Court rejects managerial executive classification, clears 28 employees for union membership

The State of New Jersey pushed back, arguing that employees in 11 positions across the three universities held enough authority over policy to be excluded from union membership. The positions in question ranged from associate directors and assistant directors in residence life to research directors, a financial aid center director, and performing arts management roles. 

PERC’s Director of Representation spent years investigating the matter, holding conferences and hearings before issuing a 99-page decision in April 2024. The conclusion: these employees did not formulate or direct the implementation of management policies with the kind of independence the law requires. Their decisions were reviewed, approved, or overridden by higher-level supervisors. Their involvement in personnel matters like hiring and discipline required sign-off from human resources departments or vice presidents. Their policy work largely amounted to carrying out strategies set by others above them in the chain of command. 

Only one position – Executive Director of Residence Life at Montclair State University – was found to meet the managerial executive threshold and was excluded from union eligibility. 

PERC affirmed the findings in January 2025, applying a well-established three-part test that looks at where an employee sits in the organizational hierarchy, what their actual job responsibilities entail, and how much independent discretion they exercise. PERC emphasized that New Jersey’s public policy favors including employees in collective bargaining, and that exclusions should be read narrowly. 

The State appealed, arguing that PERC had set the bar too high by requiring employees to act without any oversight in order to be classified as managerial executives. The State contended that working collaboratively with superiors on policy should not automatically make someone eligible for union membership.