1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to employment; requiring the commissioner of 
  1.3             natural resources to maintain a trained force of 
  1.4             firefighters; modifying the definition of public 
  1.5             employee; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 
  1.6             88.12, by adding a subdivision; and 179A.03, 
  1.7             subdivision 14. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 88.12, is 
  1.10  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 3.  [TRAINED FIREFIGHTERS.] The commissioner shall 
  1.12  maintain a trained force of firefighters sufficient to handle 
  1.13  the annual demand of the Minnesota fire season.  The members of 
  1.14  this force are not persons temporarily employed in emergencies 
  1.15  for the purposes of subdivision 1.  Nothing in this section 
  1.16  prohibits the commissioner from hiring firefighters pursuant to 
  1.17  subdivision 1 in addition to the members of this force. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 179A.03, 
  1.19  subdivision 14, is amended to read: 
  1.20     Subd. 14.  [PUBLIC EMPLOYEE.] "Public employee" or 
  1.21  "employee" means any person appointed or employed by a public 
  1.22  employer except:  
  1.23     (a) elected public officials; 
  1.24     (b) election officers; 
  1.25     (c) commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Minnesota 
  1.26  national guard; 
  2.1      (d) emergency employees who are employed for emergency work 
  2.2   caused by natural disaster; 
  2.3      (e) part-time employees whose service does not exceed the 
  2.4   lesser of 14 hours per week or 35 percent of the normal work 
  2.5   week in the employee's appropriate unit; 
  2.6      (f) employees whose positions are basically temporary or 
  2.7   seasonal in character and:  (1) are not for more than 67 working 
  2.8   days in any calendar year; or (2) are not for more than 100 
  2.9   working days in any calendar year and the employees are under 
  2.10  the age of 22, are full-time students enrolled in a nonprofit or 
  2.11  public educational institution prior to being hired by the 
  2.12  employer, and have indicated, either in an application for 
  2.13  employment or by being enrolled at an educational institution 
  2.14  for the next academic year or term, an intention to continue as 
  2.15  students during or after their temporary employment; 
  2.16     (g) employees providing services for not more than two 
  2.17  consecutive quarters to the board of trustees of the Minnesota 
  2.18  state colleges and universities under the terms of a 
  2.19  professional or technical services contract as defined in 
  2.20  section 16C.08, subdivision 1; 
  2.21     (h) employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section 
  2.22  179.35, subdivision 3; 
  2.23     (i) full-time undergraduate students employed by the school 
  2.24  which they attend under a work-study program or in connection 
  2.25  with the receipt of financial aid, irrespective of number of 
  2.26  hours of service per week; 
  2.27     (j) an individual who is employed for less than 300 hours 
  2.28  in a fiscal year as an instructor in an adult vocational 
  2.29  education program; 
  2.30     (k) an individual hired by a school district or the board 
  2.31  of trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities to 
  2.32  teach one course for up to four credits for one quarter in a 
  2.33  year.  
  2.34     The following individuals are public employees regardless 
  2.35  of the exclusions of clauses (e) and (f):  
  2.36     (1) An employee hired by a school district or the board of 
  3.1   trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities except 
  3.2   at the university established in section 136F.13 or for 
  3.3   community services or community education instruction offered on 
  3.4   a noncredit basis:  (i) to replace an absent teacher or faculty 
  3.5   member who is a public employee, where the replacement employee 
  3.6   is employed more than 30 working days as a replacement for that 
  3.7   teacher or faculty member; or (ii) to take a teaching position 
  3.8   created due to increased enrollment, curriculum expansion, 
  3.9   courses which are a part of the curriculum whether offered 
  3.10  annually or not, or other appropriate reasons; and 
  3.11     (2) An employee hired for a position under clause (f)(1) if 
  3.12  that same position has already been filled under clause (f)(1) 
  3.13  in the same calendar year and the cumulative number of days 
  3.14  worked in that same position by all employees exceeds 67 
  3.15  calendar days in that year.  For the purpose of this paragraph, 
  3.16  "same position" includes a substantially equivalent position if 
  3.17  it is not the same position solely due to a change in the 
  3.18  classification or title of the position. 
  3.19     Notwithstanding clauses (d), (e), and (f), firefighters 
  3.20  employed pursuant to section 88.12, subdivision 3, are public 
  3.21  employees and are able to organize and affiliate with any 
  3.22  recognized labor organization.