H. B. 2446
(By Delegates Smirl and Hubbard)
[Introduced February 22, 2001; 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, two thousand one, 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.