An Act To Include within the Definitions of "Public Employee" and Judicial Employee" Those Who Have Been Employed for Less Than 6 Months
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0775
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: SYLVESTER
Amends: 5 MRSA §7051, 26 MRSA §962, 26 MRSA §979-A, 26 MRSA §979-D, 26 MRSA §1282, 26 MRSA §1283-A, 26 MRSA §1285, 30-A MRSA §501, 30-A MRSA §2701

Legislative Document
No. 775
H.P. 580
House of Representatives, March 5, 2021
An Act To Include within the Definitions of "Public Employee" and 
"Judicial Employee" Those Who Have Been Employed for Less 
Than 6 Months
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SYLVESTER of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §7051, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1987, c. 240, §3, is further 
amended to read:
5.  Probationary period; permanent appointments.  All original appointments to the 
classified service and all subsequent promotional appointments within the classified service 
shall must be for a probationary period.  The duration of the probationary period shall be 
is determined by the director in consultation with the director or commissioner of the 
agency, but in no case may it be for less than 6 months.
A.  Probationary employees shall An employee during the probationary period must be 
reviewed at the end of their the employee's 3rd month of employment by their 
supervisors the employee's supervisor.  The supervisor and the employee shall mutually 
discuss the job tasks and the performance of the employee, including any necessary 
improvements.
B.  Probationary employees shall An employee during the probationary period must be 
included in the payroll of the department in which they have the employee has been 
hired at the time of the commencement of their the employee's duties.  Probationary 
employees shall An employee during the probationary period must be compensated in 
the same manner as a permanent full-time employees employee, provided they have as 
long as the employee has been hired in accordance with all applicable laws and 
procedures.
C.  During the probationary period, an employee may be dismissed, suspended or 
otherwise disciplined without cause. Dismissal, suspension or any other disciplinary 
action against an employee during the probationary period is not subject to the 
grievance and arbitration provision of the collective bargaining agreement.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §7051, sub-§7, as amended by PL 1987, c. 9, §3 and PL 1995, c. 
560, Pt. K, §82, affected by §83 and amended by PL 2001, c. 354, §3 and PL 2003, c. 689, 
Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read:
7.  Dismissal and disciplinary action.  An Except as provided in subsection 5, an 
appointing authority may dismiss, suspend or otherwise discipline an employee in the 
classified service for cause.  This right is subject to the right of appeal and arbitration of 
grievances set forth in the applicable labor contract, in sections 7081 to 7084 or by civil 
service rule; and sections 7081 to 7084 shall apply to any employee who has satisfactorily 
completed an initial probationary period.  This subsection does not apply to unclassified 
employees listed in section 931, nor does this subsection in any way limit the collective 
bargaining rights of classified and unclassified employees.  This subsection does not apply 
to an employee appointed to a major policy-influencing position listed in sections 932 to 
953.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the head of any institution 
under the control of the Department of Health and Human Services as the appointing 
authority may suspend with pay any employee who is charged by indictment with the 
commission of a criminal offense involving acts alleged to have been perpetrated upon any 
resident or residents of any such institution.  Any suspension with pay may be authorized 
by the appointing authority only when to permit the employee to remain on duty at the 
institution would be against the best interest of any one or more of the residents of the 
institution, and authorization for suspension with pay shall apply applies only during the 
pendency of the criminal proceedings in the trial court, but not longer than 30 working 
days.  Sections 7081 to 7084 shall do not apply to suspension with pay ordered by the 
appointing authority under this paragraph.
Sec. 3.  26 MRSA §962, sub-§6, ¶F, as repealed and replaced by PL 1969, c. 578, 
§1, is repealed.
Sec. 4.  26 MRSA §979-A, sub-§6, ¶E, as enacted by PL 1973, c. 774, is repealed.
Sec. 5.  26 MRSA §979-D, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 1997, c. 741, §6 and 
affected by §12, is further amended by amending subparagraph (3) to read:
(3)  Cost items shall must be submitted for inclusion in the Governor's next 
operating budget within 10 days after the date on which the agreement is ratified 
by the parties.  If the Legislature rejects any of the cost items submitted to it, all 
cost items submitted shall must be returned to the parties for further bargaining.  
Cost items related to a collective bargaining agreement reached under this chapter 
and submitted to the Legislature for its approval under this subparagraph shall may 
not be submitted in the same legislation that contains cost items for employees 
exempted from the definition of "state employee" under section 979-A, subsection 
6, and employees of the legislative branch, except that cost items for those 
employees exempted under section 979-A, subsection 6, paragraphs E and 
paragraph F, need not be excluded.
Sec. 6.  26 MRSA §1282, sub-§5, ¶E, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 702, is amended 
to read:
E.  Who is appointed to serve as a law clerk to a judge or a justice; or
Sec. 7.  26 MRSA §1282, sub-§5, ¶F, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 702, is amended 
to read:
F.  Who is a temporary, seasonal or on-call employee, including interns; or.
Sec. 8.  26 MRSA §1282, sub-§5, ¶G, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 702, is repealed.
Sec. 9.  26 MRSA §1283-A is enacted to read:
§1283-A.  Judicial employees; probationary period
If the public employer requires a judicial employee to complete a probationary period, 
that judicial employee may be dismissed, suspended or otherwise disciplined without 
cause. Dismissal, suspension or any other disciplinary action against a judicial employee 
during the probationary period is not subject to the grievance and arbitration provision of 
the collective bargaining agreement.
Sec. 10.  26 MRSA §1285, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 1989, c. 596, Pt. N, §6, 
is further amended to read:
E.  To confer and negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, working 
conditions and contract grievance arbitration, except that by such obligation neither 
party may be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession.  
All matters relating to the relationship between the employer and employees shall be 
are the subject of collective bargaining, except those matters which that are prescribed 
or controlled by law.  Such matters appropriate for collective bargaining, to the extent 
they are not prescribed or controlled by law, include, but are not limited to:
(1)  Wage and salary schedules to the extent they are inconsistent with rates 
prevailing in commerce and industry for comparable work within the State;
(2)  Work schedules relating to assigned hours and days of the week;
(3)  Use of vacation or sick leave, or both;
(4)  General working conditions;
(5)  Overtime practices; and
(6)  Rules for personnel administration, except for rules relating to applicants for 
employment and employees in an initial probationary status, including any 
extensions thereof, provided that as long as the rules are not discriminatory by 
reason of an applicant's race, color, creed, sex or national origin.
Cost items shall must be included in the Judicial Department's next operating budget 
in accordance with Title 4, section 24.  If the Legislature rejects any of the cost items 
submitted to it, all cost items submitted shall must be returned to the parties for further 
bargaining.  Cost items related to a collective bargaining agreement reached under this 
chapter and submitted to the Legislature for its approval under this subsection shall 
may not be submitted in the same legislation that contains cost items for employees 
exempted from the definition of "judicial employee" under section 1282, subsection 5, 
except that cost items for employees exempted under section 1282, subsection 5, 
paragraphs paragraph F and G, need not be excluded.
Sec. 11.  30-A MRSA §501, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 106, §1, is 
amended to read:
2-A.  Probationary period for corrections officials.  Beginning October 1, 2009, a A 
person who is hired as jailer, master, keeper or a subordinate assistant or employee under 
section 1501 must complete an employment probationary period that lasts for one year.  
During the probationary period, a person who is hired as jailer, master, keeper or a 
subordinate assistant or employee under section 1501 may be dismissed, suspended or 
otherwise disciplined without cause. Dismissal, suspension or any other disciplinary action 
against an employee during the probationary period is not subject to the grievance and 
arbitration provision of the collective bargaining agreement.
Sec. 12.  30-A MRSA §2701, amended by PL 1993, c. 744, §15, is further amended 
by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:
During the probationary period, an employee may be dismissed, suspended or 
otherwise disciplined without cause. Dismissal, suspension or any other disciplinary action 
against an employee during the probationary period is not subject to the grievance and 
arbitration provision of the collective bargaining agreement.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that, for the purposes of the public employees and judicial employees 
labor relations laws, a person who has been an employee of the State or another public 
employer for less than 6 months is considered a public employee and a person who has 
been an employee of the judicial branch for less than 6 months is considered a judicial 
employee.  A person who has been an employee of the State or another public employer 
for less than 6 months may be dismissed, suspended or otherwise disciplined without cause 
during the probationary period.  Termination of an employee or any other disciplinary 
action against an employee during the probationary period is not subject to the grievance 
and arbitration provision of the collective bargaining agreement.