TITLE 19

Labor

General Provisions

CHAPTER 8. Protection of Employees’ Rights

§ 801. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Authority” means the State, any political subdivision thereof, or any board, commission, public agency or instrumentality thereof, which operates or takes over the operation of any mass transportation system within this State.

(2) “Mass transportation system” means transportation of the public by bus, rail or any other means of conveyance serving the general public and moving under prescribed routes.

19 Del. C. 1953, §  801;  54 Del. Laws, c. 304.

§ 802. Requirements before any public authority may take over and operate privately owned mass transportation systems.

Before any authority may acquire and operate any property of a privately owned mass transportation system, fair and equitable protective arrangements shall be made as determined by the Department of Labor of this State. Such protective arrangements shall include, without being limited thereto, such provisions as may be necessary to accomplish the following objectives:

(1) The preservation of all existing rights, privileges and benefits of all employees of the mass transportation system so taken over by any authority under the then existing collective bargaining agreements between said mass transportation system and the employee thereof no matter how created or established, including the continuation of all pension rights and benefits of all such employees and their beneficiaries.

(2) The continuation of all collective bargaining in any and all situations wherein it existed at the time of such takeover.

(3) The reasonable protection of all individual employees with respect to their employment, including priorities, seniorities and right to advancement.

(4) The assurances of employment of all the employees of such mass transportation system so acquired by any authority, including the priority of employment.

(5) Training and retraining programs of employees and managing personnel.

19 Del. C. 1953, §  802;  54 Del. Laws, c. 30457 Del. Laws, c. 669, §  9A

§ 803. Required contract provisions.

The contract whereby any authority acquires any property of a privately owned mass transportation system shall specify, with particularity, the terms and conditions of all the protective arrangements as set out in § 802 of this title, including all other protective arrangements which may be added thereto by the Department of Labor of this State.

19 Del. C. 1953, §  803;  54 Del. Laws, c. 30457 Del. Laws, c. 669, §  9A

§ 804. Determinations; by whom and how made.

The determinations as to be made by the Department of Labor of this State shall be performed by the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with such rules and regulations as said Department may from time to time establish.

19 Del. C. 1953, §  804;  54 Del. Laws, c. 30457 Del. Laws, c. 669, §§  9A, 9B

§ 805. Employee’s right to certain inventions.

Any provision in an employment agreement which provides that the employee shall assign or offer to assign any of the employee’s rights in an invention to the employee’s employer shall not apply to an invention that the employee developed entirely on the employee’s own time without using the employer’s equipment, supplies, facility or trade secret information, except for those inventions that:

(1) Relate to the employer’s business or actual or demonstrably anticipated research or development; or

(2) Result from any work performed by the employee for the employer.

To the extent a provision in an employment agreement purports to apply to the type of invention described, it is against the public policy of this State and is unenforceable. An employer may not require a provision of an employment agreement made unenforceable under this section as a condition of employment or continued employment.

64 Del. Laws, c. 257, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1