S-3613

AN ACT Relating to veterans; and amending RCW 41.04.005 and 41.06.150.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 41.04.005 and 1991 c 240 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in RCW 41.04.005, 41.04.010, 41.16.220, and 41.20.050 "veteran" includes every person, who at the time he or she seeks the benefits of RCW 28B.40.361, 41.04.005, 41.04.010, 41.16.220, 41.20.050, 41.40.170, 73.04.110, or 73.08.080 has received an honorable discharge or received a discharge for physical reasons with an honorable record and who meets at least one of the following two criteria:

(1) The person has served between World War I and World War II or during any period of war as either (a) a member in any branch of the armed forces of the United States, (b) a member of the women's air forces service pilots, or (c) a U.S. documented merchant mariner with service aboard an oceangoing vessel operated by the war shipping administration, the office of defense transportation, or their agents, during the period of armed conflict, December 7, 1941, to August 15, 1945, or a civil service crewmember with service aboard a U.S. army transport service or U.S. naval transportation service vessel in oceangoing service during the period of armed conflict[,] December 7, 1941, to August 15, 1945; or

(2) The person has received the armed forces expeditionary medal, or marine corps and navy expeditionary medal, for opposed action on foreign soil, for service (a) in any branch of the armed forces of the United States; or (b) as a member of the women's air forces service pilots.

A "period of war" includes World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam era, the period beginning on August 2, 1990, to a date specified by an agency of the federal government as the end of "Desert Storm" or any operation following from it, and the period beginning on the date of any future declaration of war by the congress and ending on the date prescribed by presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the congress. The "Vietnam era" means the period beginning August 5, 1964, and ending on May 7, 1975.

Sec. 2. RCW 41.06.150 and 1990 c 60 s 103 are each amended to read as follows:

The board shall adopt rules, consistent with the purposes and provisions of this chapter, as now or hereafter amended, and with the best standards of personnel administration, regarding the basis and procedures to be followed for:

(1) The reduction, dismissal, suspension, or demotion of an employee;

(2) Certification of names for vacancies, including departmental promotions, with the number of names equal to four more names than there are vacancies to be filled, such names representing applicants rated highest on eligibility lists: PROVIDED, That when other applicants have scores equal to the lowest score among the names certified, their names shall also be certified;

(3) Examinations for all positions in the competitive and noncompetitive service;

(4) Appointments;

(5) Training and career development;

(6) Probationary periods of six to twelve months and rejections therein, depending on the job requirements of the class, except that entry level state park rangers shall serve a probationary period of twelve months;

(7) Transfers;

(8) Sick leaves and vacations;

(9) Hours of work;

(10) Layoffs when necessary and subsequent reemployment, both according to seniority;

(11) Determination of appropriate bargaining units within any agency: PROVIDED, That in making such determination the board shall consider the duties, skills, and working conditions of the employees, the history of collective bargaining by the employees and their bargaining representatives, the extent of organization among the employees, and the desires of the employees;

(12) Certification and decertification of exclusive bargaining representatives: PROVIDED, That after certification of an exclusive bargaining representative and upon the representative's request, the director shall hold an election among employees in a bargaining unit to determine by a majority whether to require as a condition of employment membership in the certified exclusive bargaining representative on or after the thirtieth day following the beginning of employment or the date of such election, whichever is the later, and the failure of an employee to comply with such a condition of employment constitutes cause for dismissal: PROVIDED FURTHER, That no more often than once in each twelve-month period after expiration of twelve months following the date of the original election in a bargaining unit and upon petition of thirty percent of the members of a bargaining unit the director shall hold an election to determine whether a majority wish to rescind such condition of employment: PROVIDED FURTHER, That for purposes of this clause, membership in the certified exclusive bargaining representative is satisfied by the payment of monthly or other periodic dues and does not require payment of initiation, reinstatement, or any other fees or fines and includes full and complete membership rights: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That in order to safeguard the right of nonassociation of public employees, based on bona fide religious tenets or teachings of a church or religious body of which such public employee is a member, such public employee shall pay to the union, for purposes within the program of the union as designated by such employee that would be in harmony with his or her individual conscience, an amount of money equivalent to regular union dues minus any included monthly premiums for union-sponsored insurance programs, and such employee shall not be a member of the union but is entitled to all the representation rights of a union member;

(13) Agreements between agencies and certified exclusive bargaining representatives providing for grievance procedures and collective negotiations on all personnel matters over which the appointing authority of the appropriate bargaining unit of such agency may lawfully exercise discretion;

(14) Written agreements may contain provisions for payroll deductions of employee organization dues upon authorization by the employee member and for the cancellation of such payroll deduction by the filing of a proper prior notice by the employee with the appointing authority and the employee organization: PROVIDED, That nothing contained herein permits or grants to any employee the right to strike or refuse to perform his or her official duties;

(15) Adoption and revision of a comprehensive classification plan for all positions in the classified service, based on investigation and analysis of the duties and responsibilities of each such position;

(16) Allocation and reallocation of positions within the classification plan;

(17) Adoption and revision of a state salary schedule to reflect the prevailing rates in Washington state private industries and other governmental units but the rates in the salary schedules or plans shall be increased if necessary to attain comparable worth under an implementation plan under RCW 41.06.155, such adoption and revision subject to approval by the director of financial management in accordance with the provisions of chapter 43.88 RCW;

(18) Increment increases within the series of steps for each pay grade based on length of service for all employees whose standards of performance are such as to permit them to retain job status in the classified service;

(19) Providing for veteran's preference as required by existing statutes, with recognition of preference in regard to layoffs and subsequent reemployment for veterans and their widows by giving such eligible veterans and their widows additional credit in computing their seniority by adding to their unbroken state service, as defined by the board, the veteran's service in the military not to exceed five years. For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means any person who has one or more years of active military service in any branch of the armed forces of the United States or who has less than one year's service and served in operation "Desert Shield," "Desert Storm," or any operation following from these or is discharged with a disability incurred in the line of duty or is discharged at the convenience of the government and who, upon termination of such service has received an honorable discharge, a discharge for physical reasons with an honorable record, or a release from active military service with evidence of service other than that for which an undesirable, bad conduct, or dishonorable discharge shall be given: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That the widow of a veteran is entitled to the benefits of this section regardless of the veteran's length of active military service((: PROVIDED FURTHER, That for the purposes of this section "veteran" does not include any person who has voluntarily retired with twenty or more years of active military service and whose military retirement pay is in excess of five hundred dollars per month));

(20) Permitting agency heads to delegate the authority to appoint, reduce, dismiss, suspend, or demote employees within their agencies if such agency heads do not have specific statutory authority to so delegate: PROVIDED, That the board may not authorize such delegation to any position lower than the head of a major subdivision of the agency;

(21) Assuring persons who are or have been employed in classified positions under chapter 28B.16 RCW will be eligible for employment, reemployment, transfer, and promotion in respect to classified positions covered by this chapter;

(22) Affirmative action in appointment, promotion, transfer, recruitment, training, and career development; development and implementation of affirmative action goals and timetables; and monitoring of progress against those goals and timetables.

The board shall consult with the human rights commission in the development of rules pertaining to affirmative action. The department of personnel shall transmit a report annually to the human rights commission which states the progress each state agency has made in meeting affirmative action goals and timetables.