Senate Bill No. 199

(By Senator Hunter, Mitchell, Redd and Bailey)

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[Introduced January 26, 2000; referred to the Committee on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article six-a, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-a; and to amend and reenact section four of said article, all relating to providing an arbitration option for state employees under the state employees' grievance process; and providing findings.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six-a, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-a, and that section four of said article be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE FOR STATE EMPLOYEES.

§29-6A-1a. Legislative findings.
(a) The Legislature created the West Virginia education employees grievance board in the year one thousand nine hundred eighty-five. In the year one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, the Legislature enlarged the board's jurisdiction by enacting a grievance procedure for state employees.
(b) The board's mission statement is to equitably, consistently and quickly resolve employment disputes between employees and county board's of education, higher education institutions, and state agencies so that good morale may be maintained, effective job performance may be enhanced and the citizens of this state may be better served.
(c) The Legislature finds that in response to the concern of parties over rising costs and delays in deciding cases, the citizens of our state would be well served by the creation of an alternative method of dispute resolution at level four of the grievance process.
(d) The Legislature finds that many states utilize the services of the American arbitration association in resolving employee grievances.
(e) The Legislature finds that the use of the expedited labor rules of the American arbitration association will enhance the ability of the board to accomplish its mission statement. These procedures are intended to provide a simple, cost effective, expeditious and fair process to resolve employee grievances in the shortest amount of time.
§29-6A-4. Procedural levels and procedure at each level.
(a) Level one.
Within ten days following the occurrence of the event upon which the grievance is based, or within ten days of the date on which the event became known to the grievant, or within ten days of the most recent occurrence of a continuing practice giving rise to a grievance, the grievant or the designated representative, or both, may file a written grievance with the immediate supervisor of the grievant. At the request of the grievant or the immediate supervisor, an informal conference shall be held to discuss the grievance within three days of the receipt of the written grievance. The immediate supervisor shall issue a written decision within six days of the receipt of the written grievance. If a grievance alleges discrimination or retaliation by the immediate supervisor of the grievant, the level one filing may be waived by the grievant and the grievance may be initiated at level two with the administrator or his or her designee, within the time limits set forth in this subsection for filing a grievance at level one. A meeting may be held to discuss the issues in dispute, but the meeting is not required.
(b) Level two.
Within five days of receiving the decision of the immediate supervisor, the grievant may file a written appeal to the administrator of the grievant's work location, facility, area office, or other appropriate subdivision of the department, board, commission or agency. The administrator or his or her designee shall hold a conference within five days of the receipt of the appeal and issue a written decision upon the appeal within five days of the conference.
(c) Level three.
Within five days of receiving the decision of the administrator of the grievant's work location, facility, area office, or other appropriate subdivision of the department, board, commission or agency, the grievant may file a written appeal of the decision with the chief administrator of the grievant's employing department, board, commission or agency. A copy of the appeal and the level two decision shall be served upon the director of the division of personnel by the grievant.
The chief administrator or his or her designee shall hold a hearing in accordance with section six of this article within seven days of receiving the appeal. The director of the division of personnel or his or her designee may appear at the hearing and submit oral or written evidence upon the matters in the hearing.
The chief administrator or his or her designee shall issue a written decision affirming, modifying or reversing the level two decision within five days of the hearing.
(d) Level four.
(1) If the grievant is not satisfied with the action taken by the chief administrator or his or her designee, within five days of the written decision the grievant may request, in writing, on a form furnished by the employer, that the grievance be submitted to a hearing examiner as provided for in section five of this article or that the grievance be submitted to arbitration as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with section six of this article within fifteen days following the request for the hearing: Provided, That the hearing may be held within thirty days following the request, or within a time that is mutually agreed upon by the parties, if the hearing examiner gives reasonable cause, in writing, as to the necessity for the delay. A copy of the appeal shall be served by the grievant upon the director of the division of personnel. The director of the division of personnel, or his or her designee, may appear at the hearing and submit oral or written evidence upon the matters in the hearing.
(2) Within thirty days following the hearing, the hearing examiner shall render a decision in writing to all parties setting forth findings and conclusions on the issues submitted. Subject to the provisions of section seven of this article, the decision of the hearing examiner is final upon the parties and is enforceable in circuit court.
(3) Instead of submitting the grievance to a hearing examiner, the grievant may, within five days of the level three decision, notify the West Virginia division of personnel that the grievant wishes to present the matter to an arbitrator from the American arbitration association. The division of personnel shall notify the employer and the American arbitration association of the grievant's request.
The grievance shall then be heard and decided by the most expeditious procedure offered by the American arbitration association. Should the grievant prevail in these proceedings the employer shall reimburse the grievant all reasonable costs paid by the grievant to the American arbitration association.
(e) Expedited grievance process.
(1) A grievance involving suspension without pay, demotion or dismissal or loss of wages may be initiated at level two with the administrator of the grievant's work location, facility, area office, or other appropriate subdivision of the department, board, commission or agency.
(2) An employee may grieve a final action of the employer involving a dismissal, demotion or suspension exceeding twenty days directly to the hearing examiner. The expedited grievance shall be in writing and shall be filed within ten days of the date of the final action with the chief administrator and the director of the division of personnel.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide an arbitration option for state employees under the state employees' grievance process.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

§29-6A-1a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.