Duties of agent

(a) When a petition for an election has been filed, the Agent shall confer with and may hold informal conferences with the interested parties and ascertain the facts. He shall encourage the parties to agree upon the appropriate unit and a suitable method by which the representative is to be determined by the Board. In cases where the parties agree that an election be held to ascertain the wishes of the employees, the Agent shall as soon as possible conduct an election by secret ballot. In cases where the parties agree upon other suitable methods by which the representative is to be determined, the Agent as soon as possible shall by such method ascertain the employee's wishes and report his findings promptly to the Board. Whenever the Agent, after investigation, has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists, including but not limited to finding that the parties are unable to agree upon the appropriate unit and he is unable to settle the controversy concerning representation, he shall issue a direction of election within 30 days of his investigation and conduct a secret ballot election within 30 days of the issuance of the direction of election to determine whether and by which employee organization the employees desire to be represented. The election shall be conducted in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in Sections 31-101-14, 31-101-15, and 31-101-16 of these regulations and the Agent shall report his action to the Board. In the event that the agent determines that there is no reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists, he shall issue a recommendation to dismiss the petition within 30 days after his investigation and report his action to the Board. In the event the Agent is unable to determine whether or not a question of representation exists, the Agent may, within 30 days of his investigation, refer the petition directly to the Board for a hearing without either having conducted an election or issuing a recommendation for dismissal, in which event the Board shall conduct an appropriate hearing upon due notice as set forth in these regulations. (b) If the Agent determines either to conduct a secret ballot election or to recommend dismissal of the petition, the parties may object to the Agent's determination by filing objections in the form of a brief within 14 days of the issuance of the order directing an election or within 14 days of the Agent's recommendation for a dismissal filed with the Board. (c) If objections are timely filed, the Agent shall prepare a record for the Board which shall include the following: the petition, the Agent's order directing an election, or the Agent's recommendation for dismissal and any briefs filed by a party. (d) The Board, after considering the Agent's direction of election or the Agent's recommendation for dismissal, together with the briefs submitted, shall as appropriate within 30 days of receiving the record: (1) issue an order confirming the Agent's direction of election and certifying the election results, or (2) issue an order confirming the Agent's recommendation for dismissal, or (3) order further investigation, or (4) order a hearing. (e) In the event the Agent has directly referred the petition to the Board for a hearing without either directing an election or recommending dismissal or if the Board has ordered a hearing, a hearing will be held pursuant to Section 31-101-13. (f) If no objections are filed, the Board shall certify the results of the election or dismiss the petition.