Resolve, Directing the Governor and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources To Remove Longevity Biases from Collective Bargaining Agreements

Preamble. Whereas,  collective bargaining agreements with state employees contain a number of provisions for extra pay or benefits that are based solely on longevity; among them are provisions to pay an extra 30¢ per hour to those with 15 years of longevity, 40¢ to those with 20 years and 50¢ to those with 25 years; and

Whereas,  each employee pay range contains between 7 and 13 step increases that are awarded annually to over 99% of the employees who become eligible through length of service; and

Whereas,  in its last round of bargaining for the current biennium, the State committed to not "exercise its right to make temporary layoffs during the period of July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009"; as a result, the State has bargained away a significant power to manage costs in these adverse times; now, therefore, be it

Sec. 1. Reduce longevity bias. Resolved: That the Governor and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources are directed to reduce or eliminate within future collective bargaining agreements those provisions that compensate longevity without regard to the value of services rendered to the State; and be it further

Sec. 2. Recover the option for temporary layoffs. Resolved: That the Governor and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources are directed to retain the State's right to make temporary layoffs during future collective bargaining periods; and be it further

Sec. 3. Merit pay. Resolved: That the Governor and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources are directed to adjust the merit pay system so that only those in the upper third of performance are eligible for the award in the discretion of the supervisor.

summary

This resolve directs the Governor and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources to:

1. Reduce or eliminate within future collective bargaining agreements those provisions that compensate longevity without regard to the value of services rendered to the State;

2. Retain the State's right to make temporary layoffs during future collective bargaining periods; and

3. Adjust the merit pay system so that only those in the upper third of performance are eligible for the award in the discretion of that employee's supervisor.