargaining unit composed of professional and non-professional employees only if both the professional and non-professional employees, voting separately, vote to join the proposed bargaining unit. Persons exercising supervisory authority involving the significant exercise of discretion may not belong to the same bargaining unit as the employees they supervise.
III. In the event the bargaining unit is determined by the board's designee, the decision may be appealed to the board for final determination.
IV. The bargaining unit or units in effect for employees as of the effective date of this section shall be deemed to be the bargaining unit or bargaining units determined by the board. The exclusive representative of the bargaining unit or bargaining units in effect on the effective date of this section shall be deemed certified by the board.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:10

    273-C:10 Elections. –
I. If a petition is filed by:
(a) At least 30 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit seeking recognition, alleging that they wish to be represented in collective bargaining by an employee organization as their exclusive representative or asserting that the employee organization which has been certified by the board is no longer the representative of the majority of employees in the bargaining unit; or
(b) An employer alleging that one or more employee organizations has petitioned to be recognized as the exclusive representative of a majority of employees in a bargaining unit;
the board shall investigate such petition and may hold hearings for the purpose of determining whether or not grounds exist for conducting an election. Upon so finding, the board shall order an election to be held under its supervision and in accordance with rules adopted by the board under RSA 273-C:12. Otherwise, it shall dismiss the petition.
II. The petition shall consist of separate forms for each employee, whose names shall not be disclosed.
III. The ballot shall contain a space permitting a vote against representation by any employee organization whatever; and no election shall be held within 12 months after an election in which a majority of those voting cast ballots against representation by any employee organization.
IV. An employee organization receiving a simple majority of the votes cast shall be certified by the board as the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit. In the absence of a simple majority, a run-off election shall be conducted between the 2 options receiving the most votes.
V. The board shall not certify any employee organization as the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit without an election being held pursuant to this section, except as provided in RSA 273-C:9, IV.
VI. (a) Certification as exclusive representative shall remain valid until the employee organization is dissolved, voluntarily surrenders certification, loses a valid election or is decertified.
(b) The board shall decertify any employee organization which is found in a judicial proceeding to discriminate with regard to membership, or with regard to the conditions thereof, because of age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, marital status or national origin; or has systematically failed to allow its membership equal participation in the affairs of the employee organization.
(c) Any challenge to a certified exclusive bargaining representative, whether in a decertification election or a challenge by another labor organization, shall result in decertification or change in bargaining representation if decertification or the challenging organization is approved by a majority vote of members of the bargaining unit voting.
VII. Two or more bargaining units may, with the approval of the affected employer, combine for the purpose of engaging in collective bargaining negotiations with a single employer and the bargaining unit thus created shall enjoy the same rights and be subject to the same duties as if a single exclusive representative for the combined bargaining unit had been certified by the board.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990. 2019, 332:16, eff. Oct. 15, 2019.

Section 273-C:11

    273-C:11 Representation Rights of the Bargaining Unit. –
I. Employers shall extend the following rights to the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit certified under RSA 273-C:10 or as set forth in RSA 273-C:9, IV:
(a) The right to represent employees in collective bargaining negotiations and in the settlement of grievances. An individual employee may present an oral grievance to his employer without the intervention of the exclusive representative. Until the grievance is reduced to writing, the exclusive representative shall be excluded from a hearing if the employee so requests; but any resolution of the grievance shall not be inconsistent with the terms of an existing agreement between the parties.
(b) The right to represent the bargaining unit exclusively and without challenge during the term of the collective bargaining agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an election may be held not more than 180 nor less than 120 days prior to the date on which the term of the collective bargaining agreement expires.
II. A reasonable number of employees who act as representatives of the bargaining unit shall be given a reasonable opportunity to meet with the employer or his representatives during working hours without loss of compensation or benefits.
III. The exclusive representative of a bargaining unit acting as such on the effective date of this section shall be deemed certified by the board in accordance with RSA 273-C:9, IV and shall have all the rights established in RSA 273-C:11, I.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:12

    273-C:12 Rulemaking; Conduct of Studies. – The board may adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, relative to carrying out the provisions of this chapter and may conduct such studies as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:13

    273-C:13 Appeals. – Any person aggrieved by a final order of the board granting or denying in whole or in part the relief sought may obtain review of such order in the manner prescribed in RSA 541.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.

Section 273-C:14

    273-C:14 Records and Reports. –
I. A copy of all agreements reached as a result of collective bargaining under this chapter shall be filed with the board by the parties within 14 days after execution of such an agreement.
II. All documents and records of the board shall be public records and shall be kept for a minimum of 10 years.

Source. 1990, 214:1, eff. July 31, 1990.