Senate Bill No. 418

(By Senator Hunter, Oliverio, Mitchell, Ball, Redd, Dittmar, Dawson and Prezioso)

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[Introduced February 7, 2000; referred to the Committee on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article nine, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing a salary increase for classified higher education employees.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article nine, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
 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) (c) of this section, 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, two thousand, each classified employee shall receive for the same employment at the same pay grade, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, in addition to the experience increment increase provided for in subsection (c) of this section, and in addition to any salary increase for the purpose of meeting or attempting to meet the salary schedule in section three of this article, a monthly salary which is at least sixty-three 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-nine, 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) (c) 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.
(c) (d) 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) (e) 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 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 provide a salary increase for classified higher education employees.

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