Source: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2542%20SUB%20ENR.htm&yr=2017&sesstype=RS&billtype=B&houseorig=H&i=2542
Timestamp: 2017-10-23 01:08:22
Document Index: 542960596

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Enrolled Version - Final Version House Bill 2542 History
By Delegates Statler, Espinosa, Cowles, Blair, Ambler, Shott, Kessinger, Hamilton, Dean, Ellington and Lewis
[Passed March 14, 2017; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to repeal §18B-7-9, §18B-7-11 and §18B-7-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to repeal §18B-9-1, §18B-9-2, §18B-9-3 and §18B-9-4 of said code; to repeal §18B-9A-3 and §18B-9A-8 of said code; to amend and reenact §18B-1B-5 of said code; to amend and reenact §18B-4-1 and §18B-4-2a of said code; to amend and reenact §18B-7-1, §18B-7-2, §18B-7-3, §18B-7-6 and §18B-7-8 of said code; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-8-7; to amend and reenact §18B-9A-2, §18B-9A-5, §18B-9A-6 and §18B-9A-7 of said code; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new article, designated §18B-9B-1, all relating to public higher education personnel generally; clarifying roles of Higher Education Policy Commission, Council for Community and Technical College Education and state organizations of higher education; eliminating certain human resources review by Higher Education Policy Commission and Council for Community and Technical College Education; eliminating specific references to the Vice Chancellor for Human Resources; eliminating outdated and redundant reporting requirements; eliminating requirement for Higher Education Policy Commission to create certain positions that report to Vice Chancellor for Human Resources; eliminating certain higher education organization employment ratios and requirements; eliminating higher education organization classified employee salary schedule, outdated associated requirements and definitions; eliminating certain requirements related to exercising flexibility in human resources for higher education organizations; eliminating outline of steps for implementation of classification and compensation system by Higher Education Policy Commission and Council for Community and Technical College Education; providing legislative purposes and intent for higher education personnel; defining terms; providing and revising rules relating to reductions in workforce and hiring preferences; providing for continuing education and professional development; providing for evaluation and reviews of organizations for certain human resource deficiencies, best practices and compliance with state higher education personnel laws; providing for content of certain reports from Higher Education Policy Commission and Council for Community and Technical College Education to Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability; authorizing organizations to adopt rules relating to employment policies and practices for staff and faculty; providing for preemption of Higher Education Policy Commission and Council for Community and Technical Education rules conflicting with a governing board rule on faculty; defining classified and nonclassified employees; clarifying powers and duties of the Compensation Planning and Review Committee; providing that the Higher Education Policy Commission shall develop a model minimum salary schedule using West Virginia Workforce and other relevant data that organizations shall follow except in certain instances; providing that the Higher Education Policy Commission develop classification and compensation rules; providing state organizations of higher education with the ability to propose and implement approved legislative rules relating to classification and compensation with certain exceptions; and requiring any rule proposed by a state organization of higher education incorporate best human resources practices, address areas of accountability, employee classification and compensation and performance evaluation.
That §18B-7-9, §18B-7-11 and §18B-7-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be repealed; that §18B-9-1, §18B-9-2, §18B-9-3 and §18B-9-4 of said code, be repealed; that §18B-9A-3 and §18B-9A-8 of said code, be repealed; that §18B-1B-5 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §18B-4-1 and §18B-4-2a of said code be amended and reenacted; that §18B-7-1, §18B-7-2, §18B-7-3, §18B-7-6 and §18B-7-8 of said code be amended and reenacted; that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-8-7; that §18B-9A-2, §18B-9A-5, §18B-9A-6 and §18B-9A-7 of said code be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §18B-9B-1, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1B. HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY COMMISSION
(e) The commission sets the chancellor's salary. The salary may not exceed by more than twenty percent the average annual salary of chief executive officers of state systems of higher education in the states that comprise the membership of the Southern Regional Education Board.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a human resources strategy that is fair, accountable, credible, and transparent. In recognition of the importance of these qualities, the human resources strategy outlined in this article, together with articles eight and nine-a of this chapter, is designated and may be cited as " FACT for Higher Education".
(1) "Benefits" means programs that an employer uses to supplement the cash compensation of employees and includes health and welfare plans, retirement plans, pay for time not worked and other employee prerequisites.
(2) "Compensation" means cash provided by an employer to an employee for services rendered.
(3) "Compensatory time" and "compensatory time off" mean hours during which the employee is not working, which are not counted as hours worked during the applicable work week or other work period for purposes of overtime compensation and for which the employee is compensated at the employee's regular rate of pay.
(4) "Employee classification" or "employee class" means those employees designated as classified employees; nonclassified employees, including presidents, chief executives and administrators and faculty, as these terms are defined in this article and articles eight, nine and nine-a of this chapter.
(5) "Full-time" means a regular employee whose employment, if continued, accumulates to a minimum total of one thousand forty hours during a calendar year and extends over at least nine months of a calendar year
(6) "Health and welfare benefit plan" means an arrangement which provides any of the following: Medical, dental, visual, psychiatric or long-term health care, life insurance, accidental death or dismemberment benefits, disability benefits or comparable benefits.
(1) For layoffs for reason of lack of funds or work, or abolition of position or material changes in duties or organization, the institution may layoff the incumbent in the position being eliminated. In the case of elimination of some but not all of the positions of the same job title, consideration shall be given to an employee's documented quality of work performance as demonstrated in performance evaluations of record (including, but not limited to, disciplinary records), skills, seniority as measured by years of service, or other factors, as determined by the board.
(a) Personnel reports. --
(B) Detailed data disaggregated by organization and employee category or classification, comparing funding for salaries of faculty, classified employees and nonclassified employees as a percentage of the average funding for each of these classes or categories of employees among the organization's state, region or national markets, as appropriate, and among similar organizations within the state systems of public higher education.
(b) Job classification system report. --
(1) "Classification system" means the process by which jobs, job titles, career ladders and assignment to pay grades are determined.
(2) "Classified employee" or "employee" means a regular full-time or regular part-time employee of an organization who: (i) does not meet the duties test for exempt status under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act; and (ii) is not otherwise a nonclassified employee designated pursuant to subdivision (11) of this section: Provided, That any employee of an organization who was a classified employee as of January 1, 2017, retains that status unless otherwise deemed a nonclassified employee pursuant to the provisions of subparts (A) through (D) of subdivision (11) of this section.
(3) "Job" means the total collection of tasks, duties and responsibilities assigned to one or more individuals whose work is of the same nature and level.
(4) "Job description" or "position description" means a summary of the most important features of a job, including the general nature and level of the work performed.
(5) "Job evaluation" means a systematic way of determining the value/worth of a job in relation to other jobs in an organization by analyzing weighted compensable factors resulting in the assignment of a job title and pay grade to a position described by a position information questionnaire.
(6) "Job family" means a group of jobs having the same nature of work, but requiring different levels of skill, effort, responsibility or working conditions.
(7) "Job specification" means the generic description of a group of jobs assigned a common job title in the classification system. The job specification contains a brief summary of the purpose of the job; the most common duties and responsibilities performed by positions holding the title; knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the work; and minimum qualifications required for positions assigned the title.
(8) "Job title" means the descriptive name for the total collection of tasks, duties and responsibilities assigned to one or more individuals whose positions have the same nature of work performed at the same level.
(9) "Job worth hierarchy" means the perceived internal value of jobs in relation to each other within an organization.
(10) "Midpoint differential" means the difference in wage rates paid in the midpoints of two adjacent pay grades. A midpoint differential is calculated by taking the difference between the two adjacent midpoints as a percentage of the lower of the midpoints.
(11) "Nonclassified employee" means, an employee of an organization who meets one or more of the following criteria:
(A) Holds a direct policy-making position at the department or organization level;
(B) Reports directly to the president or chief executive officer of the organization;
(C) Is in a position considered by the president or designee to be critical to the institution pursuant to policies or decisions adopted by the governing board;
(D) Is in an information technology-related position;
(E) Is hired after July 1, 2017, and meets the duties test for exempt status under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act at the time of hire or anytime thereafter; or
(F) Was in a nonclassified position as of January 1, 2017.
Unless otherwise established by action of the institution where employed, a nonclassified employee serves at the will and pleasure of the organization, which authority may be delegated by act of the board.
(12) "Organization" means the commission, the council, an agency or entity under the respective jurisdiction of the commission or the council or a state institution of higher education as defined in section two, article one of this chapter.
(13) "Pay grade" means the level to which a job is assigned within a job worth hierarchy as a result of job evaluation.
(14) "Point factor methodology" means a quantitative job evaluation process in which elements of a job are given a factor value and each factor is weighted according to its importance.
(15) "Position information questionnaire" or "PIQ" means a tool used to gather specific job information for a specific position held by an individual, and used for the purposes of evaluating the position for determination of job title and pay grade. The PIQ is used to gather information used to assess the compensable factors of knowledge, experience, complexity and problem solving, freedom of action, scope and effect, breadth of responsibility, intra-systems contacts, external contacts, direct supervision of personnel, indirect supervision of personnel and health, safety and physical considerations.
(16) "Pay range spread" means the difference in the minimum and maximum rate of pay for a pay grade expressed as a percentage.
(a) Pursuant to the rule authorized in section seven of this article, the commission and council jointly shall establish and maintain a compensation planning and review committee.
(b) Within the guidelines established in this article and articles seven, eight and nine of this chapter, the committee shall manage all aspects of compensation planning and review that the commission and council jointly delegate to it.
The rule shall contain the following requirements related to the compensation planning and review committee:
(1) A systematic method for appointing committee members who are representative of all the higher education organizations and affected constituent groups, including specifically providing for membership selections to be made from nominations from these higher education organizations and affected constituent groups; and
(2) A requirement that an organization may have no more than two members serving on the committee at any time and the combined membership representing various groups or divisions within or affiliated with an organization in total may not constitute a majority of the membership; and
(3) A requirement that committee members serve staggered terms. One third of the initial appointments shall be for two years, one third for three years and one third for four years. Thereafter, the term is four years. A member may not serve more than four years consecutively.
(d) An institution may not have a majority of the committee members, and the combined membership representing various groups or divisions within or affiliated with an organization in total may not constitute a majority of the membership.
(e) The Compensation Planning and Review Committee has powers and duties related to classified employee compensation programs which include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Making annual recommendations for revisions in the system classified compensation plan, based on existing economic, budgetary and fiscal conditions or on market study data.
(2) Overseeing the annual internal market review;
(3) Meeting at least annually with the Job Classification Committee to discuss benchmark jobs to be included in salary surveys, market "hot jobs" that may require a temporary salary adjustment, results of job family reviews and assessment of current job titles within the classification system for market matches and other issues as the, Chancellor or chancellor’s designee, in consultation with the chancellors, determines to be appropriate; and
(4) Performing other duties as assigned by the commission and council or as necessary or expedient to maintain an effective classification and compensation system.
(f) The commission and council may allow the committee to collapse the three lowest pay grades into a single pay grade and provide for employees to be paid at rates appropriate to the highest of the three lowest pay grades.
(a) The commission and council shall develop and maintain a classified salary schedule and ensure that all organizations under their respective jurisdictions adhere to state and federal laws and duly promulgated and adopted organization rules.
(b) The classified salary schedule serves as the basis for the following activities:
(2) Developing the minimum salary per pay grade to be adopted by the commission and council.
(c) The classified salary schedule shall meet the following criteria:
(1) Sets forth the number of pay grades to be included in the structure;
(2) Includes a midpoint value for each pay grade which represents the average market rate of pay for jobs in that pay grade. The commission and council may choose a midpoint value that is not based exclusively on market salary data; and
(3) Includes minimum and maximum pay range values based on an established range spread.
(d) The commission and council jointly shall use workforce compensation data provided by Workforce West Virginia and other compensation data as is readily available from national recognized sources, including compensation data of CUPA-HR, to establish the appropriate external market conditions of classified positions. The commission and council, in consultation with the Compensation Planning and Review Committee, may take any combination of the following actions:
(1) Adjust the number of pay grades and the point values necessary to validate the result of the classification system and the job worth hierarchy with the market;
(e) The commission and council jointly may perform an annual review of market salary data to determine how salaries have changed in the external market. Based on data collected, the commission and council jointly, in consultation with the Compensation Planning and Review Committee, shall adjust the classified salary schedule if changes are supported by the data.
(f) Annually, the commission and council may approve a minimum salary amount that sets forth a compensation level for each pay grade below which no organization employee may be paid, subject to available funds.
(1) The minimum salary amount for each pay grade on the classified salary schedule is determined by applying a percentage determined after analysis of the market and existing compensation levels to the annual market salary data. The commission and council may take into consideration other factors they consider appropriate.
(g) The organization rule promulgated pursuant to subsection (c), section seven of this article may provide for differential pay for certain employees who work different shifts, weekends or holidays.
§18B-9B-1. Flexibility to adopt personnel rules; emergency rule authorized.
(a) West Virginia University; Marshall University; West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; or any other organization that provides notice to the commission or council, as appropriate; may, after consultation with staff council of the applicable organization, file a rule or rules to implement articles seven and eight of this chapter, and upon the adoption any rules promulgated by the commission or council under articles seven and eight of this chapter are inapplicable to the organization.
(b) West Virginia University; Marshall University; West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; or any other organization that provides notice to the commission or council, as appropriate, may establish a classification and compensation rule, after consultation with and providing 30 days written notice to the staff council of the applicable organization, that incorporates best human resources practices and addresses the areas of organization accountability, employee classification and compensation, performance evaluation, reductions in force, and development of organization policies, and upon the adoption the provisions of article nine-a of this chapter and any rule promulgated by the commission or the council thereto, is inapplicable to the extent it conflicts with the rule promulgated by the organization: Provided, That any rule adopted by an organization shall use the definitions of classified and nonclassified employees established in section two of article nine-a of this chapter.
(c) Any rule adopted by an organization pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall address the following:
(1) Employee classification and compensation. -- The rule proposed pursuant to this policy shall establish a classification and compensation system to accomplish the following objectives, including best practices consistent with those objectives:
(A) Providing opportunities for employee advancement based on performance and other objective, measurable factors including education, years of experience, technical expertise, and experience above position requirements;
(B) Identifying the factors to be used to classify jobs and their relative values or comparable best practice and determining the requirements that are necessary to assign a job to a particular salary level; and
(C) Establishing an objective standard to be used in determining when a job description or a position description is up-to-date.
(2) Performance evaluations. -- The rule shall provide for developing and implementing a consistent, objective performance evaluation model and shall mandate that training in conducting performance evaluations be provided for all organization personnel who hold supervisory positions.
(3) Management shall meet at least quarterly with representatives of staff council to discuss the implementation and effectiveness of any rule adopted by an organization pursuant to articles seven, eight, nine-a and nine-b of this chapter and may make recommendations to the president or board of Governors of an organization to address any concerns or issues identified by staff council;
(4) The rule may provide for differential pay for certain employees who work different shifts, weekends or holidays and for differential treatment for employees; and
(5) The rule shall provide for an external review of human resource practices at the organization at least once every five years, relating to compliance with the applicable provisions of article seven, eight, nine-a and nine-b of this chapter, including provisions that the staff council have an opportunity to speak with the external Auditors before the start of the audit and after its completion.