Assembly Bill No. 537–Committee on
Government Affairs

 

March 24, 2003

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Government Affairs

 

SUMMARY—Revises provisions regarding state personnel. (BDR 23‑1155)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: No.

                           Effect on the State: Yes.

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to the state personnel system; requiring certain employees to be paid for a regularly scheduled shift that falls on a holiday; requiring the Department of Personnel to adopt regulations authorizing the transfer of certain hours of the accrued sick leave of a retiring employee to an account for catastrophic leave established by the appointing authority; authorizing the use of an arbitrator for certain grievances filed by an employee; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1. NRS 284.180 is hereby amended to read as follows:

1-2  284.180  1.  The Legislature declares that since uniform salary

1-3  and wage rates and classifications are necessary for an effective and

1-4  efficient personnel system, the pay plan must set the official rates

1-5  applicable to all positions in the classified service, but the

1-6  establishment of the pay plan in no way limits the authority of the

1-7  Legislature relative to budgeted appropriations for salary and wage

1-8  expenditures.

1-9  2.  Credit for overtime work directed or approved by the head

1-10  of an agency or his representative must be earned at the rate of time

1-11  and one-half, except for those employees described in NRS 284.148.

2-1  3.  Except as otherwise provided in subsections 4, 6, 7 and 9,

2-2  overtime is considered time worked in excess of:

2-3  (a) Eight hours in 1 calendar day;

2-4  (b) Eight hours in any 16-hour period; or

2-5  (c) A 40-hour week.

2-6  4.  Firemen who choose and are approved for a 24-hour shift

2-7  shall be deemed to work an average of 56 hours per week and 2,912

2-8  hours per year, regardless of the actual number of hours worked or

2-9  on paid leave during any biweekly pay period. A fireman so

2-10  assigned is entitled to receive 1/26 of his annual salary for each

2-11  biweekly pay period. In addition, overtime must be considered time

2-12  worked in excess of:

2-13      (a) Twenty-four hours in one scheduled shift; or

2-14      (b) Fifty-three hours average per week during one work period

2-15  for those hours worked or on paid leave.

2-16  The appointing authority shall designate annually the length of the

2-17  work period to be used in determining the work schedules for such

2-18  firemen. In addition to the regular amount paid such a fireman for

2-19  the deemed average of 56 hours per week, he is entitled to payment

2-20  for the hours which comprise the difference between the 56-hour

2-21  average and the overtime threshold of 53 hours average at a rate

2-22  which will result in the equivalent of overtime payment for those

2-23  hours.

2-24      5.  The Director, with the approval of the Commission, shall

2-25  adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of subsection 4.

2-26      6.  For employees who choose and are approved for a variable

2-27  workday, overtime will be considered only after working 40 hours

2-28  in 1 week.

2-29      7.  Employees who are eligible under the Fair Labor Standards

2-30  Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq., to work a variable 80-hour

2-31  work schedule within a biweekly pay period and who choose and

2-32  are approved for such a work schedule will be considered eligible

2-33  for overtime only after working 80 hours biweekly, except those

2-34  eligible employees who are approved for overtime in excess of one

2-35  scheduled shift of 8 or more hours per day.

2-36      8.  An agency may experiment with innovative workweeks

2-37  upon the approval of the head of the agency and after majority

2-38  consent of the affected employees. The affected employees are

2-39  eligible for overtime only after working 40 hours in a workweek.

2-40      9.  This section does not supersede or conflict with existing

2-41  contracts of employment for employees hired to work 24 hours a

2-42  day in a home setting. Any future classification in which an

2-43  employee will be required to work 24 hours a day in a home setting

2-44  must be approved in advance by the Commission.

3-1  10.  All overtime must be approved in advance by the

3-2  appointing authority or his designee. No officer or employee, other

3-3  than a director of a department or the chairman of a board,

3-4  commission or similar body, may authorize overtime for himself.

3-5  The chairman of a board, commission or similar body must approve

3-6  in advance all overtime worked by members of the board,

3-7  commission or similar body.

3-8  11.  The Budget Division of the Department of Administration

3-9  shall review all overtime worked by employees of the Executive

3-10  Department to ensure that overtime is held to a minimum. The

3-11  Budget Division shall report quarterly to the State Board of

3-12  Examiners the amount of overtime worked in the quarter within the

3-13  various agencies of the State.

3-14      12.  A full-time employee who is not subject to the provisions

3-15  of NRS 284.148 is entitled to receive his normal rate of pay or an

3-16  equivalent amount of compensatory time for all his regularly

3-17  scheduled hours of employment on a legal holiday if:

3-18      (a) The legal holiday falls upon a regularly scheduled workday

3-19  of the employee;

3-20      (b) The regularly scheduled workday of the employee is more

3-21  than 8 hours;

3-22      (c) The employee is in paid status during any portion of his

3-23  shift immediately preceding the holiday; and

3-24      (d) The employee does not work any part of his regularly

3-25  scheduled workday on that holiday.

3-26      13.  As used in this section, “normal rate of pay” means the

3-27  rate set forth in the pay plan adopted pursuant to NRS 284.175 for

3-28  the class of position in which the employee is employed plus any

3-29  additional adjustment to that rate that is prescribed by regulation

3-30  and has been approved for the employee.

3-31      Sec. 2.  NRS 284.355 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-32      284.355  1.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, all

3-33  employees in the public service, whether in the classified or

3-34  unclassified service, are entitled to sick and disability leave with pay

3-35  of 1 1/4 working days for each month of service, which may be

3-36  cumulative from year to year. After an employee has accumulated

3-37  90 working days of sick leave, the amount of additional unused sick

3-38  leave which he is entitled to carry forward from 1 year to the next is

3-39  limited to one-half of the unused sick leave accrued during that year,

3-40  but the Department may by regulation provide for subsequent use of

3-41  unused sick leave accrued but not carried forward because of this

3-42  limitation in cases where the employee is suffering from a long-term

3-43  or chronic illness and has used all sick leave otherwise available to

3-44  him.

4-1  2.  Upon the retirement of an employee, his termination through

4-2  no fault of his own or his death while in public employment, the

4-3  employee or his beneficiaries are entitled to payment:

4-4  (a) For his unused sick leave in excess of 30 days, exclusive of

4-5  any unused sick leave accrued but not carried forward, according to

4-6  his number of years of public service, except service with a political

4-7  subdivision of the State, as follows:

4-8       (1) For 10 years of service or more but less than 15 years, not

4-9  more than $2,500.

4-10          (2) For 15 years of service or more but less than 20 years, not

4-11  more than $4,000.

4-12          (3) For 20 years of service or more but less than 25 years, not

4-13  more than $6,000.

4-14          (4) For 25 years of service, not more than $8,000.

4-15      (b) For his unused sick leave accrued but not carried forward, an

4-16  amount equal to one-half of the sum of:

4-17          (1) His hours of unused sick leave accrued but not carried

4-18  forward; and

4-19          (2) An additional 120 hours.

4-20      3.  The Department may by regulation provide for additional

4-21  sick and disability leave for long-term employees and for prorated

4-22  sick and disability leave for part-time employees.

4-23      4.  The Department shall, by regulation, provide for the

4-24  transfer of one-half of the portion of unused sick leave of a

4-25  retiring employee for which the employee is not entitled to

4-26  payment pursuant to subsection 2 to the account for catastrophic

4-27  leave, if any, established by the relevant appointing authority. The

4-28  transfer must be made in the name of the retiring employee. Not

4-29  more than 120 hours of unused sick leave may be transferred

4-30  pursuant to this subsection.

4-31      5.  An employee entitled to payment for unused sick leave

4-32  pursuant to subsection 2 may elect to receive the payment in any

4-33  one or more of the following forms:

4-34      (a) A lump-sum payment.

4-35      (b) An advanced payment of the premiums or contributions for

4-36  insurance coverage for which he is otherwise eligible pursuant to

4-37  chapter 287 of NRS. If the insurance coverage is terminated and the

4-38  money advanced for premiums or contributions pursuant to this

4-39  subsection exceeds the amount which is payable for premiums or

4-40  contributions for the period for which the former employee was

4-41  actually covered, the unused portion of the advanced payment must

4-42  be paid promptly to the former employee or, if he is deceased, to his

4-43  beneficiary.

4-44      (c) The purchase of additional retirement credit, if he is

4-45  otherwise eligible pursuant to chapter 286 of NRS.

5-1  [5.] 6.  Officers and members of the faculty of the University

5-2  and Community College System of Nevada are entitled to sick and

5-3  disability leave as provided by the regulations adopted pursuant to

5-4  subsection 2 of NRS 284.345.

5-5  [6.] 7.  The Department may by regulation provide policies

5-6  concerning employees with mental or emotional disorders which:

5-7  (a) Use a liberal approach to the granting of sick leave or leave

5-8  without pay to such an employee if it is necessary for him to be

5-9  absent for treatment or temporary hospitalization.

5-10      (b) Provide for the retention of the job of such an employee for a

5-11  reasonable period of absence, and if an extended absence

5-12  necessitates separation or retirement, provide for the reemployment

5-13  of such an employee if at all possible after recovery.

5-14      (c) Protect employee benefits, including, without limitation,

5-15  retirement, life insurance and health benefits.

5-16      [7.] 8.  The Director shall establish by regulation a schedule for

5-17  the accrual of sick leave for employees who regularly work more

5-18  than 40 hours per week or 80 hours biweekly. The schedule must

5-19  provide for the accrual of sick leave at the same rate proportionately

5-20  as employees who work a 40-hour week accrue sick leave.

5-21      [8.] 9.  The Department may investigate any instance in which

5-22  it believes that an employee has taken sick or disability leave to

5-23  which he was not entitled. If, after notice to the employee and a

5-24  hearing, the Commission determines that he has taken sick or

5-25  disability leave to which he was not entitled, the Commission may

5-26  order the forfeiture of all or part of his accrued sick leave.

5-27      Sec. 3.  NRS 284.3621 is hereby amended to read as follows:

5-28      284.3621  1.  Each appointing authority may establish an

5-29  account for catastrophic leave.

5-30      2.  The limitations on the transfer of accrued sick leave

5-31  provided in this section do not apply to the transfer of accrued sick

5-32  leave to an account for catastrophic leave pursuant to regulations

5-33  adopted in accordance with subsection 4 of NRS 284.355.

5-34      3.  An employee of an appointing authority may request, in

5-35  writing, that a specified number of hours of his accrued annual or

5-36  sick leave be transferred from his account to the account for

5-37  catastrophic leave.

5-38      [3.] 4.  An employee may not transfer to the account for

5-39  catastrophic leave any hours of sick leave if the balance in his

5-40  account after the transfer is less than 240 hours.

5-41      [4.] 5.  The maximum number of hours which may be

5-42  transferred by an employee in any 1 calendar year is 120. The

5-43  minimum number of hours which may be transferred in any 1

5-44  calendar year is 8.

6-1  [5.] 6.  An employee may transfer hours to any such account

6-2  for catastrophic leave for use by a particular employee in any branch

6-3  of State Government who is eligible to receive them. A record of the

6-4  source and number of hours of leave transferred among different

6-5  appointing authorities for this purpose and the date of the transfer

6-6  must be maintained by each appointing authority. Leave transferred

6-7  in excess of the amount approved for use by a particular employee

6-8  must be returned to the employee’s account from which it

6-9  originated. The Commission shall, by regulation, determine the

6-10  procedure to return excess leave.

6-11      [6.] 7.  Any hours of annual or sick leave which are transferred

6-12  from any employee’s account to the account for catastrophic leave

6-13  and not designated for use by a particular employee may not be

6-14  returned or restored to the originating employee. This subsection

6-15  does not prevent the employee from receiving leave pursuant to

6-16  NRS 284.3622.

6-17      Sec. 4.  NRS 284.384 is hereby amended to read as follows:

6-18      284.384  1.  The Director shall propose, and the Commission

6-19  shall adopt, regulations which provide for the adjustment of

6-20  grievances for which a hearing is not provided by NRS 284.165,

6-21  284.245, 284.3629, 284.376 or 284.390. Any grievance for which a

6-22  hearing is not provided by NRS 284.165, 284.245, 284.3629,

6-23  284.376 or 284.390 is subject to adjustment pursuant to this section.

6-24      2.  The regulations must provide procedures for:

6-25      (a) Consideration and adjustment of the grievance within the

6-26  agency in which it arose.

6-27      (b) Submission of the grievance by the employee to the

6-28  Employee-Management Committee or an arbitrator for a final

6-29  decision if the employee is still dissatisfied with the resolution of

6-30  the dispute.

6-31      3.  The regulations must include provisions for:

6-32      (a) Submitting each proposed resolution of a dispute which has a

6-33  fiscal effect to the Budget Division of the Department of

6-34  Administration for a determination by that Division whether the

6-35  resolution is feasible on the basis of its fiscal effects; and

6-36      (b) Making the resolution binding.

6-37      4.  Any grievance which is subject to adjustment pursuant to

6-38  this section may be [appealed] submitted by the employee to the

6-39  Employee-Management Committee or an arbitrator for a final

6-40  decision. If a grievance is submitted to an arbitrator:

6-41      (a) The arbitrator shall assess his costs to the losing party,

6-42  unless the arbitrator determines that a different assessment of

6-43  costs is more equitable; and

6-44      (b) Each party shall pay its own costs of the preparation and

6-45  presentation of its case.

7-1  5.  The employee may represent himself at any hearing

7-2  regarding a grievance which is subject to adjustment pursuant to this

7-3  section or be represented by an attorney or other person of the

7-4  employee’s own choosing.

7-5  6.  The Commission shall appoint an arbitration panel whose

7-6  members are authorized to make final decisions on grievances that

7-7  are submitted to an arbitrator pursuant to this section. To appoint

7-8  such a panel, the Commission shall request from the American

7-9  Arbitration Association or the Federal Mediation and Conciliation

7-10  Service a list of seven potential arbitrators. If the Commission and

7-11  the organizations that represent state employees in this state are

7-12  unable to agree upon which arbitration service to use, the Federal

7-13  Mediation and Conciliation Service must be used.

7-14      7.  The Commission shall hold a hearing at which the

7-15  Commission will hear objections to any of the seven potential

7-16  arbitrators. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Commission

7-17  shall appoint three arbitrators to serve as members of an

7-18  arbitration panel for terms of 1 year, and one alternate arbitrator

7-19  to serve on the panel if a vacancy arises.

7-20      8.  An arbitration panel must be reappointed in the same

7-21  manner as specified in subsections 6 and 7 for original

7-22  appointments.

7-23      9.  If a grievance is submitted to the arbitration panel, the

7-24  employee who submitted the grievance and the appointing

7-25  authority of the employee shall select the arbitrator who will hear

7-26  the grievance. The parties shall select an arbitrator from the panel

7-27  by alternately striking one name until the name of only one

7-28  arbitrator remains. The remaining arbitrator shall hear the

7-29  grievance in question. The employee shall strike the first name.

7-30      10.  A hearing held pursuant to this section must be held in

7-31  the county in which the employee resides, unless the employee

7-32  agrees to a different location.

7-33      11.  As used in this section, “grievance” means an act, omission

7-34  or occurrence which an employee who has attained permanent status

7-35  feels constitutes an injustice relating to any condition arising out of

7-36  the relationship between an employer and an employee, including,

7-37  but not limited to, compensation, working hours, working

7-38  conditions, membership in an organization of employees or the

7-39  interpretation of any law, regulation or disagreement.

7-40      Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003.

 

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