PEF Agency fee procedure outlined

1. Notification of Dissent: Any person paying an agency fee to PEF may notify the union of his/her dissent from the expenditure of any portion of the fee by PEF or its affiliates in aid of activities or causes of a political or ideological nature only incidentally related to terms and conditions of employment. Notification shall be made by letter sent to PEF’s Secretary-Treasurer by regular, registered or certified mail during the period between February 15 and March 15 of each year, prior to the fiscal year to which the objection applies. In the notification, the dissenter must specifically inform the union whether the objection is continuous, which means that it does not have to be renewed each year. If the notification does not state that the objection is continuous, the objection must be renewed annually according to the requirements and time frames provided herein. A person who is newly employed or re-employed at any time during the fiscal year to which his/her notification applies must send his/her notification, in the manner described above, within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt of his/her first payroll check from which agency-fee deductions are made.

2. Estimated Refund: Each person who notifies the Union as provided in paragraph 1 shall, pending PEF’s final refund determination, receive an estimated refund. This estimated refund shall represent the dissenter’s approximate pro rata share of expenditures by PEF or its affiliates in aid of causes of a political or ideological nature only incidentally related to terms and conditions of employment. The estimated refund shall be transmitted within thirty (30) days of the end of PEF’s fiscal year to a dissenter who files a timely notice of dissent.

3. Refund: The approximate proportion of agency fees actually spent by PEF and its affiliates during the fiscal year in aid of causes of a political or ideological nature only incidentally related to terms and conditions of employment shall be determined annually, after the close of each fiscal year of PEF. This determination shall be promptly communicated, in writing, to each dissenter. If this determination is for an amount greater than the estimated refund, the difference with interest at the statutory rate shall promptly be transmitted to each dissenter.

4. Objections/Neutral Hearing: If a dissenter is dissatisfied with PEF’s refund determination, an objection may be made within thirty (30) days of receipt of the refund. Objections shall be made to PEF’s Secretary-Treasurer by regular, registered or certified mail. All objections will be expeditiously submitted by PEF for hearing and resolution to a neutral party appointed by the American Arbitration Association from its panel of arbitrators. PEF, at its option, may consolidate all objections and have them resolved at one hearing. An objector may present his/her objection to the neutral in person. The cost of this hearing shall be borne by PEF.

5. Escrow: The balance of a dissenter’s agency fee payments during the fiscal year in question shall be held in an interest-bearing, segregated account until PEF’s refund determination is made and any objection by the dissenter is finally determined under the procedure set forth in paragraph four.