KANSAS
CHAPTER 44. — LABOR AND INDUSTRIES
ARTICLE 8. — EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYER RELATIONS
RIGHT TO WORK AMENDMENT
Kan. Const. art. 15, § 12
§ 12. Membership or nonmembership in labor organizations. No person shall be denied the opportunity to obtain or retain employment because of membership or nonmembership in any labor organization, nor shall the state or any subdivision thereof, or any individual, corporation, or any kind of association enter into any agreement, written or oral, which excludes any person from employment or continuation of employment because of membership or nonmembership in any labor organization. (Adopted November 4, 1958.)
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 44-831
RIGHT TO WORK AMENDMENT
§ 44-831. Violations of right to work amendment; civil action for damages; attorneys’ fees as costs, exception; limitation of actions. Any person who is aggrieved by any violation of the provisions of section 12 of article 15 of the constitution of the state of Kansas shall have a cause of action against the person committing such violation for the actual damages sustained by the aggrieved person. In any such action, if the prevailing party recovers damages, the court shall award reasonable attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party, to be taxed as part of the costs of such action, except that when a tender has been made by the adverse party prior to the trial of such action on its merits, and the amount recovered is not in excess of such tender, no such costs shall be allowed.
Any action authorized by this section shall be commenced within one year after the cause of action shall have accrued. (Enacted 1975.)
CHAPTER 72.–SCHOOLS
ARTICLE 54.–TEACHERS’ CONTRACTS
PROFESSIONAL NEGOTIATIONS
§ 72-5413. Definitions.
As used in this act and in acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto:
. . . .
(b) ‘Board of education’ means the board of education of any school district, the board of control of any area vocational-technical school, and the board of trustees of any community college.
(c) ‘Professional employee’ means any person employed by a board of education in a position which requires a certificate issued by the state board of education or employed by a board of education in a professional, educational or instructional capacity, but shall not mean any such person who is an administrative employee and, commencing in the 2006-2007 school year, shall not mean any person who is a retirant from school employment of the Kansas public employees retirement system, regardless of whether an agreement between a board of education and an exclusive representative of professional employees that covers terms and conditions of professional service provides to the contrary.
(d) ‘Administrative employee’ means, in the case of a school district, any person who is employed by a board of education in an administrative capacity and who is fulfilling duties for which an administrator’s certificate is required under K.S.A. 72-7513, and amendments thereto; and, in the case of an area vocational-technical school or community college, any person who is employed by the board of control or the board of trustees in an administrative capacity and who is acting in that capacity and who has authority, in the interest of the board of control or the board of trustees, to hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward or discipline other employees, or responsibly to direct them or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend a preponderance of such actions, if in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment. . . . (Enacted
1970, as amended 2006.)
§ 72-5414. Professional employees’ rights; representation of employees and school boards; negotiations.
Professional employees shall have the right to form, join or assist professional employees’ organizations, to participate in professional negotiation with boards of education through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, protecting or improving terms and conditions of professional service. Professional employees shall also have the right to refrain from any or all of the foregoing activities. . . .
(Enacted 1970.)
§ 72-5430. Prohibited practices; evidence of bad faith.
. . . .
(b) It shall be a prohibited practice for a board of education or its designated representative willfully to:
(1) Interfere with, restrain or coerce professional employees in the exercise of rights granted in K.S.A. 72-5414;
. . . .
(3) discriminate in regard to hiring or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any professional employees’ organization;
. . . .
(c) It shall be a prohibited practice for professional employees or professional employees’ organizations or their designated representatives willfully to:
(1) Interfere with, restrain or coerce professional employees in the exercise of rights granted in K.S.A. 72-5414. . . . (Enacted 1977, as amended 1980.)
CHAPTER 75.–STATE DEPARTMENTS; PUBLIC OFFICERS
EMPLOYEES
ARTICLE 43.–PUBLIC OFFICERS
PUBLIC EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
§ 75-4322. Definitions.
As used in this act:
(a) "Public employee" means any person employed by any public agency, except those persons classed as supervisory employees, professional employees of school districts, as defined by subsection (c) of K.S.A. 72-5413, elected and management officials, and confidential employees.
(b) "Supervisory employee" means any individual who normally performs different work from his subordinates, having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend a preponderance of such actions, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment. A memorandum of agreement may provide for a definition of "supervisory employees" as an alternative to the definition
herein.
(c) "Confidential employee" means any employee whose unrestricted access to confidential personnel files or other information concerning the administrative operations of a public agency, or whose functional responsibilities or knowledge in connection with the issues involved in the meet and confer process would make his membership in the same employee organization as other employees incompatible with his official duties.
(d) "Professional employee" includes any employee: (1) Whose work is predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work; involves the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment; requires knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by prolonged study in an institution of higher learning; or (2) who has completed courses of prolonged study as described in paragraph (1) of this subsection, and is performing related work under the supervision of a professional person in order to qualify as a professional employee as defined in paragraph (1) of this subsection; or
(3) attorneys-at-law or any other person who is registered as a qualified professional by a board of registration or other public body established for such purposes under the laws of this state.
(e) "Elected and management officials" means any elective official and any appointed officer charged by law with major administrative and management responsibilities.
(f) "Public agency" or "public employer" means every governmental subdivision, including any county, township, city, school district, special district, board, commission, or instrumentality or other similar unit whose governing body exercises similar governmental powers, and the state of Kansas and its state agencies. . . . (Enacted 1971, as amended
1977.)
§ 75-4324. Employees’ right to form, join and participate in employee organizations.
Public employees shall have the right to form, join and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing, for the purpose of meeting and conferring with public employers or their designated representatives with respect to grievances and conditions of employment. Public employees also shall have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations. (Enacted 1971.)
§ 75-4333. Prohibited practices; evidence of bad faith.
. . . .
(b) It shall be a prohibited practice for a public employer or its designated representative willfully to:
(1) Interfere, restrain or coerce public employees in the exercise of rights granted in K.S.A. 75-4324;
. . . .
(3) Encourage or discourage membership in any employee organization, committee, association or representation plan by discrimination in hiring, tenure or other conditions of employment, or by blacklisting;
. . . .
(c) It shall be a prohibited practice for public employees or employee organizations willfully to:
(1) Interfere with, restrain or coerce public employees in the exercise of rights granted in K.S.A. 75-4324. . . . (Enacted 1971.)
