N.J.S.A. 34:13A-67 — Representatives and elections, cannabis employees.

34:13A-67 Representatives and elections, cannabis employees. 8. Representatives and Elections; Cannabis Employees a. Representatives designated or selected for the purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the cannabis employees in a unit appropriate for those purposes shall be the exclusive representatives of all the cannabis employees in that unit for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment, provided that any individual employee or a group of employees shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer and to have their grievances adjusted, without the intervention of the bargaining representative, as long as the adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of a collective bargaining contract or agreement then in effect, provided further, that the bargaining representative has been given opportunity to be present at the adjustment. b. The Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement shall decide in each case of contested unit membership whether, to assure to employees the fullest freedom in exercising the rights guaranteed by P.L.2025, c.244 (C.34:13A-5.1a et al.), the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision thereof. c. A labor organization may become the exclusive representative for the covered employees of an appropriate bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment by filing a Majority Support Petition with the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement alleging that a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit wish to be represented by that organization. The petition shall describe the geographical area that constitutes the unit claimed to be appropriate and shall be accompanied by proof of majority support, through authorization cards, Majority Support Petitions, or other appropriate proof of majority support. d. A labor organization that wishes to represent a particular bargaining unit may be certified as that unit�s bargaining representative by submitting to the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement a Majority Support Petition. The petition shall allege all of the following: (1) That the number of covered employees currently employed by the employer named in the Majority Support Petition, as determined from the employer�s payroll immediately preceding the filing of the Majority Support Petition, is not less than 50 percent of the bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining. (2) That no valid election has been conducted among the covered employees of the employer named in the Majority Support Petition within the 12 months immediately preceding the filing of the petition. (3) That the Majority Support Petition is not barred by an existing collective bargaining agreement. e. The Majority Support Petition described in subsection d. of this section shall be supported by a proof of majority support, through authorization cards, petitions, or other appropriate proof of majority support of the currently employed employees, as determined from the employer�s payroll immediately preceding the filing of the Majority Support Petition. The showing of support shall be submitted together with the Majority Support Petition. f. A labor organization submitting a Majority Support Petition shall personally serve the petition on the employer on the same day that the petition is filed with the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement. Within 48 hours after the petition is served, the cannabis employer shall file with the division, and personally serve upon the labor organization that filed the petition, its response to the petition. As part of the response, the employer shall provide a complete and accurate list of the full names, current street addresses, telephone numbers, job classifications, and crew or department of all currently employed employees in the bargaining unit employed as of the payroll period immediately preceding the filing of the petition. The employer shall organize the employees� names and addresses and other information by crew or department and shall provide the list to the division and petitioning labor organization in hardcopy and electronic format. The employee�s first name, middle name or initial, last name, address, city, state, ZIP Code, telephone number, classification, and crew or department shall be organized into separate columns. Immediately upon receiving the employer response and employee list, the division shall provide the response and employee list by hardcopy and electronic copy to the labor organization that filed the Majority Support Petition. g. (1) Upon receipt of a Majority Support Petition, the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement shall immediately commence an investigation regarding the validity of the petition and the proof of support submitted. Within five days of receipt of the petition, the division shall make an administrative determination as to whether the requirements set forth in subsection d. of this section are met by the petition and whether the labor organization submitting the petition has provided proof of majority support. In making this determination, the division shall compare the names on the proof of support submitted by the labor organization to the names on the list of currently employed employees provided by the employer. The division shall ignore discrepancies between the employee�s name listed on the proof of support and the employee�s name on the employer�s list if the preponderance of the evidence, such as the employee�s address, the name of the employee�s foreman or forewoman, or evidence submitted by the labor organization or employee shows that the employee who signed the proof of support is the same person as the employee on the employer�s list. (2) The division shall return proof of majority support that it finds invalid to the labor organization that filed the Majority Support Petition, with an explanation as to why each proof of support was found to be invalid. (3) If the division determines that the labor organization has submitted proof of majority support and met the requirements set forth in this section, it shall immediately certify the labor organization as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees in the bargaining unit. An employer�s duty to bargain with the labor organization commences immediately after the labor organization is certified. (4) If the division determines that the labor organization has not submitted the requisite proof of majority support, the division shall notify the labor organization of the deficiency and grant the labor organization 30 days from the date it is notified to submit additional support. h. (1) Within five days after the division certifies a labor organization through a majority support election, the cannabis employer or the labor organization may file with the division a petition objecting to the certification on one or more of the following grounds: (a) Allegations in the Majority Support Petition were false. (b) The division improperly determined the geographical scope of the bargaining unit. (c) The majority support election was conducted improperly. (d) Improper conduct affected the results of the majority support election. (2) Upon receipt of a petition objecting to certification, the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement may administratively rule on the petitioner�s objections or may choose to conduct a hearing to rule on the petitioner�s objections. If the division decides to conduct a hearing on the objections, it shall mail a notice of the time and place of the hearing to the petitioner and the labor organization whose certification is being challenged. The division shall conduct the hearing within 14 days of the filing of an objection, unless an extension is agreed to by the labor organization. If the division finds at the hearing that any of the allegations in the petition of the grounds set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection are true, the division shall revoke the certification issued under subsection g. of this section. (3) The filing of a petition objecting to a majority support election certification shall not diminish the duty to bargain or delay the running of the 90-day period. i. The Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement shall not permit the filing of any other election petition once a Majority Support Petition is filed until the division determines whether the labor organization filing the Majority Support Petition should be certified. j. If a cannabis employer commits an unfair labor practice, as set forth in section 7 of P.L.2025, c.244 (C.34:13A-66), including vote suppression during a labor organization�s Majority Support Petition campaign, and the employer�s unfair labor practice or misconduct would render slight the chances of a new majority support campaign reflecting the free and fair choice of the cannabis employees covered under section 7 of P.L.2025, c.244 (C.34:13A-66), the labor organization shall be certified by the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement as the exclusive bargaining representative for the bargaining unit. For purposes of a finding of an unfair labor practice or misconduct under this subsection, a misrepresentation of fact or law by a cannabis employer or a cannabis employer�s representative or agent is an unfair labor practice or misconduct whether or not a labor organization has had an opportunity to respond to or correct the misrepresentation. k. If a cannabis employer disciplines, suspends, demotes, lays off, terminates, or otherwise takes adverse action against a cannabis employee during a labor organization�s Majority Support Petition campaign, there shall be a presumption that the adverse action was retaliatory. The employer may rebut the presumption if they can provide clear and convincing evidence that the adverse action would have been taken in the absence of the Majority Support Petition campaign. l. If the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement invalidates signatures towards the Majority Support Petition so that the Majority Support Petition alleging that a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit wish to be represented by that organization is no longer a majority, under 50 percent plus one of the proposed bargaining unit, the labor organization or the cannabis employees alleging the majority shall either correct the deficiency or proceed with an election. m. If the number of cannabis employees does not rise to a majority of the proposed bargaining unit, the labor organization shall provide proof of 30 percent or more of the cannabis employees in the proposed bargaining unit to secure an election for representation. n. In the case of an election for representation by the labor organization, cannabis employees to be covered by the bargaining unit shall have the right to vote by electronic voting system, Internet voting system, telephone voting system, or remotely as provided in section 3 of P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-3). o. In any election in which the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement determines, following a post-election hearing, that a cannabis employer has committed a violation of P.L.2025, c.244 (C.34:13A-5.1a et al.) or otherwise interfered with a fair election, and the employer has not demonstrated that the violation or other interference is unlikely to have affected the outcome of the election, the division shall, without ordering a new election, set aside the election and certify the labor organization as the representative of the cannabis employees in such unit and issue an order requiring the employer to bargain with the labor organization. p. If a cannabis employer disagrees with the coverage of cannabis employees in the bargaining unit as cannabis employees, the employer shall petition the Division of Private Employment Dispute Settlement. The division shall seek a response from the labor organization or cannabis employees seeking certification. The division shall issue a decision citing to previous National Labor Relations Board rulings on private employees as applied to the prospective bargaining unit. An appeal of the decision shall be preserved pending the final decision on certification by the division. L.2025, c.244, s.8.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 34:13A-67, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.