AN ACT Relating to the state salary and fringe benefits surveys; and amending RCW 28B.16.110, 28B.16.112, 28B.16.113, 41.06.160, 41.06.163, 41.06.165, and 41.06.167.

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

Sec. 1. Section 11, chapter 36, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 1, chapter 94, Laws of 1985 and RCW 28B.16.110 are each amended to read as follows:

The salary schedules and compensation plans, adopted and revised as provided in RCW 28B.16.100 as now or hereafter amended, shall reflect prevailing rates in other public employment and in private employment in this state or in the locality in which the institution or related board is located. For this purpose comprehensive salary and fringe benefit surveys shall be undertaken by the board with the assistance of the various personnel officers of the institutions of higher education and on a joint basis with the department of personnel, with such surveys to be conducted in the year prior to the convening of every other one hundred five day regular session of the state legislature. In the year prior to the convening of each one hundred five day regular session during which a comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey is not conducted, the board with assistance of the various personnel officers of the institutions of higher education and on a joint basis with the department of personnel, shall conduct a trend salary and fringe benefit survey. This survey shall measure average salary and fringe benefit movement for broad occupational groups which has occurred since the last comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey was conducted. The results of each comprehensive and trend salary and fringe benefit survey shall be ((~~completed~~)) fully documented and forwarded by September 30 with recommended salary adjustments, which recommendations shall be advisory only, to the governor and the director of financial management for their use in preparing budgets to be submitted to the succeeding legislature. A copy of the data and supporting documentation shall be furnished by the board to the standing committees for appropriations of the senate and house of representatives.

In the case of comprehensive salary and fringe benefit surveys, the board shall furnish the following supplementary data in support of its recommended salary schedule:

(1) A chart which groups the benchmarks according to major occupational group and indicates the proportion of benchmark employees and job classes to the number of employees and job classes in the occupational groups and to the total number of state employees and job classes under the jurisdiction of the higher education personnel board;

(2) Graphical presentations of the data which show the results of the survey for each occupational group and the total of all benchmark classes. Such graphical presentations of survey results shall include the mean, median, and statistical distribution of salaries, expressed as the twenty-fifth and seventy-fifth interquartile ranges, paid in the public and private sectors of this state. Where significant variations in salaries for occupational groups are evident among different industries, employers of different size or type, or employers in different regions of the state, such data shall also be provided;

(3) The board-recommended salary adjustment for each occupational group and summary justification;

(4) A total dollar figure which reflects the recommended increase or decrease in state salaries as a direct result of the specific salary and fringe benefit survey that has been conducted and which is categorized to indicate what portion of the increase or decrease is represented by salary survey data and what portion is represented by fringe benefit survey data;

((~~(2)~~)) (5) An additional total dollar figure which reflects the impact of recommended increases or decreases to state salaries based on other factors rather than directly on prevailing rate data obtained through the survey process and which is categorized to indicate the sources of the requests for deviation from prevailing rates and the reasons for the changes;

((~~(3)~~)) (6) A list of class codes and titles indicating recommended monthly salary ranges for all state classes under the control of the higher education personnel board with:

(a) Those salary ranges which do not substantially conform to the prevailing rates developed from the salary and fringe benefit survey distinctly marked and an explanation of the reason for the deviation included; and

(b) Those higher education personnel board classes which are substantially the same as classes being used by the department of personnel clearly marked to show the commonality of the classes between the two jurisdictions;

((~~(4)~~)) (7) A supplemental salary schedule which indicates the additional salary to be paid state employees for hazardous duties or other considerations requiring extra compensation under specific circumstances. Additional compensation for these circumstances shall not be included in the basic salary schedule but shall be maintained as a separate pay schedule for purposes of full disclosure and visibility; and

((~~(5)~~)) (8) A supplemental salary schedule which indicates those cases where the board determines that prevailing rates do not provide similar salaries for positions that require or impose similar responsibilities, judgment, knowledge, skills, and working conditions. This supplementary salary schedule shall contain proposed salary adjustments necessary to eliminate any such dissimilarities in compensation. Additional compensation needed to eliminate such salary dissimilarities shall not be included in the basic salary schedule but shall be maintained as a separate salary schedule for purposes of full disclosure and visibility.

It is the intention of the legislature that requests for funds to support recommendations for salary deviations from the prevailing rate survey data shall be kept to a minimum, and that the requests be fully documented when forwarded by the board. Further, it is the intention of the legislature that the ((department of personnel and the higher education personnel board jointly determine job classes which are substantially common to both jurisdictions and that basic salaries for these job classes shall be equal based on salary and fringe benefit survey findings)) base salaries and any adjustments thereto as indicated by survey findings shall be the same for all job classes that are substantially common to both personnel jurisdictions and equal in job content evaluation points.

Salary and fringe benefit survey information collected from private employers which identifies a specific employer with the salary and fringe benefit rates which that employer pays to its employees shall not be subject to public disclosure under chapter 42.17 RCW.

((The first comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey required by this section shall be completed and forwarded to the governor and the director of financial management by September 30, 1986. The first trend salary and fringe benefit survey required by this section shall be completed and forwarded to the governor and the director of financial management by September 30, 1988.))

Sec. 2. Section 11, chapter 152, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. as last amended by section 3, chapter 185, Laws of 1987 and RCW 28B.16.112 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In the conduct of salary and fringe benefit surveys under RCW 28B.16.110 as now or hereafter amended, it is the intention of the legislature that the surveys be undertaken in a manner consistent with statistically accurate ((~~sampling~~)) survey techniques. For this purpose, a comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey plan shall be submitted to the director of financial management, employee organizations, and the standing committees for appropriations in the senate and house of representatives six months before the beginning of each periodic survey required before regular legislative sessions. The survey plan shall also be submitted to the legislative budget committee. The legislative budget committee shall, after receiving public testimony, approve the plan in full or with modification as appropriate by January 30 of the year the survey is to be conducted. This comprehensive plan shall include but not be limited to the following:

(a) A list of the benchmarks that will be included in the survey and an explanation of the extent to which the benchmarks selected meet the criteria required by RCW 28B.16.113(1);

(b) A complete explanation of the technical, statistical process to be used in the salary and fringe benefit survey including the percentage of accuracy expected from the planned statistical sample chosen for the survey and a definition of the term "prevailing rates" which is to be used in the planned survey;

((~~(b)~~)) (c) A comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey model based on scientific statistical principles which:

(i) ((~~Encompasses the interrelationships among the various elements of the survey sample including sources of salary and fringe benefit data by organization type, size, and regional location;~~

~~(ii) Is representative of private and public employment in this state;~~

~~(iii)~~)) Will provide sufficient data for the analysis of differences in compensation practices among employers of different industries, sizes, and regions of the state;

(ii) Takes into account the distribution of state employees around the state;

(iii) Prescribes the procedures to be used to ensure salary data obtained in the survey is representative of the pay practices of both public and private employers in this state and to ensure sufficient salary data is obtained for the benchmarks to achieve statistical validity;

(iv) Ensures that, ((~~wherever practical,~~)) a representative sample of salary data from smaller, private firms are included and proportionally weighted in the survey sample; and

((~~(iv)~~)) (v) Indicates the methodology to be used in the application of survey data to job classes used by state government;

((~~(c)~~)) (d) A prediction of the increase or decrease in total funding requirements expected to result from the pending salary and fringe benefit survey based on consumer price index information and other available trend data pertaining to Washington state salaries and fringe benefits.

(2) Every comprehensive survey plan shall fully consider fringe benefits as an element of compensation in addition to basic salary data. The plans prepared under this section shall be developed jointly by the higher education personnel board in conjunction with the department of personnel established under chapter 41.06 RCW. All comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey plans shall be submitted on a joint signature basis by the higher education personnel board and the department of personnel.

(3) Interim or special surveys conducted under RCW 28B.16.110 as now or hereafter amended shall conform when possible to the statistical techniques and principles developed for regular periodic surveys under this section.

(4) The term "fringe benefits" as used in this section and in conjunction with salary surveys shall include but not be limited to compensation for:

(a) Leave time, including vacation, holiday, civil, and personal leave;

(b) Employer retirement contributions;

(c) Health and insurance payments, including life, accident, and health insurance, workers' compensation, and sick leave; and

(d) Stock options, bonuses, and purchase discounts where appropriate.

Sec. 3. Section 12, chapter 152, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. and RCW 28B.16.113 are each amended to read as follows:

Salary surveys shall be conducted according to the following criteria in addition to any other provisions under this chapter:

(1) ((~~Adjustments~~)) The selection of state jobs for the survey shall include criteria that will ensure that:

(a) The benchmarks selected represent the major occupational groups within state government, including the employee populations and various pay levels within the major groups; and

(b) Represent the major functions of state government to the extent necessary and practical to assure the accurate translation of prevailing rates to the majority of state jobs;

(2) Benchmark substitutions from survey to survey shall be minimized to ensure an accurate historical trend in salary movement can be determined and documented for the use of the personnel agencies in projecting future salary trends. This does not prohibit the higher education personnel board or the department of personnel from updating benchmark job classes to reflect changes in job duties, responsibilities, or conditions of work;

(3) For the purpose of developing an accurate historical trend in salary movement, every effort should be made to survey the same employers in each comprehensive survey;

(4) Comparisons of state salaries to prevailing rates in Washington state private industries and other governmental units shall be ((~~determined by comparisons of weighted averages of salaries, including weighted averages of salaries from out-of-state sources when necessary to obtain statistically valid salary surveys; and~~

(2) Determination of state salary changes from prevailing rate data collected in salary surveys shall be based on occupational group averages containing related job classes where appropriate rather than on comparisons of survey data to individual state job classes.)) based on a statistical analysis, including measures of central tendency, such as mean, median, and modes, and measures of the distribution of salaries, such as statistical interquartile ranges;

(5) Adjustments to state salaries to reflect prevailing rates shall be based on comparisons between major occupational groups or job families rather than comparisons between prevailing rates and the salaries of individual state job classes. The major occupational groups and the classes to be included in each group shall be determined jointly and used by both the higher education personnel board and the department of personnel;

(6) For the purpose of applying survey results, the alignment of nonsurvey job classes to survey job classes shall be based on an objective method of job content evaluation. All job classes shall be evaluated by June 30, 1990, and every five years thereafter;

(7) In analyzing survey results in accordance with subsections (4) and (5) of this section and in documenting survey results, surveys conducted by other public and private organizations may be used to establish the accuracy and credibility of the state salary survey, but shall not be used to set salaries; and

(8) Survey data may be collected from other states if the data is obtained from labor markets most appropriate for the recruitment or retention of employees by the state. If a representative sample of salary data for a job cannot be obtained within the state or from other states, the job should be aligned to an appropriate occupational group according to its job content evaluation.

Sec. 4. Section 16, chapter 1, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 2, chapter 94, Laws of 1985 and RCW 41.06.160 are each amended to read as follows:

In preparing classification and salary schedules as set forth in RCW 41.06.150 as now or hereafter amended, the department of personnel shall give full consideration to prevailing rates in other public employment and in private employment in this state. For this purpose the department shall undertake comprehensive salary and fringe benefit surveys to be planned and conducted on a joint basis with the higher education personnel board, with such surveys to be conducted in the year prior to the convening of every other one hundred five day regular session of the state legislature.

In the year prior to the convening of each one hundred five day regular session during which a comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey is not conducted, the department shall plan and conduct on a joint basis with the higher education personnel board a trend salary and fringe benefit survey. This survey shall measure average salary and fringe benefit movement for broad occupational groups which has occurred since the last comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey was conducted.

The results of each comprehensive and trend salary and fringe benefit survey shall be ((~~completed~~)) fully documented and forwarded by September 30 with a recommended state salary schedule to the governor and director of financial management for their use in preparing budgets to be submitted to the succeeding legislature. A copy of the data and supporting documentation shall be furnished by the department of personnel to the standing committees for appropriations of the senate and house of representatives.

In the case of comprehensive salary and fringe benefit surveys, the department shall furnish the following supplementary data in support of its recommended salary schedule:

(3) The board-recommended salary adjustment for each occupational group and summary justification;

((~~(3)~~)) (6) A list of class codes and titles indicating recommended monthly salary ranges for all state classes under the control of the department of personnel with:

(b) Those department of personnel classes which are substantially the same as classes being used by the higher education personnel board clearly marked to show the commonality of the classes between the two jurisdictions;

It is the intention of the legislature that requests for funds to support recommendations for salary deviations from the prevailing rate survey data shall be kept to a minimum, and that the requests be fully documented when forwarded by the department of personnel. Further, it is the intention of the legislature that the ((department of personnel and the higher education personnel board jointly determine job classes which are substantially common to both jurisdictions and that basic salaries for these job classes shall be equal based on salary and fringe benefit survey findings)) base salaries and any adjustments thereto as indicated by survey findings shall be the same for all job classes that are substantially common to both personnel jurisdictions and equal in job content evaluation points.

Sec. 5. Section 3, chapter 152, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. as last amended by section 9, chapter 185, Laws of 1987 and RCW 41.06.163 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In the conduct of salary and fringe benefit surveys under RCW 41.06.160 as now or hereafter amended, it is the intention of the legislature that the surveys be undertaken in a manner consistent with statistically accurate ((~~sampling~~)) survey techniques. For this purpose, a comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey plan shall be submitted to the director of financial management, employee organizations, and the standing committees for appropriations of the senate and house of representatives six months before the beginning of each periodic survey required before regular legislative sessions. The survey plan shall also be submitted to the legislative budget committee. The legislative budget committee shall, after receiving public testimony, approve the plan in full or with modification as appropriate by January 30 of the year the survey is to be conducted. This comprehensive plan shall include but not be limited to the following:

(a) A list of the benchmarks that will be included in the survey and an explanation of the extent to which the benchmarks selected meet the criteria required by RCW 41.06.165(1);

((~~(b)~~)) (c) A comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey model based on scientific statistical principles which:

(i) ((~~Encompasses the interrelationships among the various elements of the survey sample including sources of salary and fringe benefit data by organization type, size, and regional location;~~

~~(ii) Is representative of private and public employment in this state;~~

~~(iii)~~)) Will provide sufficient data for the analysis of differences in compensation practices among employers of different industries, sizes, and regions of the state;

(ii) Takes into account the distribution of state employees around the state;

(iv) Ensures that((~~, wherever practical,~~)) a representative sample of salary data from smaller, private firms are included and proportionally weighted in the survey sample; and

((~~(iv)~~)) (v) Indicates the methodology to be used in the application of survey data to job classes used by state government;

(2) Every comprehensive survey plan shall fully consider fringe benefits as an element of compensation in addition to basic salary data. The plans prepared under this section shall be developed jointly by the department of personnel in conjunction with the higher education personnel board established under chapter 28B.16 RCW. All comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey plans shall be submitted on a joint signature basis by the department of personnel and the higher education personnel board.

(3) Interim or special surveys conducted under RCW 41.06.160 as now or hereafter amended shall conform when possible to the statistical techniques and principles developed for regular periodic surveys under this section.

(4) The term "fringe benefits" as used in this section and in conjunction with salary surveys shall include but not be limited to compensation for:

(a) Leave time, including vacation, holiday, civil, and personal leave;

(b) Employer retirement contributions;

(c) Health and insurance payments, including life, accident, and health insurance, workers' compensation, and sick leave; and

(d) Stock options, bonuses, and purchase discounts where appropriate.

Sec. 6. Section 4, chapter 152, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. and RCW 41.06.165 are each amended to read as follows:

Salary surveys shall be conducted according to the following criteria in addition to any other provisions under this chapter:

(1) ((~~Adjustments~~)) The selection of state jobs for the survey shall include criteria that will ensure that:

(a) The benchmarks selected represent the major occupational groups within state government, including the employee populations and various pay levels within the major groups; and

(b) Represent the major functions of state government to the extent necessary and practical to assure the accurate translation of prevailing rates to the majority of state jobs;

(3) For the purpose of developing an accurate historical trend in salary movement, every effort should be made to survey the same employers in each comprehensive survey;

Sec. 7. Section 5, chapter 152, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. as last amended by section 7, chapter 158, Laws of 1986 and RCW 41.06.167 are each amended to read as follows:

The department of personnel shall undertake comprehensive salary and fringe benefit surveys for officers of the Washington state patrol, with such surveys to be conducted in the year prior to the convening of every other one hundred five day regular session of the state legislature. In the year prior to the convening of each one hundred five day regular session during which a comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey is not conducted, the department shall conduct a trend salary and fringe benefit survey. This survey shall measure average salary and fringe benefit movement which has occurred since the last comprehensive salary and fringe benefit survey was conducted. The results of each comprehensive and trend survey shall be completed and forwarded by September 30, after review and concurrence by the chief of the Washington state patrol, to the governor and director of financial management for their use in preparing budgets to be submitted to the succeeding legislature. A copy of the data and supporting documentation shall be furnished by the department of personnel to the standing committees for appropriations of the senate and house of representatives. The office of financial management shall analyze the survey results and conduct investigations which may be necessary to arbitrate differences between interested parties regarding the accuracy of collected survey data and the use of such data for salary adjustment.

Surveys conducted by the department of personnel for the Washington state patrol shall be undertaken in a manner consistent with statistically accurate sampling techniques, including comparisons of weighted averages of salaries. The survey shall be conducted and its results reported in a manner consistent with the state salary survey performed under RCW 41.06.160 through 41.06.165.

This service performed by the department of personnel shall be on a reimbursable basis in accordance with the provisions of RCW 41.06.080 as now existing or hereafter amended.

A comprehensive salary and fringe benefits survey plan shall be submitted jointly by the department of personnel and the Washington state patrol to the director of financial management, the committee on ways and means of the senate, and the committee on appropriations of the house of representatives six months before the beginning of each periodic survey.