SENATE BILL REPORT
EHB 2567
BYRepresentatives Todd, McLean, R. Fisher and Sprenkle; by request of Governor Gardner
Changing provisions relating to state employment.
House Committe on State Government
Rereferred House Committee on Appropriations
Senate Committee on Ways & Means
Senate Hearing Date(s):February 23, 1990; February 26, 1990
Majority Report: Do pass as amended.
Signed by Senators McDonald, Chairman; Craswell, Vice Chairman; Amondson, Bailey, Bluechel, Cantu, Hayner, Johnson, Lee, Matson, Newhouse, Saling, Smith.
Senate Staff:Steve Jones (786-7715)
February 27, 1990
AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS, FEBRUARY 26, 1990
BACKGROUND:
DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL. Administration and operation of the state's civil service system, covering more than 41,000 employees, is the responsibility of the Department of Personnel. The department offers career development through its education and training division and the Career Executive Program, and provides a Wellness Program and an Employee Advisory Service.
EXEMPT EMPLOYEES. There are about 1,500 employees of state agencies (other than employees in higher education) who are exempt from the civil service system. A position can be designated exempt in two ways:
oStatutory Exemptions. Twenty-six classes of employees are designated exempt in statute. These include employees of the legislative and judicial branches, directors of state agencies, and officers of the Washington State Patrol.
oExecutive Request Exemptions. The State Personnel Board may designate a position exempt at the request of the Governor or other elective officials. Additional exemptions by request may not exceed 187 for the Governor and 25 for other elective officials.
REVERSION RIGHTS. Employees who accept appointments to exempt positions, or who hold classified positions which are later designated exempt, are given the right to revert to civil service status to the highest class of position they previously held. To retain this right, employees must revert to the civil service within four years of the exempt appointment. The State Personnel Board may extend the period for an additional four years. Reversion rights also apply to employees classified under the Higher Education Personnel Board system.
CAREER EXECUTIVES. The Career Executive Program was established in 1980 to recognize and foster excellence in managerial skills. Positions designated as "career executive" are filled with middle and upper level managers who then have opportunities for further management training and development offered by the program.
The program is limited by statute to not more than 1 percent of the total number of state civil service employees and currently has 340 participants.
TIED SCORES. Statute limits the number of candidates from which a state agency may select to fill an empty position to the five candidates scoring highest on the employment test. If more than one applicant ties as the fifth candidate, a single applicant is chosen by lot. This method of reducing the number of candidates to five when there are tied test scores is used by both the Department of Personnel and the Higher Education Personnel Board.
EMPLOYEE ADVISORY SERVICE. The Employee Advisory Service (EAS) was established in the Department of Personnel in 1972 to assist employees whose personal problems are impairing their job performance. Employees either seek assistance voluntarily, or are referred by agency management due to poor job performance. In 1989, EAS offered information and referral, counseling, and manager training services to 4,000 state employees, including employees of the higher education personnel system. EAS is an agency program and has not been created in statute, nor are there administrative rules governing it in the Washington Administrative Code.
EMPLOYEE RELOCATION ASSISTANCE. State law authorizes agencies to pay the costs of moving an employee's household goods to a new station if the move is "reasonably necessary to the successful performance" of the agency's responsibilities. The law also permits paying moving expenses for a new employee. If the new employee terminates employment in less than one year, the state is entitled to reimbursement of any moving expenses paid.
The Office of Financial Management has established guidelines for the maximum extent an agency may pay an employee's moving expenses:
oThe agency may not pay more than the cost of moving 12,000 pounds of goods or an equivalent cost for moving a mobile home that is the employee's primary residence;
oSubsistence and travel expenses during the move are allowed for a current employee only, not a new employee;
oPayment of moving expenses for new employees is limited to executive, professional, or administrative personnel or to instances when there is a demonstrable inability to fill a lower level position and filling that position is necessary to carry out the critically necessary work of the agency; and
oAgencies may not pay closing costs or costs to settle leases.
Moving expenses come out of an agency's budget. Agencies that have frequently incurred moving expenses in the past include the Washington State Patrol, Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, University of Washington, Washington State University, and Department of Ecology.
SUMMARY:
DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL. The Department of Personnel is renamed the Department of Human Resources. The director of Personnel becomes the director of Human Resources.
EXEMPT EMPLOYEES. The list of statutorily exempt employees is expanded to include, in agencies of 50 or more employees: deputy agency heads, assistant directors or division directors, and not more than three principal policy assistants who report directly to the agency head or deputy agency head.
REVERSION RIGHTS. The four-year limit on the right of exempt employees to revert to classified status is eliminated under both the state personnel system and the higher education personnel system. If an employee is fired for gross misconduct or malfeasance, that employee is denied the right of reversion.
CAREER EXECUTIVES. The Career Executive Program is expanded from 1 to 2 percent of all state civil service employees.
TIED SCORES. Under the state personnel system and the higher education personnel system, when more than one applicant for a vacancy has the fifth highest test score, the other applicants are also to be certified as candidates for the vacancy.
EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. The Employee Assistance Program is created in statute to provide support and services to state employees who have personal problems that impair their performance in the work place. The director of Human Resources is authorized to: (a) administer and develop policies for the program; (b) encourage and promote voluntary use of the program by employees; (c) offer substance abuse prevention and awareness activities through the program and the Wellness Program; and (d) train and encourage agencies and supervisors in the proper use of program services. Proper use of the program by managers is to be included in management training and performance evaluation.
An employee's participation in the Employee Assistance Program is strictly confidential, except that agency management may be provided with the following information about employees referred by management due to poor job performance: (a) whether the employee made an appointment; (b) the date and time the employee arrived and departed; (c) whether the employee agreed to follow the advice of counselors, and (d) whether further appointments were scheduled.
Participation or nonparticipation by any employee in the program is not to be a factor in any decision affecting the employee's job security, opportunity for promotion, disciplinary action, or other employment rights.
EMPLOYEE RELOCATION ASSISTANCE. Existing state laws regarding employee relocation assistance are replaced with the following:
Eligibility for relocation assistance. Agencies may authorize payment of relocation expenses for new or current state employees if:
oThe agency director determines that certain management, professional, or specialized technical skills are not otherwise available or if there is a demonstrable inability to fill positions deemed essential in carrying out the critically necessary work of the agency;
oIn the case of a current employee, the employee has completed six consecutive months of employment with any state agency; and
oThe distance from the employee's old residence to the new workplace is more than 60 miles or at least 35 miles farther than the distance from the old residence to the old workplace.
Assistance for current state employees. Agencies may authorize payment of the following relocation expenses for current state employees:
oMoving expenses. The agency may move or pay the cost of moving the employee's household goods. The Office of Financial Management will establish a poundage allowance, a cost allowance for packing and insurance, and a time allowance for storage;
oMobile home. The agency may pay the cost of moving a mobile home that is the employee's primary residence instead of moving household goods, the cost of which cannot exceed the limits set by OFM to move household goods;
oLease buy-out. If the employee's primary residence is under lease and the employee is legally obligated to buy out the remaining term of the lease, the agency may pay the cost of settling the lease, as long as the payment is not greater than six months rent;
oClosing costs. If the employee owned and occupied his or her primary residence for six months and sells the home as a result of accepting a position at the new workplace, the agency may pay closing costs associated with the sale of the home, as long as the payment is not greater than 3 percent of the sale price of the home; and
oSubsistence, lodging, and excuse from work duties. The agency may excuse the employee from his or her work duties for up to five days in order for the employee to find a new residence and move his or her family to the new location. While excused from work, the employee receives full compensation and benefits and may be additionally reimbursed for subsistence, lodging, and mileage expenses.
Assistance for new employees. For new employees, agencies are authorized to pay for the following:
oMoving expenses. The agency may move or pay the cost of moving the employee's household goods, subject to limits established by the Office of Financial Management; and
oSubsistence and lodging. The agency may reimburse the employee for subsistence, lodging, and mileage for a period of up to five days in order for the employee to: (a) make a single, round trip to find a new residence, and (b) move the employee and family to the new location.
Limitations on relocation assistance. The following limitations apply to an agency's payment of employee relocation expenses:
oThe total of all relocation assistance paid by an agency for one move can not exceed $10,000;
oA current employee can receive assistance for only one of the following: mobile home move, lease-buy out, or closing costs;
oAn employee who receives relocation assistance is not eligible for assistance for another move within a two year period unless requested by the agency and approved by OFM, and may not receive payments more than two years after the move took place;
oIf the current or new employee resigns within a period of one year after starting work at the new workplace, the state is entitled to reimbursement of any relocation assistance paid to the employee; and
oPayment is subject to rules adopted by the Office of Financial Management, and any agency procedures or policies for relocation assistance must be approved by the director of OFM before they are adopted.
oEach state agency granting relocation assistance is required to file an itemized annual report with OFM detailing relocation activity during the previous fiscal year.
Appropriation: none
Revenue: none
Fiscal Note: available
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED SENATE AMENDMENT:
Revisions to state employee relocation assistance laws are deleted. The titles of the Department of Personnel and the Director of Personnel are not changed.
Senate Committee - Testified: Representative Todd, prime sponsor; Joe Dear, Director of Labor and Industries; Wendy Holden, Director of General Administration; Dee Henderson, Director of Personnel; Gary Moore, WA Federation of State Employees, AFL-CIO; Laura Eckert, Deputy Supervisor, Department of Natural Resources; Arthur Morse, Personnel Director, Department of Transportation