A recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) indicates that nurses must be allowed union representation during peer review.
The cases stemmed from two nurses who were requested to voluntarily appear before a hospital’s nursing peer review committee and denied permission to have their union representatives.
The NLRB determined that their union representatives could attend the peer review meeting because the nurses could reasonably expect that the meeting might result in them being disciplined.
Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, KS, argued otherwise, saying it did not discipline employees based on the outcome of peer review meetings.
The NLRB dismissed that argument as without merit, saying union representation was allowed even if the committee could not impose any disciplinary action because the nursing peer review committee could report the nurses’ conduct to the Kansas Board of Nursing. That could lead to suspension or revocation of their licenses and subsequent loss of employment.
The hospital also claimed that all business “conducted in the committee is confidential between the Hospital and the State,” but the NLRB said that wasn’t good enough.
The NLRB decision explained that where requested information is “relevant to the Union’s ability to (a) effectively monitor and enforce the terms of the collective-bargaining agreement, (b) enable the Union to compare incidents that cause nurses to become targets of investigations, and (c) determine whether to file a grievance on behalf of unit employees who might have unknowingly been the victims of discriminatory investigations and discipline,” the party asserting confidentiality has the burden of establishing that the information is confidential and “that its confidentiality interest in the information sought outweighs its bargaining partner’s need for the information.”
The NLRB decision explained that the hospital has three options when an employee requests union representation. It can grant the request, discontinue the interview, or offer the employee the choice between continuing the interview unaccompanied by a union representative or having no interview at all.
If the employee voluntarily agrees to remain unrepresented after having been presented by the employer with those choices, the hospital can proceed with the interview.
The NLRB decision is available online at http://tinyurl.com/q47b6mt.
