H. B. 2426


(By Delegates Smirl and Hubbard)
[Introduced January 27, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Education then 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 shall receive for the same employment at the same pay grade, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, 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 the 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-eight, and each fiscal year thereafter, each classified employee with three or more years of experience shall receive an annual salary increase equal to fifty dollars times the employee's years of experience: Provided, That the annual salary increase may not exceed the amount granted for the maximum of twenty years of experience. These incremental increases are in lieu of any salary increase received pursuant to section two, article five, chapter five of this code; 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; 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 section two, article five, chapter five of this code. On the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, 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 three 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 salary adjustments in accordance with policies established by the board: Provided, That funds for the increases and adjustments 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 may be construed to prohibit prohibits promotion of any classified employee to a job title carrying a higher pay grade if 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 three 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.