An Act to Modify Provisions of the State Civil Service System
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1744
Committee: Labor
Sponsors: ROLLINS, BENNETT
Amends: 5 MRSA §7065

Legislative Document
No. 1744
H.P. 1162
House of Representatives, April 22, 2025
An Act to Modify Provisions of the State Civil Service System 
Governing Employee Recruitment and Retention
Reference to the Committee on Labor suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ROLLINS of Augusta.
Cosponsored by Senator BENNETT of Oxford and
Representative: SALISBURY of Westbrook, Senator: BEEBE-CENTER of Knox.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §7065, sub-§2-D, as corrected by RR 2023, c. 1, §38 and affected 
by §50, is amended to read:
2-D.  Recruitment and retention adjustments.  Subject to this subsection, the officer, 
with the agreement of the bargaining agent, if applicable, may approve payment of 
recruitment and retention adjustments when the payment of a labor market adjustment is 
required to recruit and retain an adequate work force.
A.  Payment of a recruitment and retention adjustment may be authorized only when 
justified by the following conditions.
(1)  High turnover exists or long-term vacancies exist either within a specific 
department or across State Government in the relevant occupational classifications 
or job series.
 (2)  The relevant occupational classification or job series has a clear, 
geographically definable labor market within which the State must compete.
(3)  All Reasonable and appropriate recruitment and retention efforts have been 
attempted and have proven ineffective at the current levels of compensation.
(4)  Comprehensive, verifiable documentation of labor market compensation levels 
for the relevant occupation has been compiled to determine competitive pay levels 
within the defined labor market.  This documentation must demonstrate that a labor 
market disparity exists and that the disparity represents a long-term, not transitory 
or seasonal, problem.
A-1.  Payment of a recruitment and retention adjustment may be authorized for an 
occupational classification when the occupational classification is in a job series or job 
family with an occupational classification entitled to an adjustment under the criteria 
in paragraph A and would suffer from either salary compression or salary separation 
as a result of payment of a recruitment and retention adjustment pursuant to paragraph 
A to the occupational classification entitled to the adjustment.  For purposes of this 
paragraph, "salary compression" means a relatively narrow range of salaries within an 
occupational classification and "salary separation" means a relatively broad range of 
salaries within an occupational classification.
B.  The labor market adjustment must be reviewed at least every 2 4 years, in alignment 
with section 7061, subsection 4, paragraph B, and adjusted to changes in the labor 
market or the overall relation of the standard pay policy to the specialized labor market.  
If the subsequent review provided in this paragraph results in the adjustment being 
decreased or discontinued, an employee receiving the recruitment and retention 
adjustment may not be subject to a reduction in pay.  The resulting recruitment and 
retention adjustment applies to employees hired subsequent to the review provided in 
this paragraph.
C.  To assist the officer in making a determination under paragraphs A, A-1 and B, a 
committee must be formed to evaluate each request from an agency or bargaining agent 
for a recruitment or retention adjustment.  The committee must be composed of a 
representative of the bureau, a representative of the employing agency or agencies and 
a representative of the bargaining agent, if applicable.  The committee shall evaluate 
the request against the criteria specified in paragraphs A, A-1 and B and shall conduct 
studies as the committee considers necessary to evaluate the request.  The committee 
shall, by majority vote, If the committee agrees on the appropriate adjustments, the 
committee shall provide the officer, the agency and the bargaining agent, if applicable, 
with a report recommending and documenting adjustments authorized under this 
subsection.  If the committee does not agree on the appropriate adjustments, the matter 
must be submitted to a neutral 3rd party for a final decision and report.  The neutral 
3rd party may be jointly agreed upon by the officer, the agency and the bargaining 
agent, if applicable, but, if an agreement is not reached, the neutral 3rd party must be 
appointed by the Maine Labor Relations Board in accordance with the procedure 
outlined in Title 26, section 979-D, subsection 4, paragraph B.  The officer, the agency 
and the bargaining agent, if applicable, shall act on this the report.  If a funding request 
is necessary to implement an approved adjustment, the officer shall submit the cost 
items for inclusion in the Governor's next operating budget within 10 days after action 
on the report.
D.  The Bureau of Human Resources shall prescribe the forms to be filed with the 
Bureau of Human Resources to request a recruitment and retention adjustment under 
this subsection.
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes to the laws governing recruitment and retention 
adjustments for state employees in the classified service.
1.  It changes one of the criteria for authorizing payment of a recruitment and retention 
adjustment to add the existence of high turnover or long-term vacancies within a specific 
department in the relevant occupational classifications or job series.  It changes another of 
the criteria to require that reasonable recruitment and retention efforts have been attempted 
and have proven ineffective at the current levels of compensation.
2.  It provides that payment of a recruitment and retention adjustment may be 
authorized when an occupational classification is in a job series or job family with an 
occupational classification entitled to an adjustment and the occupational classification 
would suffer from either salary compression or salary separation as a result of payment of 
that adjustment to the other occupational classification.
3.  It requires the labor market adjustment to be reviewed at least every 4 years, in 
alignment with the market pay study conducted by the State.  The resulting recruitment and 
retention adjustment applies to employees hired subsequent to this review.
4.  It provides that, if the committee formed to evaluate each request from an agency 
or bargaining agent for a recruitment and retention adjustment agrees on the appropriate 
adjustments, the committee must provide a report recommending and documenting those 
adjustments.  If the committee does not agree on the appropriate adjustments, the matter 
must be submitted to a neutral 3rd party for a final decision and report.
5.  It requires the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
Human Resources to prescribe the forms to be filed with the bureau to request a recruitment 
and retention adjustment.
6.  It removes language that authorizes payment of a recruitment and retention 
adjustment when the relevant occupational classification or job series has a clear, 
geographically definable labor market within which the State must compete.
7.  It provides that if the committee that reviews adjustments agrees on the appropriate 
adjustment, the committee must provide the appropriate persons with a report 
recommending and documenting the adjustments.