ASK MSBA
Gary Lee
Amy Fullenkamp-Taylor
Tiffany Gustin
Maria Lonis
What Do Districts Need to Know About Meet and Confer? By the MSBA Management Services Staff (Gary Lee, Amy Fullenkamp-Taylor, Tiffany Gustin, and Maria Lonis)
Minnesota Statutes Chapter 179A – the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA) – requires public employers to meet with professional employees to discuss matters that are not considered “terms and conditions” of employment. Each year, MSBA receives many questions on the topic – included below are some of those questions. Q: What is meet and confer? A: M.S. 179A.03, Subd. 10 defines “meet and confer” as “the exchange of views and concerns between employers and their employees.” Q: Does PELRA have any requirements as to when and how meet and confer meetings must be held? A: Yes. PELRA states the parties shall meet once every four months and the school district shall provide the facilities and set the time.
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JULY–AUGUST 2021
Q: Must the school district meet and confer with all its employees? A: Maybe. PELRA only requires school districts to meet and confer with professional employees; however, some school districts have negotiated “meet and confer” language in all its collective bargaining agreements. Q: Who is considered a professional employee? A: In pertinent part, PELRA defines a professional employee as “any employee engaged in work predominantly intellectual and varied in character…involving the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance… requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning…or a teacher.” For school districts this means teachers, principals, and other licensed employees.
MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION | JOURNAL
