By Changing Your Health Insurance Benefits, Are You Committing an Unfair Labor Practice?

April 28, 2010

The State Employment Relations Board issued a ruling in the case of SERB v. City of Reynoldsburg that may grant employers more flexibility when making certain changes to health insurance benefits.  The SERB decision also contains some significant language concerning health insurance coverage that may be useful in fact-finding and conciliation.  SERB v. City of Reynoldsburg, SERB no. 2010-003 (2010) Read More...

Construction Corner: Ohio Supreme Court Holds that Employer's Penalties for Violation of Ohio Prevailing Wage Law are Mandatory

April 28, 2010

On March 2, 2010, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that when a court finds that a contractor failed to pay workers the prevailing wage on a public improvement project, the contractor must pay not only the amount of the plaintiffs’ underpaid wages, but also the penalties set forth in R.C. § 4115.10(A), unless the violation falls under one of two exceptions set forth in R.C. § 4115.13(C). Bergman v. Monarch Constr. Co., Slip Opinion No. 2010-Ohio-622.  Read More...

Effect of Healthcare Reform on Employers

April 28, 2010

Amid the controversy of healthcare reform, many employers are asking themselves, “What does healthcare reform mean to me?  Will I be required to provide health coverage for my employees?  How will this affect my bottom line?”  The recent reform impacts employers in important ways.  Many of the provisions in the Acts affect employers differently based upon their size.  Here is a summary of many of the ways in which healthcare reform could impact you:  Read More...

Ohio Attorney General Issues Opinion on County Correctional Facilities Housing Out-of-State Prisoners

April 28, 2010

On February 9th, the Ohio Attorney General (OAG) issued Opinion 2010-04, at the request of the Butler County Prosecuting Attorney, addressing whether Ohio Revised Code § 9.07 authorizes a board of county commissioners to contract with an out-of-state jurisdiction to house out-of-state prisoners in a county correctional facility and, if so, whether R.C. § § 341.21 limits the types of out-of-state prisoners that may be housed in a county correctional facility. Read More...

Supreme Court Finds State's Use of a Garrity Statement Before Grand Jury or During Trial Preparation is Improper

April 28, 2010

On March 3, 2010, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that, under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Garrity v. New Jersey and Kastigar v. United States, when a public employer compels an employee under threat of firing to make a statement in an administrative proceeding: * the state may not make any direct or derivative use of the employee’s statement in a criminal proceeding against the employee; * the state makes derivative use of the employee’s statement when it presents to a grand jury testimony from a witness to the statement and when the prosecutor reviews the employee’s statement in preparation for trial; and * when the state fails to prove that it did not make any use of the employee’s statement in obtaining an indictment, the indictment must be dismissed. Read More...

Unbalanced Conciliation Award Fuels Economic Crisis

April 28, 2010

Some conciliators are continuing to force public employers to foot the bill for hefty wage increases, despite the debilitating economic conditions that most counties in Ohio are facing.  In Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association v. Wayne County Sheriff, a SERB conciliator recently adopted the union’s proposal and awarded a unit of sergeants, deputies, and lieutenants a 3.5% wage increase over three years, a longevity pay increase, and an increase in the wage differential for sergeants.  The conciliator relied on the fact that the sheriff’s office did not demonstrate the lack of ability to finance the union’s demands.  Read More...