Rule Review Meeting – June 13, 2017
ITEM #1 – Step M for Recruitment and Retention
Staff note: The proposed rule amendment allows an employer to adjust an employee’s base salary up to step M to address issues that are related to recruitment, retention or other business related reasons.
We are proposing permanent adoption at the August 23, 2017 director’s meeting.
AMENDATORY SECTION
WAC 357-28-090 Can an employer adjust an employee's base salary within the employee's current salary range for recruitment, retention, or other business related reasons? The employer may adjust an employee's base salary up to step ((L)) Mwithin the salary range to address issues that are related to recruitment, retention or other business related reason, such as equity, alignment, or competitive market conditions.
ITEM #2 – Substitute House Bill (SHB) 1521 – Removesthe six-monthrequirementfor vacation leave
Staff note: SHB 1521 passed during the 2017 Legislative session withan effective date of
July 1, 2017. This bill removes the requirement that an employee must work at least six months before using their accrued vacation leave. This bill also changes “thirty working days” to “two hundred forty hours.” We are proposing the following rule amendments to reflect these changes and repealing WAC 357-31-190
These rule amendments will be filed on an emergency basis with an effective date of
July 1, 2017.
AMENDATORY SECTION
WAC 357-31-170 At what rate do part-time employees accrue vacation leave? (1) Part-time general government employees accrue vacation leave ((credits)) hourson a pro rata basis in accordance with WAC 357-31-125.
(2) Part-time higher education employees accrue on the same pro rata basis that their appointment bears to a full-time appointment. Time spent on temporary layoff as provided in WAC 357-46-063 is considered time in pay status for the purpose of this subsection.
AMENDATORY SECTION
WAC 357-31-210 What is the maximum number of hours of vacation leave that an employee can accumulate? Vacation leave may be accumulated to a maximum of ((thirty working days (240)) two hundred forty hours(())). Exceptions to this maximum are described in WAC 357-31-215.
AMENDATORY SECTION
WAC 357-31-215 When may vacation leave be accumulated above the maximum two hundred forty hours? There are two circumstances in which vacation leave may be accumulated above the maximum of ((thirty working days ())two hundred forty hours(())).
(1) If an employee's request for vacation leave is denied by the employer, and the employee is close to the maximum vacation leave (two hundred forty hours), the employer must grant an extension for each month that the employer defers the employee's request for vacation leave. The employer must maintain a statement of necessity justifying the extension.
(2) As an alternative to subsection (1) of this section, employees may also accumulate vacation leave in excess of two hundred forty hours as follows:
(a) An employee may accumulate the vacation leave ((days)) hoursbetween the time ((thirty days)) the two hundred forty hours is accrued and his/her next anniversary date of state employment.
(b) Leave accumulated above two hundred forty hours must be used by the next anniversary date and in accordance with the employer's leave policy. If such leave is not used before the employee's anniversary date, the excess leave is automatically lost and considered to have never existed.
(c) A statement of necessity, as described in subsection (1) of this section, can only defer leave that the employee has not accrued as of the date of the statement of necessity. Any accrued leave in excess of two hundred forty hours as of the date of the statement of necessity cannot be deferred regardless of circumstances. For example:
On June 15th, an employee is assigned to work on a special project. It is expected that the assignment will last six months. Due to an ambitious timeline and strict deadlines, the employee will not be able to take any vacation leave during that time.
• On June 15th, the employee's vacation leave balance is two hundred sixty hours.
• The employee accrues ten hours monthly.
• The employee's anniversary date is October 16th.
Because the employee will not be able to use leave from June 15th through December 15th the employee files a statement of necessity asking to defer the leave accrued during this time. This deferred leave will not be lost as long as the employee uses the deferred hours by their next anniversary date (October 16th of the following year).
The twenty hours of excess vacation leave the employee had on June 15th are not covered by the statement of necessity.
AMENDATORY SECTION
WAC 357-58-175 Can an employer authorize lump sum vacation leave or accelerate vacation leave accrual rates to support the recruitment and/or retention of an incumbent or candidate for a WMS position? In addition to the vacation leave accruals as provided in WAC 357-31-165, an employer may authorize additional vacation leave as follows to support the recruitment and/or retention of an incumbent or candidate for a specific WMS position:
(1) Employers may authorize an accelerated accrual rate for an incumbent or candidate; and/or
(2) Employers may authorize a lump sum accrual of up to eighty hours of vacation leave for the incumbent or candidate.
Vacation leave accrued under this section must be used in accordance with the leave provisions of chapter 357-31 WAC ((and cannot be used until the employee has completed six continuous months of service)).
REPEALER
WAC 357-31-190 When can an employee start to use accrued vacation leave?An employee (part-time or full-time) must complete six months of continuous state employment before they can use vacation leave. The only exception to the six-month requirement is that during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium if an employee's monthly full-time equivalent base salary is two thousand five hundred dollars or less and the employee's office or institution enacts a temporary layoff as described in chapter 32, Laws of 2010, the employee can use accrued vacation leave.
ITEM #3 – Performance Recognition Pay
Staff note: During the civil service reform in 2005, compensation was one of the most significant issues of concern. Managers and employees strongly felt that the existing compensation system at the time was inflexible, did not adequately support specific position needs, and especially, did not recognize employee performance. As a result, the Performance Management Confirmation (PMC) Program was created to give performance recognition payments, performance-based leave and performance-based layoff.
In June 2016 the SHR revised the PMC programwhich implemented a pilot program for PMC, also known as Choice Performance. The main change was the discontinuation of performance recognition pay. Therefore, rules were amended to remove performance recognition pay. Given the above and the Director not granting approval for this type of pay due to our states current economic situation; we are proposing to repeal WACs 357-28-295, 357-28-300, 357-58-135 and 357-58-140.
We are proposing permanent adoption at the August 23, 2017 director’s meeting.
REPEALER
WAC 357-28-295 Who may provide performance recognition pay to employees? The director may authorize additional pay to individuals or groups of employees on a lump sum basis to recognize outstanding accomplishments or the achievement of predefined work goals by individual employees or units. Any additional pay granted under this section is a premium that is not part of base salary.
WAC 357-28-300 Is there a limit to the amount an employee can receive for performance recognition pay? Over an annual period, performance recognition pay may not exceed fifteen percent of an employee's annual base salary unless approved by the director.
WAC 357-58-135 Who can provide lump sum performance recognition payment to employees? The director may provide additional pay to employees on a lump sum basis. Such payment to an individual or group of employees is to recognize outstanding performance or the achievement of predefined work goals. Any pay granted under this section is a premium that is not part of the base salary.
WAC 357-58-140 Is there a limit to the amount an employee can receive for performance recognition pay? Over an annual period, performance recognition pay may not exceed fifteen percent of an employee's annual base salary unless approved by the director.
ITEM #4 – WMS Lump Sum for Recruitment and Retention
Staff note: Currently, WMS employees may only receive performance recognition leave where WGS employees may receive additional pay to support recruitment and retention. This new rule proposal would allow employers, with Director approval to offer additional pay to WMS employees to support recruitment and/or retention. This will allow OFM SHR to accurately report pay used for this reason rather than the use of performance recognition payments.
We are proposing permanent adoption at the August 23, 2017 director’s meeting.
NEW SECTION
WAC 357-58-XXX Can an employer authorize additional pay to support recruitment and/or retention of a WMS position?
(1) With Director approval, employers may authorize additional pay to support the recruitment or retention of the incumbent or candidate for a specific WMS position. At the employer's discretion, up to a fifteen percent premium may be added to the employee's base salary or paid on a lump sum basis as described in subsection (2). An employee may not receive more than fifteen percent of his/her annual base salary over a twelve-month period under the provisions of this section.
(2) In advance of authorizing a lump sum recruitment or retention payment, employers must establish express conditions in writing for the payment. The conditions must include a specified period of employment or continued employment. Any lump sum payment under this section must only be made after services have been rendered in accordance with conditions established by the employer and become part of the incumbent's annual compensation for work performed prior to receipt of any funds.
(3) Any additional pay granted under this section is a premium that is not part of base salary. The premium is to be used only as long as the circumstances it is based on are in effect.
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