BILL REQ. #:  H-0826.1 

Read first time 01/28/13.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

     AN ACT Relating to administrative reassignment; and adding a new section to chapter 41.04 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 41.04 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) An employee may be placed on administrative reassignment if the employee's manager determines that administrative reassignment is necessary to ensure a full, thorough, and impartial investigation of a workplace complaint.
     (2) The manager must notify the agency governing officer or officers and the agency human resources director in writing of the administrative reassignment and the reasons for the reassignment. If the governing officer is responsible to the governor, the manager must also notify the state human resources director.
     (3) An administrative reassignment may last up to fifteen calendar days. The fifteen-day reassignment may be extended in thirty-day increments upon a determination that additional time is needed to complete the investigation of the workplace complaint. If the governing officer of the agency is responsible to the governor, the governor must approve the extension. If the governing officer of the agency is responsible to a statewide elected official, that official must approve the extension. In all other cases, the governing officer or officers of the agency must approve the extension.
     (4) Before extending the administrative reassignment, the officer responsible for approving the extension must receive an update on the investigation, the reason additional time is needed to complete the investigation, and an estimated time of completion. The governing officer or designee must notify the agency human resources director of any extensions. If the governing officer is responsible to the governor, the governing officer or designee must also notify the state human resources director of any extension.
     (5) When the administrative reassignment ends, the agency governing officer or designee must document the results of the investigation, whether the employee returned to work, and the date of any disciplinary action administered pursuant to the investigation.
     (6) Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section.
     (a) "Agency" means an office, department, board, commission, or other separate unit or division, however designated, of the state government and all personnel thereof; it includes any unit of state government established by law, the executive officer or members of which are either elected or appointed, upon which the statutes confer powers and impose duties in connection with operations of either a governmental or proprietary nature.
     (b) "Administrative reassignment" means assigning an employee to work at home pending an investigation of a workplace disruption. An employee on administrative reassignment will continue to earn the usual pay and accrue benefits throughout the duration of the administrative reassignment.
     (c) "Employee" includes all employees of the state, whether or not covered by civil service; elected and appointed officials of the executive branch of government, including full-time members of boards, commissions, or committees; justices of the supreme court and judges of the court of appeals and the superior courts; and members of the state legislature.
     (d) "Governing officer" means the person, or combination of persons such as a commission, board, or council, by law empowered to operate the agency who is responsible either to (i) no other public officer or (ii) the governor.
     (e) "Manager" means a state employee who is responsible for administering one or more policies or programs of an agency or agency subdivision and has the authority to make personnel administration decisions, including the ability to appoint or employ an employee.
     (f) "Workplace disruption" means any disturbance, complaint, disagreement, or other personnel matter involving one or more employees that, at the discretion of the employee's manager, warrants the reassignment of the employee from the workplace to the employee's home pending an investigation of the disruption.