H. B. 2294


(By Delegates Compton, Williams, Fragale and Dempsey)
[Introduced February 26, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]




A BILL to amend article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section seven-b, relating to the calculation of seniority for professional employees of county boards of education.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section seven-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.

§18A-4-7b. Calculation of seniority for professional personnel.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, seniority for professional personnel as defined in the section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of the code shall be calculated pursuant to the provisions of section seven-a of this article as well as the following:
(a) A professional employee shall begin to accrue seniority upon commencement of his or her duties.
(b) An employee shall receive seniority credit for each day he or she is professionally employed regardless of whether he or she receives pay for that day: Provided, That no employee may receive seniority credit for any day the employee is suspended without pay pursuant to section eight, article two of this chapter, nor for any day the employee is on an approved leave of absence for any reason not related to the employee's medical condition.
(c) Any professional employee whose employment with a county board of education is terminated either voluntarily or through a reduction-in-force shall, upon reemployment with the same board of education in a regular full-time position, receive credit for all seniority previously accumulated with the board of education at the date the employee's employment was terminated.
(d) Any professional employee employed for a full employment term but in a part-time position shall receive seniority credit for each day of employment prorated to the proportion of a full employment day the employee is required to work: Provided, That nothing herein allows a regular full-time employee to be credited with less than a full day of seniority credit for each day he or she is employed by the board: Provided, however, That this calculation of seniority for part-time professional personnel is prospective and does not reduce any seniority credit accumulated by any employee prior to the effective date of this statute.


NOTE: The purpose of the bill is to clarify matters related to the calculation of seniority for professional employees by providing that (a) seniority begins on the date the employee commences performance of his or her duties, (b) employees receive seniority for days they are absent so long as their employment is not suspended, (c) credit for earned seniority will be reinstated to employees who are reemployed by county boards so long as they were not discharged for cause, and (d) providing that prospectively persons employed on a part-time basis receive seniority credit in proportion to the percentage of the full employment day.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.