Collective bargaining by public employees; exclusive bargaining representatives.

Removed original House formatting and replaced with Senate substitute layout including page numbers and amendment metadata.

Changed bill type designation from 'Enrolled' to 'Senate Substitute' indicating this is a revised version proposed by the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor.

Added amendment tracking information including bill number 25107059D and patron attribution to Delegate Tran.

Created a new Public Employee Relations Board with five members to administer collective bargaining laws, conduct hearings, and resolve disputes between employers and employee organizations.

Added provisions allowing employee organizations to sue or be sued as entities and establishing civil procedures for enforcement.

Established mandatory final and binding arbitration procedures for state employee negotiations, with specific timelines requiring arbitration decisions by December 15.

Required public employers to provide employee contact information to bargaining representatives in editable electronic format within 10 days of hire.

Mandated that individual providers in covered programs be considered public employees for collective bargaining purposes, though participants retain rights to select and supervise their own providers.

Added new definitions including 'emergency medical services provider' and 'firefighter' with specific exclusions for high-ranking officials.

Expanded bargaining unit classifications to include 17 specific categories for state employees and created separate units for higher education institutions.

Changed effective date from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2026, and modified section numbering from 40.1-57.23 to 40.1-57.24.