Full-time Probationary Police Officers Entitled to all Labor Protections

Are full-time probationary police officers excluded from the collective bargaining process, such that they cannot file unfair labor practice charges?

No. A full-time probationary police officer is now entitled to all labor protections under Act 111.

In the recent decision of Gehring v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and Borough of Hamburg, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that probationary police and fire employees should not be excluded from the collective bargaining process under Act 111.

The facts in Gehring are straightforward. Officer Gehring was a probationary police officer who believed that his prior status as a part-time officer gave him seniority over a recently hired police officer. The Police Association filed a grievance on Gehring’s behalf, and the Township, accusing him of misconduct, terminated his employment. Gehring filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, contending that he was terminated in retaliation for engaging in protective union activity. The PLRB refused to issue a complaint, citing the Upper Makefield Township v. PLRB decision in 2000, which held that probationary officers were not eneitled to challenge a dismissal unless it was provided for in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Commonwealth Court, on appeal, also held that probationary employees could not file unfair labor practice charges based on past practice.

The Supreme Court found that probationary employees are “employees” within the protection of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act and were entitled to file unfair labor practice charges without restriction and have an enforceable right to bargain collectively. However, probationary officers do not have a property right in continued employment, and may still be dismissed for a broad range of performance-related reasons consistent with the managerial prerogative of government employers (eq. No right to a Police Tenure Act hearing or any other formal procedure, unless it is specified in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.