Opinion ID: 2447396
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Board's Interpretation of the Term Part-Time Employee

Text: [¶ 11] The Board interpreted the term part-time as used in section 17751(3) to refer to the classification of the employee's position, and not, more broadly, the number of hours an employee works. [4] The meaning we attribute to the term part-time as used in section 17751(3) must account for the executive action and legislative response that gave rise to it. Therefore, in determining whether the System's interpretation is reasonable, we examine (1) the System's adoption and revision of Rule 401 pursuant to its authority to create rules regarding creditable service; and (2) the Legislature's revision of section 17751(3) in response to the System's rule revision.
[¶ 12] As the System notes, it has had the general statutory authority for over forty years to determine by appropriate rules how much service is equivalent to one year of service. See P.L. 1955, ch. 417, § 1 (effective Aug. 20, 1955) (codified at R.S. ch. 63-A, § 4 (Supp. 1963)). [5] In 1978, the System adopted Rule 401 to calculate creditable service based on an employee's position classification. The 1978 version of Rule 401 granted one full year of creditable service to seasonal and part-time employees whose employment averaged 1000 hours per year. M.P.E.R.S. Reg. 401(2)(B) (1978). The Rule also authorized partial credit to intermittent, limited period, project, and part-time seasonal employees based on the number of hours worked. M.P.E.R.S. Reg. 401(2)(C) (1978). Title 5 M.R.S.A. § 1094(4) (1964) plainly granted the System the authority to enact this rule. [¶ 13] In 1985, the Legislature repealed 5 M.R.S.A. § 1094, replacing it with a new law that permitted the System to determine by appropriate rules how much service in any year qualifies for one year's service credit. See P.L.1985, ch. 801, § 5 (effective Jan. 1, 1987) (codified at 5 M.R.S.A. § 17751 (Supp.1987)). Rule 401 was unaffected by this change. [¶ 14] The System substantially revised Rule 401, effective in June 1991, changing creditable service for 1000-hour employees for employees classified as seasonal and part-time. After July 1, 1991, credit for seasonal and part-time employees was based on the ratio of the hours worked by the employee to 100% of the hours that would be worked by a full-time employee with the same position. M.P.E.R.S. Reg. 401(2-A)(B)(3) (1991). Thus, a part-time employee who had previously received a full year of creditable service under Rule 401 would, under the new rule, instead receive a partial credit corresponding to the number of hours the employee actually worked.
[¶ 15] In 1992, the Legislature responded to the System's revision of Rule 401 by amending section 17751(3). See P.L. 1991, ch. 878, § 1 (effective June 30, 1992). Before its amendment, section 17751(3) simply directed the Board to determine by appropriate rules how much service in any year qualifies for one year's service credit with a single limitation: Service rendered for the full normal working time in any year qualifies for one year's service credit. See 5 M.R.S.A. § 17751(3) (1989). The amended section 17751(3) grandfathered the 1000-hour employees hired before July 1991, affording them the same full year of creditable service that they had received under the original Rule 401: The board shall provide in its rule related to the determination of creditable service for state employees that any part-time or seasonal state employee who was employed during the period beginning January 1, 1989 and ending June 30, 1991 is credited with a full year of creditable service for each year in which that employee is employed for 1,000 or more hours, for as long as that employee is employed by the State. 5 M.R.S. § 17751(3). The bill's Statement of Fact specified that the bill restores the method of calculating annual service credit to certain part-time, seasonal, intermittent or legislative employees in effect prior to July 1, 1991. L.D. 2008, Statement of Fact (115th Legis. 1992). Thus, section 17751(3)'s legislative history reflects that the statutory revision was intended to protect seasonal and part-time employees who had previously enjoyed a full year of creditable service for each year they worked an average of 1000 hours. [¶ 16] Accordingly, the revision of section 17751(3) did no more than prohibit the System from applying its revised Rule 401(2-A) to part-time 1000-hour employees hired before July 1, 1991. The revision assured that this specific class of employees would continue to receive a full year of creditable service as they had received under the original Rule 401. The revision did not otherwise disturb the System's long-standing approach to assigning and determining creditable service based on each employee's position classification. The System's continued reliance on a position-based classification system for purposes of determining an employee's annual entitlement to creditable service is consistent with the applicable statute, and its interpretation of the term part-time employee is entitled to deference.