SENATE BILL REPORT

ESHB 2383

As Reported By Senate Committee On:

Higher Education, February 23, 2004

Title: An act relating to payment of part-time faculty at institutions of higher education.

Brief Description: Providing for paying part-time faculty at institutions of higher education.

Sponsors: House Committee on Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Kenney, Cox, Fromhold, Chase, Hudgins, Wood, Morrell, Santos and Kagi).

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Higher Education: 2/23/04 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Majority Report: Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Carlson, Chair; Schmidt, Vice Chair; Horn, Kohl-Welles, Pflug, B. Sheldon and Shin.

Staff: Heather Lewis-Lechner (786-7448)

Background: Part-time faculty at institutions of higher education often are employed throughout the year under a series of contracts that coincide with an institution's quarterly start and stop dates. Some part-time faculty work under these arrangements for several years.

The schedule required for paying state employees divides each month into two pay periods, the first through the 15th, and the 16th through the last day of the month. The Office of Financial Management (OFM) has established paydates for these two pay periods on the 10th and the 25th. The 10-day period between the end of a pay period and the receipt of a paycheck is commonly called a lag period. OFM approval is required to deviate from these standard paydates.

Typically, the employment contract for part-time faculty members defines the amount of compensation and paydates. The quarterly start and stop dates which govern the employment status of part-time faculty combined with the standard state employee pay periods and paydates may result in part-time faculty working for more than three weeks before receiving compensation under a contract.

Summary of Bill: Institutions of higher education are permitted to include in a collective bargaining agreement a provision to pay part-time faculty on the same paydates as are used for full-time faculty.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: This is a simple bill that fixes an inequity in our current system. Under current law, part-time faculty sometimes have to wait longer than the ten-day lag before getting paid their first pay check and this can cause economic hardship for some faculty. This bill allows faculty to bargain for a more timely and equitable pay schedule that will alleviate the economic hardship. This bill is necessary. Faculty have tried to see if this issue could be bargained for without a change in law but have found that they cannot. One institution did negotiate a change in the pay schedule for part-time faculty but were told by the state Attorney General that it could not be implemented under current state law and that a change in the law was needed. There should not be any fiscal impact on the state since this is a bargained for change and any costs can be internally dealt with through the bargaining process. This bill gives institutions an opportunity to deal with these problems on a local level and come up with creative solutions that work for the institution.

Testimony Against: None.

Testified: PRO: Rep. Kenney, prime sponsor; Wendy Rader-Konofalski, WFT; Diane Clifford, Shoreline CC; Ruth Windhover, WEA; John Boesenberg, SBCTC.