Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 21 > Chapter 22 - Vermont Municipal Labor Relations Act

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Agency service fee: means a fee deducted by an employer from the salary or wages of an employee who is not a member of an employee organization, which is paid to the employee organization that is the exclusive bargaining agent for the bargaining unit of the employee. See
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Bargaining unit: means a group of employees recognized by the municipal employer or certified by the Board as appropriate for exclusive representation by an employee organization for purposes of collective bargaining. See
• Board: means the State Labor Relations Board established under 3 V. See
• Business closing: means :

• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor or designee. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Labor. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Employee: means a person who has entered into the employment of an employer, where the employer is unable to show that:

• Employee: means a municipal employee as defined in this section. See
• Employer: means any person that employs:

• Employer: means any person having employees in his or her service. See
• Employment loss: means the termination of employment that is the direct result of a business closing or mass layoff. See
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Exclusive bargaining agent: means the employee organization certified by the Board or recognized by the employer as the only organization to bargain collectively for all employees in the bargaining unit, including persons who are not members of the employee organization. See
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• gender identity: means an individual's actual or perceived gender identity, or gender-related characteristics intrinsically related to an individual's gender or gender-identity, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth. See
• Impasse: means a controversy concerning wages, hours, and conditions of employment arising from the inability of a municipal employer and an exclusive bargaining agent to reach agreement after both parties have bargained collectively in good faith for not less than 60 days. See
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Legislative body: means the mayor (or other chief executive officer) and board of aldermen of a city, the selectboard of a town, the trustees of a village, the trustees or prudential committee of a district, the school board of a school district, or the designated governing body of any other political subdivision of the State. See
• Managerial prerogative: means any nonbargainable matters of inherent managerial policy. See
• Mass layoff: means a permanent employment loss of at least 50 employees at one or more worksites in Vermont during any 90-day period. See
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Municipal employee: means any employee of a municipal employer, including a municipal school employee or a professional employee as defined in subdivision 1502(11) of this title, except:

• Municipal employer: means a city, town, village, fire district, lighting district, consolidated water district, housing authority, union municipal district, or any of the political subdivisions of the State of Vermont that employs five or more employees as defined in this section. See
• Municipal school employee: means an employee of a supervisory union or school district who is not otherwise subject to 16 Vt. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• Person: means one or more individuals, a city, town, village, or any other political subdivision of the State of Vermont, employee organizations, partnerships, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, or any other natural or legal entity whatsoever. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• School board negotiations council: means , for a supervisory district, its school board, and, for school districts within a supervisory union, the body comprising representatives designated by each school board within the supervisory union and by the supervisory union board to engage in collective bargaining with their school employees' negotiations council. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• sexual orientation: means female or male homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Strike: means conduct by an employee or employee organization or its agents that produces, induces, or encourages a work stoppage, slowdown, or withholding of services; such conduct includes recognizing a picket line or other conduct that interferes with or impedes the orderly functions and services of a municipal employer. See
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Voluntary recognition: means formal acknowledgment by a municipal employer designating a particular employee organization as the exclusive bargaining agent for municipal employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. See
• Wages: means all remuneration payable for services rendered by an employee, including salary, commissions, and incentive pay. See