1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to courts; authorizing court reporters in 
  1.3             certain judicial districts to organize under the 
  1.4             Public Employment Labor Relations Act; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, sections 179A.03, 
  1.6             subdivision 14; and 179A.101, subdivisions 1 and 2. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  1.9   179A.03, subdivision 14, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 14.  [PUBLIC EMPLOYEE OR EMPLOYEE.] "Public employee" 
  1.11  or "employee" means any person appointed or employed by a public 
  1.12  employer except:  
  1.13     (a) elected public officials; 
  1.14     (b) election officers; 
  1.15     (c) commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Minnesota 
  1.16  national guard; 
  1.17     (d) emergency employees who are employed for emergency work 
  1.18  caused by natural disaster; 
  1.19     (e) part-time employees whose service does not exceed the 
  1.20  lesser of 14 hours per week or 35 percent of the normal work 
  1.21  week in the employee's appropriate unit; 
  1.22     (f) employees whose positions are basically temporary or 
  1.23  seasonal in character and:  (1) are not for more than 67 working 
  1.24  days in any calendar year; or (2) are not for more than 100 
  1.25  working days in any calendar year and the employees are under 
  1.26  the age of 22, are full-time students enrolled in a nonprofit or 
  2.1   public educational institution prior to being hired by the 
  2.2   employer, and have indicated, either in an application for 
  2.3   employment or by being enrolled at an educational institution 
  2.4   for the next academic year or term, an intention to continue as 
  2.5   students during or after their temporary employment; 
  2.6      (g) employees providing services for not more than two 
  2.7   consecutive quarters to the board of trustees of the Minnesota 
  2.8   state colleges and universities under the terms of a 
  2.9   professional or technical services contract as defined in 
  2.10  section 16C.08, subdivision 1; 
  2.11     (h) employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section 
  2.12  179.35, subdivision 3; 
  2.13     (i) full-time undergraduate students employed by the school 
  2.14  which they attend under a work-study program or in connection 
  2.15  with the receipt of financial aid, irrespective of number of 
  2.16  hours of service per week; 
  2.17     (j) an individual who is employed for less than 300 hours 
  2.18  in a fiscal year as an instructor in an adult vocational 
  2.19  education program; 
  2.20     (k) an individual hired by the board of trustees of the 
  2.21  Minnesota state colleges and universities to teach one course 
  2.22  for three or fewer credits for one semester in a year; 
  2.23     (l) with respect to court employees: 
  2.24     (1) personal secretaries to judges; 
  2.25     (2) court reporters; 
  2.26     (3) law clerks; 
  2.27     (4) (3) managerial employees; 
  2.28     (5) (4) confidential employees; and 
  2.29     (6) (5) supervisory employees. 
  2.30     The following individuals are public employees regardless 
  2.31  of the exclusions of clauses (e) and (f):  
  2.32     (i) An employee hired by a school district or the board of 
  2.33  trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities except 
  2.34  at the university established in section 136F.13 or for 
  2.35  community services or community education instruction offered on 
  2.36  a noncredit basis:  (A) to replace an absent teacher or faculty 
  3.1   member who is a public employee, where the replacement employee 
  3.2   is employed more than 30 working days as a replacement for that 
  3.3   teacher or faculty member; or (B) to take a teaching position 
  3.4   created due to increased enrollment, curriculum expansion, 
  3.5   courses which are a part of the curriculum whether offered 
  3.6   annually or not, or other appropriate reasons; and 
  3.7      (ii) An employee hired for a position under clause (f)(1) 
  3.8   if that same position has already been filled under clause 
  3.9   (f)(1) in the same calendar year and the cumulative number of 
  3.10  days worked in that same position by all employees exceeds 67 
  3.11  calendar days in that year.  For the purpose of this paragraph, 
  3.12  "same position" includes a substantially equivalent position if 
  3.13  it is not the same position solely due to a change in the 
  3.14  classification or title of the position. 
  3.15     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  3.16  179A.101, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.17     Subdivision 1.  [COURT EMPLOYEE UNITS.] (a) The state court 
  3.18  administrator shall meet and negotiate with the exclusive 
  3.19  representative of each of the units specified in this section.  
  3.20  The units provided in this section are the only appropriate 
  3.21  units for court employees.  Court employees, unless otherwise 
  3.22  excluded, are included within the units which include the 
  3.23  classifications to which they are assigned for purposes of 
  3.24  compensation.  Initial assignment of classifications to 
  3.25  bargaining units shall be made by the state court administrator 
  3.26  by August 15, 1999.  An exclusive representative may appeal the 
  3.27  initial assignment decision of the state court administrator by 
  3.28  filing a petition with the commissioner within 45 days of being 
  3.29  certified as the exclusive representative for a judicial 
  3.30  district.  The units in this subdivision are the appropriate 
  3.31  units of court employees. 
  3.32     (b) The judicial district unit consists of clerical, 
  3.33  administrative, and technical employees of a judicial district 
  3.34  under section 480.181, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), or of two 
  3.35  or more of these districts that are represented by the same 
  3.36  employee organization or one or more subordinate bodies of the 
  4.1   same employee organization.  The judicial district unit includes 
  4.2   individuals, not otherwise excluded, whose work is typically 
  4.3   clerical or secretarial in nature, including nontechnical data 
  4.4   recording and retrieval and general office work, and 
  4.5   individuals, not otherwise excluded, whose work is not typically 
  4.6   manual and which requires specialized knowledge or skills 
  4.7   acquired through two-year academic programs or equivalent 
  4.8   experience or on-the-job training. 
  4.9      (c) The appellate courts unit consists of clerical, 
  4.10  administrative, and technical employees of the court of appeals 
  4.11  and clerical, administrative, and technical employees of the 
  4.12  supreme court.  The appellate courts unit includes individuals, 
  4.13  not otherwise excluded, whose work is typically clerical or 
  4.14  secretarial in nature, including nontechnical data recording and 
  4.15  retrieval and general office work, and individuals, not 
  4.16  otherwise excluded, whose work is not typically manual and which 
  4.17  requires specialized knowledge or skills acquired through 
  4.18  two-year academic programs or equivalent experience or 
  4.19  on-the-job training. 
  4.20     (d) The court employees professional employee unit consists 
  4.21  of professional employees, not otherwise excluded, that are 
  4.22  employed by the supreme court, the court of appeals, or a 
  4.23  judicial district under section 480.181, subdivision 1, 
  4.24  paragraph (b). 
  4.25     (e) The court employees court reporter unit consists of 
  4.26  court reporters not otherwise excluded who are employed by a 
  4.27  judicial district under section 480.181, subdivision 1, 
  4.28  paragraph (a). 
  4.29     (f) Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 179A or any 
  4.30  other law to the contrary, judges may appoint and remove court 
  4.31  reporters at their pleasure. 
  4.32     (g) Copies of collective bargaining agreements entered into 
  4.33  under this section must be submitted to the legislative 
  4.34  coordinating commission for the commission's information. 
  4.35     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  4.36  179A.101, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  5.1      Subd. 2.  [EXCLUSIONS.] The following employees are 
  5.2   excluded from the appropriate units under subdivision 1: 
  5.3      (1) personal secretaries to judges; 
  5.4      (2) court reporters; 
  5.5      (3) law clerks; 
  5.6      (4) (3) managerial employees; 
  5.7      (5) (4) confidential employees; and 
  5.8      (6) (5) supervisory employees.