H. B. 4107
(By Delegates Smirl and Hubbard)
[Introduced Janaury 28, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections one and two, article five,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section five, article nine, chapter eighteen-b of said code,
all relating to incremental salary increase for state
employees; including classified employees of higher
education governing boards as eligible employees; increasing
maximum number of years of service that may be used in
calculating increase; and granting one-time salary increase
to certain classified employees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and two, article five, chapter five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section five, article
nine, chapter eighteen-b, be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR,
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; BOARD
OF PUBLIC WORKS; MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS,
OFFICES, PROGRAMS, ETC.
ARTICLE 5. SALARY INCREASE FOR STATE EMPLOYEES.
§5-5-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article:
(1)(A) "Eligible employee" means any regular full-time
employee of the state or any spending unit thereof who is
eligible for membership in any state retirement system of the
state of West Virginia or other retirement plan authorized by the
state. Provided, That the mandatory salary increase required by
this article shall not apply to
(B) "Eligible employee" does not include any elected or
appointed officer of the state, any faculty employee at public
institutions of higher learning or any employee of the state
whose compensation is fixed by statute or by statutory schedule,
except that the following are eligible employees:
(i) Clerks, deputy clerks and magistrate assistants of
magistrate courts; shall be eligible for the incremental salary
increases provided in this article and with such increases to be
allowable in addition to the maximum salaries and compensation
for such employee offices under the magistrate court system
statutes of article one, chapter fifty of the code), nor shall
this article be construed to mandate an increase in the salary of any elected or appointed officer of the states; and
(ii) Classified employees, as defined in section two,
article nine, chapter eighteen-b of this code.
(2) "Years of service" means full years of totaled service
as an employee of the state of West Virginia; and
(3) "Spending unit" means any state office, department,
agency, board, commission, institution, bureau or other
designated body authorized to hire employees.
§5-5-2. Granting incremental salary increases based on years of
service.
Effective for the fiscal year beginning the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, Every eligible
employee with three or more years of service shall receive an
annual salary increase equal to fifty dollars times the
employees' years of service, not to exceed twenty thirty years
of service. In each fiscal year thereafter and On the first day
of July, each eligible employee shall receive an annual increment
increase of fifty dollars for that fiscal year. Every employee
becoming newly eligible as a result of meeting the three years of
service minimum requirement on the first day of July in any
fiscal year subsequent to one thousand nine hundred ninety-six,
is entitled to the annual salary increase equal to fifty dollars
times the employees' years of service, where he or she has not in
a previous fiscal year received the benefit of an increment
computation; and shall receive a single annual increment increase thereafter of fifty dollars for each subsequent fiscal year.
These incremental increases shall be are in addition to any
across-the-board, cost-of-living or percentage salary increases
which may be granted in any fiscal year by the Legislature. This
article shall does not be construed to prohibit other pay
increases based on merit, seniority, promotion or other reason,
if funds are available for the other pay increases: Provided,
That the executive head of each spending unit shall first grant
the mandated increase in compensation in this section to all
eligible employees prior to the consideration of any increases
based on merit, seniority, promotion or other reason.
CHAPTER 18B. HIGHER EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 9. CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE SALARY SCHEDULE AND
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM.
§18B-9-5. Classified employee salary.
(a) Each classified employee who is employed by a governing
board on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-three, shall receive for the same employment at the same
pay grade during the fiscal year commencing on such date and
thereafter, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature
therefor, and in addition to the experience increment increase
provided for in subsection (b) of this section two, article five,
chapter five of this code, a monthly salary which is at least one
hundred twenty-five dollars more than the final base monthly
salary paid such classified employee for the fiscal year commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-two, to be paid in equal installments within the regular
pay periods and to be prorated for classified employees working
less than thirty-seven and one-half hours per week.
(b) Commencing with the fiscal year beginning on the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, and each
fiscal year thereafter, each classified employee with three or
more years of experience shall receive an annual salary increase
equal to thirty-six dollars times the employee's years of
experience: Provided, That such annual salary increase shall not
exceed the amount granted for the maximum of twenty years of
experience. These incremental increases shall be in lieu of any
salary increase received pursuant to section two, article five,
chapter five of this code; shall be in addition to any across- the-board, cost-of-living or percentage salary increases which
may be granted in any fiscal year by the Legislature; and shall
be paid in like manner as the annual payment to eligible state
employees of the incremental salary increases based on years of
service under the provisions of said section.
On the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, each classified employee shall receive a one-time
lump-sum increase in an amount equal to the difference between:
(1) The total amount of the incremental increases each
received on the first day of July of the preceding two years
under the previous provisions of this subsection; and
(2) The amount each would have received if the increases had
been calculated on the basis of fifty dollars for each year of
service instead of thirty-six dollars.
(c) Any classified employee may receive merit increases
and/or or salary adjustments, or both, in accordance with
policies established by the board: Provided, That funds for such
the increases and/or or adjustments, or both, shall be
distributed in accordance with rules of the appropriate governing
board and shall be available to all state institutions of higher
education on an equitable basis.
(d) The current annual salary of any classified employee may
not be reduced by the provisions of this article nor by any other
action inconsistent with the provisions of this article, and
nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit prohibits
promotion of any classified employee to a job title carrying a
higher pay grade if such the promotion is in accordance with the
provisions of this article and the personnel classification
system established by the appropriate governing board.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include classified
employees of higher education governing boards in the code
section authorizing incremental salary increases for state
employees.
The bill also grants a one-time salary increase to certain
classified employees to compensate them for the difference in
treatment over the last two years.
The bill changes from twenty to thirty the number of
allowable years of service used in calculating the increment
increase.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.