St. John of God Hospital, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 12, 1982

260 N.L.R.B. 905 (N.L.R.B. 1982)

ST. JOHN OF GOD HOSPITAL. INC.
St. John of God Hospital, Inc. and Health Care Di-
vision, Local 285, Service Employees Interna-
tional Union, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Cases 1-
RC-17188 and 1-RC-17189
March 12, 1982
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND
ZIMMERMAN
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9(c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before a Hearing Officer of the
National Labor Relations Board. On April 3, 1981,
the Regional Director for Region I issued a Deci-
sion and Direction of Election in which he found
appropriate a bargaining unit consisting of all full-
time and part-time registered nurses, including
nurse practitioners and registered nurse permanent
charge nurses, and all full-time and regular part-
time technical employees, including licensed practi-
cal nurses, licensed practical nurse interim charge
nurses, licensed practical nurse permanent charge
nurses, and respiratory therapists, subject to the re-
quirement that a majority of professional employ-
ees vote for inclusion in a unit with the nonprofes-
sional employees.' If a majority of the professional
employees do not vote for inclusion in the unit
with nonprofessional employees, the Regional Di-
rector found appropriate two units, one consisting
of all registered nurses as described above and the
other consisting of all technical employees as de-
scribed above.
Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of
the National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Employer
filed a request for review of the Regional Direc-
tor's Decision and Direction of Election, contend-
ing, inter alia, that the Regional Director made
clearly erroneous findings of fact and departed
from Board precedent. By telegraphic order dated
May 1, 1981, the request for review was granted
and the election was stayed pending decision on
review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the entire record in
this case with respect to the issues under review
and makes the following findings:
The Employer makes two contentions warrant-
ing our review of the Regional Director's decision.
First, the Employer contends that the petitions
should have been dismissed because at the time of
i See Sonotonm C(orporation, 9O NLRB 1R23h (I 0501
260 NLRB No. 117
the hearing its employee complement was neither
substantial nor representative of the projected total
of employees to be hired in the foreseeable future.
Second, the Employer contends that there is insuf-
ficient evidence of a community of interest be-
tween registered nurses and technical employees to
warrant their inclusion in a single unit, subject to
the approval of registered nurses in a Sonotone
election. We find limited merit only in the first of
the Employer's contentions. 2
The Employer operates a 79-bed hospital. At the
time of the hearing, in March 1981, it employed
four registered nurses in unit classifications, seven
licensed practical nurses, and two respiratory
therapists. Prior to November 26, 1980, the Em-
ployer employed 15 registered nurses and 9 li-
censed practical nurses. The Employer's annual
budget for the period from September 1980 to
October 1981 provided for 29 registered nurse posi-
tions and 16 licensed practical nurse positions. Be-
cause of an unusually large number of resignations,
however, the ranks of registered nurses and li-
censed practical nurses had dwindled to the
number employed at the time of the hearing. In ad-
dition, these resignations left the Employer without
any staff registered nurses, ordinarily the nucleus of
the Employer's registered nurse complement. To
redress this shortage, the Employer had embarked
on an extensive recruitment campaign during
which the hospital expected to hire 17 to 20 regis-
tered nurses and 6 licensed practical nurses within
4 to 5 months after the hearing date. The Employ-
er had already received five tentative employment
commitments by the time of the hearing.
The Regional Director found that the number of
employees employed at the time of the hearing in
the registered nurse and licensed practical nurse
classifications was substantial and representative of
the ultimate complement of employees. According
to the Regional Director, direction of an immediate
election was appropriate because vacancies in nurs-
ing classifications had existed for approximately 4
months before the hearing, the Employer had not
succeeded in finding replacements, and the exact
timing of hiring replacements was speculative. We
disagree.
As indicated above, the Employer at the time of
the hearing clearly employed a substantial and rep-
resentative employee complement in the technical
unit which could result from a Sonotone vote. On
W'e hereh 5 affirm the Regional Director's finding, thhal the Hoard
has lurisdlcltio1 oer the rnplower: a separate registered nurse unit. ex-
cluding other prllfessilonal emplosee,, is appropriac: Ihe regstecred rurse
cmiplo ed ill the clasllficaltion of liasion nurse shoiuld he excluded from
the unitlls tound approprialc. the charge nurse are nIlt supers isor, r llhiln
Ihe mcanling of Sec 2(1 i of Ihe Act; and mrnplosee Curlain should hbe
permitted io ciat a challenged ballsot im the clection
905
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the other hand, the Employer employed only 20
percent of the employees which it reasonably ex-
pected to employ by June 1981 in the separate reg-
istered nurse unit which could result from the Son-
otone vote. In addition, the Employer had no em-
ployees in the core unit classification of staff regis-
tered nurse. Finally, contrary to the Regional Di-
rector, we find nothing speculative about the
timing of the Employer's anticipated unit expan-
sion. It is undisputed that the Employer had begun
its recruitment campaign, had made some hiring
commitments, and specifically intended to complete
its campaign within 4 to 5 months from the hearing
date.
Under these circumstances, we find that the Re-
gional Director erred in not finding that the Em-
ployer's complement of employees was not repre-
sentative and substantial at the time of the hearing.3
Normally we would dismiss the petitions without
prejudice. However, by the time of the issuance of
this Decision, the Employer by its own admission
should have completed its recruitment campaign.
Accordingly, we find that, regardless of the size of
the employee complement on the hearing date, the
present employee complement is substantial and
representative for the purpose of directing an im-
mediate election. 4 We therefore shall not dismiss
the petitions.
In finding the direction of an election to be ap-
propriate, we find no merit to the Employer's con-
tention that there is insufficient evidence of a com-
munity of interest among the registered nurses, li-
censed practical nurses, and the respiratory thera-
pists to warrant their inclusion in a single unit. The
job descriptions for the registered nurses and the li-
See. * g., lailmobih, l)Dvint; o/ 'ull/t/., lc. 221 NI R B 954 11975)
See. v g Irrlic hu / r, I, SO) NI RH I188 ([16')
censed practical nurses indicate that these positions
are highly interrelated. Both groups of nurses must,
inter alia: give nursing care to patients; participate
in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of
nursing care; prepare, administer, and record medi-
cations; maintain appropriate patient records, nurs-
ing notes, and nursing care plans; and insure that
the general patient area is maintained in a neat,
clean, orderly, and safe condition at all times. The
licensed practical nurse is required to assist regis-
tered nurses as necessary with treatments, examina-
tions, and diagnostic tests. Finally, both licensed
practical nurses and registered nurses are under the
supervision of the head nurse. Thus, based on the
above, we find that there is a sufficient community
of interest between registered nurses and licensed
practical nurses to warrant their inclusion in a
single unit, subject to the statutory requirement of
consent by the registered nurses. Maple Shade
Nursing Home, 228 NLRB 1457, 1458, fn. 5 (1977).
We also find appropriate the unit inclusion of the
two respiratory therapists, who are the Employer's
only other technical employees.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that this proceeding be, and
it hereby is, remanded to the Regional Director for
Region I for the purpose of conducting an election
pursuant to his Decision and Direction of Election,
except as modified herein, and that the payroll
period for determining eligibility shall be that
ending immediately before the date of issuance of
this Decision on Review and Order. s
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