Opinion ID: 2822015
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: condition of employment

Text: While the majority assumes without deciding that pensions are a condition of employment as that phrase is understood in Const 1963, art 11, § 5, Justice KELLY would uphold 2011 PA 264 on the basis that it does not regulate conditions of employment. I respectfully disagree with Justice KELLY’s conclusion. I believe that pensions are a condition of employment. 9 I also note that Civil Service Rule 5-13 is a thin reed upon which to hang a constitutional waiver. If the Legislature’s enactment of the challenged provisions of 2011 PA 264 are indeed unconstitutional as a violation of the separation of powers doctrine, they would not properly be benefits “as provided by law,” given that our Constitution is considered part of Michigan law. 10 This characterization of plaintiffs’ requested relief runs counter to this Court’s holding in Judicial Attorneys Ass’n, 459 Mich at 304, in which the challenged provisions alone were found to be unconstitutional and thus struck. 9 Justice KELLY argues that the plain language of the Constitution indicates that the phrase “conditions of employment” was not intended as a broad catchall, and is instead limited to internal matters. However, I believe this reading fails to account for this Court’s prior pronouncement that the commission has the authority “to regulate employment-related activity involving internal matters such as job specifications, compensation, grievance procedures, discipline, collective bargaining and job performance, including the power to prohibit activity during working hours which is found to interfere with satisfactory job performance.” Council No 11, 408 Mich at 406407 (emphasis added). 11 Certainly a broad definition of the phrase “conditions of employment” need be employed in order to tie together such disparate concepts as disciplinary procedures and collective bargaining. Furthermore, this Court continued by stating that “it is within contemplation that off-duty political involvement may adversely affect a classified employee’s performance at work. If and when it does, the commission is empowered to deal with such circumstances on a case-by-case basis.” Id. at 407. A definition that embraces off-duty political involvement is a broad one that can also encompass pensions, which are arguably easier to square away as employment-related activity involving internal matters. Justice KELLY also notes that, by the time the 1963 Constitution was ratified, SERA had been in effect for 20 years; by keeping the same grant of authority found in the 1908 Constitution, the ratifiers thus did not intend to eliminate the Legislature’s 11 I believe that the use of the phrases “such as” and “including” suggests that this was not meant as an exhaustive list. 10 authority to enact and amend SERA. In support of this proposition, Justice KELLY cites a comment that suggests the ratifiers intended that pension plans not be diminished or impaired. But as stated earlier, this supposed intention shines no light on whether the commission can properly challenge legislative incursion into its sphere of authority. I agree that the ratifiers did not intend to proscribe the Legislature’s ability to enact or amend SERA, but this did not change the underlying presumption that the commission maintained the constitutional authority to regulate pensions; that the commission did not challenge the enactment or amendment of SERA prior to the ratification of the 1963 Constitution only indicates that it did not believe that the Legislature had yet overstepped its bounds. 12 Justice KELLY finally notes that the challenged provisions of 2011 PA 264 only affect the accrual of future pension benefits; because such benefits are only payable to individuals upon leaving the classified civil service, pension benefits follow employment, and are not conditions of employment. The constitutional difference wrought by this change in preposition appears to hang on two observations: first, that pension benefits are payable in the future, and second, that a certain retirement election allowance is not required for continued employment. As to the first, there is nothing in the plain language of the Constitution that suggests that a “condition of employment” is limited in scope to those internal matters 12 Myers v United States, 272 US 52, 171; 47 S Ct 21; 71 L Ed 160 (1926) (“When instances which actually involve the question are rare, or have not in fact occurred, the weight of the mere presence of acts on the statute book for a considerable time, as showing general acquiescence in the legislative assertion of questioned power, is minimized.”). 11 that are present during a particular time period. This Court has previously stated that grievance procedures are unquestionably within the commission’s grant of authority, Council No 11, 408 Mich at 406, and one hopes that grievance procedures are not part of everyday reality for most employees in the classified civil service. Indeed, the ability to plan ahead for expected future outcomes is part and parcel of the internal, employmentrelated activity that constitutes conditions of employment. See Wescott v Civil Serv Comm, 298 Mich App 158, 164; 825 NW2d 674 (2012) (holding that the commission does not need to consider disability decisions rendered by other state agencies in making a determination on a request for long-term disability benefits); Mich State Employees Ass’n v Dep’t of Mental Health, 421 Mich 152, 163-164; 365 NW2d 93 (1984) (holding that it is the constitutional duty of the commission to establish discharge procedures in accordance with due process). The very motivation for the creation of the classified civil service points to the same conclusion: a merit-based system was memorialized in our Constitution out of a fear of a patronage system, which could result in the future termination of otherwise qualified employees upon a change in political fortune. See Mich State Employees Ass’n, 421 Mich at 159-160. As to the second, a condition of employment is not defined by whether a classified civil service employee is required to behave a certain way in order to maintain employment. This definition is not broad enough to encompass “job specifications, compensation, grievance procedures, discipline, collective bargaining and job performance,” Council No 11, 408 Mich at 406, which are all unquestionably part of the commission’s grant of plenary authority. 12 Because I conclude that pensions are a condition of employment under Const 1963, art 11, § 5, I would hold that the challenged provisions of 2011 PA 264 improperly intrude on the commission’s constitutional grant of plenary authority.