SENATE BILL REPORT

                   SB 5838

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

                   Education, March 3, 1999

Title:  An act relating to personal holiday leave sharing for school district employees.

Brief Description:  Permitting personal holiday leave sharing for school district employees.

Sponsors:  Senators McAuliffe, Eide and Rasmussen.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Education:  2/25/99, 3/3/99 [DPS].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Majority Report:  That Substitute Senate Bill No. 5838 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.

  Signed by Senators McAuliffe, Chair; Eide, Vice Chair; Bauer, Brown, Finkbeiner, Goings, Hochstatter, Kohl‑Welles, Rasmussen, Sellar and Swecker.

Staff:  Natalie Adams (786-7444)

Background:  In addition to legal holidays, annual leave and sick leave, employees of the state receive one paid personal holiday by law.  While school district employees receive legal holidays, annual leave and sick leave, they are excluded from the personal holiday entitlement and must negotiate through collective bargaining for personal holidays.

School districts may establish a leave sharing program for school employees.  State law requires that the Superintendent of Public Instruction adopt standards for the school district leave sharing program that are consistent with the state employee's leave sharing program and that ensure that the program does not significantly increase the cost of providing leave.

The leave sharing program for state employees permits state employees to share their accumulated annual leave, sick leave and personal holidays with a second state employee who has exhausted his or her leave as a result of an extraordinary illness, injury, impairment, or mental or physical condition.

The standards adopted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction regarding sharing of leave for school employees does not include a provision allowing school employees to share personal holidays.

Summary of Substitute Bill:  School employees who have bargained for and obtained a personal holiday may share that holiday to the extent the law allows.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:  A different section of the code is amended to achieve the same result.  Personal holiday leave sharing for school employees is limited to eight hours per year and to personal holidays that are received by agreement between the school district and the employee. 

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

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

Testimony For:  The Legislature approved leave sharing for school employees in 1996.  However, the program is inconsistent with the program offered to other state employees.  We want to fix this inconsistency.

Neutral Testimony:  We could be in favor of this bill, but we prefer something more similar to the House bill.  We want to limit the sharing of personal holidays to eight hours, which is what other state employees receive.  Anything more is too expensive to administer.

Testified:  Doug Nelson, Public School Employees (pro); Lorraine Wilson, Washington State School Directors Administration (neutral).