An Act to Modify
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1744
Committee Amendment CA_A_H857 (House)
Amends: 5 MRSA §7065

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " A " to H.P, 1162, L.D, 1744, "An Act to Modify
Provisions of the State Civil Service System Governing Employee Recruitment and
Retention"
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the
following:
'See. 1. 5 MRSA §7065, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1993, c. 705, §1, is further
amended to read:
2. Salary limits. Ne A position may not be assigned a salary greater than the
maximum or less than the minimum rates fixed in the compensation plan except as provided
by subsection 3-6 2-E.
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §7065, sub-§2-D, as corrected by RR 2023,c.1, Pt. B, §38 and
affected by §50, is repealed.
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §7065, sub-§2-E is enacted to read:
2-E. Recruitment and retention adjustments. The followinp provisions eovem the
process of reauestine a recruitment and retention adjustment.
A. An agency or barsaining agent shall file a request for a recruitment and retention
adjustment with the Bureau of Human Resources on forms prescribed by the bureau.
B. When a request for a recruitment and retention adjustment is filed bv an aeency or
bareamina aeent with the Bureau of Human Resources under oaraeraoh A. the ofBcer
shall conduct a preliminary review to determine the extent to which vacancy rates.
turnover rates or other workforce indicators identified in the request are attributable to
any of the following conditions:
d) Statewide or departmental hirine freezes, position holds, delays in hirine
authorizations or fundine lapses;
(2~) Manaeement-directed attrition. includinR for the Durposes of anticipated
reorsanizations. or nroerammatic chanees affectine staffing levels:
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
^
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " A- " to H.P. 1162, L.D. 1744
f3) Temporary operational decisions or policy directives that limit recruitment or
filling of vacancies; or
(4) Any other reasonable material, operational, fiscal or administrative
circumstances that reasonably explain vacancy or turnover levels independent of
compensation or labor market competitiveness.
If any of the conditions in suboaraeraohs d) to C4) are determined to be present, the
officer may choose not to form a committee pursuant to oaraeraoh D. subject to an
appeal filed pursuant to paragraph F. If none of the conditions in suboaraeraphs d) to
(4) are determined to be present, the committee must be formed.
The officer shall complete the preliminary review outlined in this paragraph as soon as
possible but no later than 30 days followine the receipt of the request.
C. A recruitment and retention adjustment may be authorized by fhe officer only when
mstifiedbYtheJoUowi^cQ^ :
CD Hieh turnover exists or lone-term vacancies exist either within a specific
department or across State Government in the relevant occupational classifications
or job series;
C2) Reasonable and aooroDriate recruitment and retention efforts have been
attemDted and have oroven ineffective at the current levels of comnensation: and
fl) 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 problem and
not a transitory or seasonal problem,
D, Except as provided in vsa&wsoh B. to assist the officer in making a determination
under paraeraoh C. a committee must be formed to evaluate the request from an agency
or bareainine aeent for a recruitment and retention adjustment. The following
orovisions anolv to the committee formed under this oarasraoh.
(1) The committee must be composed of a representative of the Bureau of Human
Resources, a reoresentative of the aeencv and a renresentative of the bareainins
aeent if applicable.
(2) The committee shall evaluate the request aeainst the conditions specified in
oaraaraph C and shall conduct studies as the committee considers necessary to
evaluate the request,
(3) The committee shall. by majority vote. provide the officer, the aeencv and the
bareainine aeent. if aoolicable. with a reoort recommendine and documetitine
adjustments authorized under this subsection. The officer, the aeencv and the
bareainine agent, if aoplicable. shall act on the^ report. If resources within_the
department or agency budget do not exist to fund an approved adjustment, the
officer shall submit the cost items for inclusion in the Governors next operating
budget. If the Legislature does not aourooriate the requested funds. the department
or agency is not obligated to oav any reauested recruitment and retention
adjustment.
Page2-132LR1588(02)
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"^-" to H.P. 1162, L,D. 1744
f4) Salary compression within the affected position's supervisor/ organizational
structure must be given consideration by the committee. The committee may
recommend r>av adjustments within the supervisory Qrganizational structure in
order to reduce any potential compression that exceeds 4 steps in a salary erade, If
resources within the department or agency budget do not exist for the pay
adjustment to reduce this compression, the original request must move forward
without addressing the compression and the officer shall submit die cost items
reeardine potential additional compressed positions for mclusion in the Governor's
next operatinp budget, If the Leeislature does not aDpropriate the requested Amds.
the deoartment or aeencv is not oblieated to make the reauested Dav adiustments.
For the purposes of this subparaeraoh. "salary comoression" means a relatively
narrow range of salaries withia an occupational classification.
The officer shall provide to the requestine agency or bareainme agent a written
decision includine the proposed course of action within 30 days of receivine the
committee's final recommendation.
E. A recruitment and retention adjustment must be reviewed at least every 4 years in
alienment with section 7061. subsection 4. oaraeraoh B and adiusted to chanaes in the
labor market or the overall relation of the standard pay policy to the specialized labor
market. If the subseauent review Drovided in this oaraeraoh results in the adiustment
beine decreased or discontinued. an employee receivine the recruitment and retention
adjustment may not be subject to a reduction in pay. The resulting recruitment and
retention adjustment applies to emolovees hired subsequent to the review provided in
this paraeraph.
F. A decision by the officer may be appealed by an interested Darty. consistent with the
followine.
d) A party apoealme the officer's decision must file a written request for appeal
with the officer. All appeals must be submitted within 10 business days following
receipt of the officer's written decision.
f2) An employee whose classification is not represented bv a baraainine agent
may appeal a decision of the officer to the appeals board pursuant tosubchaDter 3,
The o£5eer's decision satisfies the reauirement of section 7083. subsection 4.
C3) An employee whose classification is represented by a bareaininR agent may
submit to a neutral 3rd party for a final decision and report. The neutral 3rd party
may be jointly aereed upon by the officer, the asencv and the bar&aimna aeent. but
if an aereement is not reached, the parties must petition the Maine Labor Relations
Board to aooomt a neutral 3rd party, TheJMaineL Labor Relations Board must
7 submit to the parties a list from which the parties can alternately strike a name until
a single name is left. and that person must be aopomted by the Maine Labor
Relations Board as the arbitrator.
f4) All decisions requiring funding bv the neutral 3rd party are subject to the
leeislative budeetine process. If resources within the department or agency do not
exist to fund the neutral 3rd party's decision, the officer shall submit the cost items
for inclusion in the Governor's next operatine budget. If the Leeisiature does not
aoDropriate the requested funds. the denartment or aeencv is not oblkated to oav
any requested recruitment and retention adjustment.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "^" to H,P, 1162, L.D. 1744
(5} A decision by the officer under oaraeraoh B to not form a committee may be
appealed. The arbitrator's authority on such an appeal is limited to orderine the
formation of a committee.'
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section
number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment replaces the bill. The amendment makes the following changes to the
laws governing recruitment and retention adjustments for state employees in the classified
service.
1. It requires a state agency or bargaming agent to file a request for a recruitment and
retention adjustment with the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau
of Human Resources on forms prescribed by the bureau.
2, It establishes that a recruitment and retention adjustment may be authorized by the
State Human Resources Officer only when justified by prescribed conditions. It also,
subject to certain exceptions, requires a committee to be established to evaluate each
request from a state agency or bargaining agent for a recruitment and retention adjustment.
3. It establishes a preliminary review process to be completed by the State Human
Resources Officer when a request for a recruitment and retention adjustment is filed. The
purpose of the preliminary review is to determine the extent to which vacancy rates,
turnover rates or other workforce indicators identified in the request are attributable to
certain conditions that would not require a committee to be formed to evaluate the request.
This preliminary review process must be completed within 30 days following the receipt
of the request,
4. It requires a recruitment and retention adjustment to be reviewed at least every 4
years in alignment with the market pay study required pursuant to the Maine Revised
Statutes, Title 5, 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.
5. It establishes an appeals process for decisions of the State Human Resources Officer.
6. It establishes that if resources within a department or agency budget do not exist to
fund an approved adjustment, the State Human Resources Officer must submit the cost
items for inclusion in the Governor's next operating budget. If the Legislature does not
appropriate the requested funds, the department or agency is not obligated to make the
adjustment,
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)
Page4-132LR1588(02)
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Approved: 03/05/26 t-Rt-
LD 1744 LR 1588(02)
An Act to Modify Provisions of the State Civil Service System Governing Employee Recruitment and
Retention
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment '^" ( H -
Committee: State and Local Government
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Minor cost increase - General Fund
Fiscal Detail and Notes
Any additional costs to the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to implement the provisions of this
bill are expected to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources.
LR1588(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1