Minnesota Session Laws - 1997, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 156-S.F.No. 1351 
                  An act relating to public employment; making technical 
                  changes; modifying definitions; modifying certain 
                  arbitration procedures; ratifying certain labor 
                  agreements and proposals; amending Minnesota Statutes 
                  1996, sections 3.855, subdivision 2; 43A.06, 
                  subdivision 1; 179A.03, subdivision 14; 179A.10, 
                  subdivision 1; and 179A.11, subdivision 1. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 3.855, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [STATE EMPLOYEE NEGOTIATIONS.] (a) The 
        commissioner of employee relations shall regularly advise the 
        commission on the progress of collective bargaining activities 
        with state employees under the state public employment labor 
        relations act.  During negotiations, the commission may make 
        recommendations to the commissioner as it deems appropriate but 
        no recommendation shall impose any obligation or grant any right 
        or privilege to the parties.  
           (b) The commissioner shall submit to the chair of the 
        commission any negotiated collective bargaining agreements or, 
        arbitration awards, compensation plans, or salaries for 
        legislative approval or disapproval.  Negotiated agreements 
        shall be submitted within five days of the date of approval by 
        the commissioner or the date of approval by the affected state 
        employees, whichever occurs later.  Arbitration awards shall be 
        submitted within five days of their receipt by the 
        commissioner.  If the commission disapproves an a collective 
        bargaining agreement or, award, compensation plan, or salary, 
        the commission shall specify in writing to the parties those 
        portions with which it disagrees and its reasons.  If the 
        commission approves an a collective bargaining agreement or, 
        award, compensation plan, or salary, it shall submit the matter 
        to the legislature to be accepted or rejected under this 
        section.  Failure of the commission to disapprove an agreement 
        or award within 30 days of its receipt constitutes approval.  
           (c) When the legislature is not in session, the commission 
        may give interim approval to a negotiated collective bargaining 
        agreement, salary, compensation plan, or arbitration 
        award.  When the legislature is not in session, failure of the 
        commission to disapprove a collective bargaining agreement or 
        arbitration award within 30 days constitutes approval.  The 
        commission shall submit the negotiated collective bargaining 
        agreements, salaries, compensation plans, or arbitration awards 
        for which it has provided approval to the entire legislature for 
        ratification at a special legislative session called to consider 
        them or at its next regular legislative session as provided in 
        this section.  Approval or disapproval by the commission is not 
        binding on the legislature. 
           (d) When the legislature is not in session, the 
        proposed collective bargaining agreement, arbitration decision, 
        salary, or compensation plan must be implemented upon its 
        approval by the commission, and state employees covered by the 
        proposed agreement or arbitration decision do not have the right 
        to strike while the interim approval is in effect.  Wages and 
        economic fringe benefit increases provided for in the agreement 
        or arbitration decision paid in accordance with the interim 
        approval by the commission are not affected, but the wages or 
        benefit increases must cease to be paid or provided effective 
        upon the rejection of the agreement, arbitration decision, 
        salary, or compensation plan, or upon adjournment of the 
        legislature without acting on it. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 43A.06, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] (a) The commissioner, through 
        the labor relations bureau, shall perform the duties assigned to 
        the commissioner by sections 3.855, 179A.01 to 179A.25 and this 
        section.  
           (b) The deputy commissioner for the labor relations bureau 
        shall be the state labor negotiator for purposes of negotiating 
        and administering agreements with exclusive representatives of 
        employees and shall perform any other duties delegated by the 
        commissioner subject to the limitations in paragraph (c). 
           (c) The board of trustees of the Minnesota state colleges 
        and universities may exercise the powers under this section for 
        employees included in units 9, 10, 11, and 12 in section 
        179A.10, subdivision 2, except with respect to sections 43A.22 
        to 43A.31, which shall continue to be the responsibility of the 
        commissioner.  The commissioner of employee relations shall have 
        the right to review and comment to the Minnesota state colleges 
        and universities on the board's final proposals prior to 
        exchange of final positions with the designated bargaining units 
        as well as any requests for interest arbitration.  When 
        submitting a proposed collective bargaining agreement to the 
        legislative coordinating commission and the legislature under 
        section 3.855, subdivision 2, the board of trustees must use 
        procedures and assumptions consistent with those used by the 
        commissioner of employee relations in calculating the costs of 
        the proposed contract.  The legislative coordinating commission 
        must, when considering a collective bargaining agreement or 
        arbitration award submitted by the board of trustees, evaluate 
        market conditions affecting the employees in the bargaining 
        unit, equity with other bargaining units in the executive 
        branch, and the ability of the trustees and the state to fund 
        the agreement or award. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 179A.03, 
        subdivision 14, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 14.  [PUBLIC EMPLOYEE.] "Public employee" or 
        "employee" means any person appointed or employed by a public 
        employer except:  
           (a) elected public officials; 
           (b) election officers; 
           (c) commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Minnesota 
        national guard; 
           (d) emergency employees who are employed for emergency work 
        caused by natural disaster; 
           (e) part-time employees whose service does not exceed the 
        lesser of 14 hours per week or 35 percent of the normal work 
        week in the employee's appropriate unit; 
           (f) employees whose positions are basically temporary or 
        seasonal in character and:  (1) are not for more than 67 working 
        days in any calendar year; or (2) are not for more than 100 
        working days in any calendar year and the employees are under 
        the age of 22, are full-time students enrolled in a nonprofit or 
        public educational institution prior to being hired by the 
        employer, and have indicated, either in an application for 
        employment or by being enrolled at an educational institution 
        for the next academic year or term, an intention to continue as 
        students during or after their temporary employment; 
           (g) employees providing services for not more than two 
        consecutive quarters to the state university board or the 
        community college board of trustees of the Minnesota state 
        colleges and universities under the terms of a professional or 
        technical services contract as defined in section 16B.17, 
        subdivision 1; 
           (h) employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section 
        179.35, subdivision 3; 
           (i) full-time undergraduate students employed by the school 
        which they attend under a work-study program or in connection 
        with the receipt of financial aid, irrespective of number of 
        hours of service per week; 
           (j) an individual who is employed for less than 300 hours 
        in a fiscal year as an instructor in an adult vocational 
        education program; 
           (k) an individual hired by a school district, or the 
        community college board, or the state university board, of 
        trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities to 
        teach one course for up to four credits for one quarter in a 
        year.  
           The following individuals are public employees regardless 
        of the exclusions of clauses (e) and (f):  
           (1) An employee hired by a school district, or the 
        community college board, or the state university board, of 
        trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities except 
        at the university established in section 136F.017 or for 
        community services or community education instruction offered on 
        a noncredit basis:  (i) to replace an absent teacher or faculty 
        member who is a public employee, where the replacement employee 
        is employed more than 30 working days as a replacement for that 
        teacher or faculty member; or (ii) to take a teaching position 
        created due to increased enrollment, curriculum expansion, 
        courses which are a part of the curriculum whether offered 
        annually or not, or other appropriate reasons; and 
           (2) An employee hired for a position under clause (f)(1) if 
        that same position has already been filled under clause (f)(1) 
        in the same calendar year and the cumulative number of days 
        worked in that same position by all employees exceeds 67 
        calendar days in that year.  For the purpose of this paragraph, 
        "same position" includes a substantially equivalent position if 
        it is not the same position solely due to a change in the 
        classification or title of the position. 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 179A.10, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [EXCLUSIONS.] The commissioner of employee 
        relations shall meet and negotiate with the exclusive 
        representative of each of the units specified in this section, 
        except as provided in section 43A.06, subdivision 1, paragraph 
        (c).  The units provided in this section are the only 
        appropriate units for executive branch state employees.  The 
        following employees shall be excluded from any appropriate unit: 
           (1) the positions and classes of positions in the 
        classified and unclassified services defined as managerial by 
        the commissioner of employee relations in accordance with 
        section 43A.18, subdivision 3, and so designated in the official 
        state compensation schedules; 
           (2) unclassified positions in the state university system 
        and the community college system Minnesota state colleges and 
        universities defined as managerial by their respective boards; 
           (3) positions of physician employees compensated under 
        section 43A.17, subdivision 4; 
           (4) positions of all unclassified employees appointed by a 
        constitutional officer; 
           (5) positions in the bureau; 
           (6) positions of employees whose classification is pilot or 
        chief pilot; 
           (7) administrative law judge and compensation judge 
        positions in the office of administrative hearings; and 
           (8) positions of all confidential employees.  
           The governor may upon the unanimous written request of 
        exclusive representatives of units and the commissioner direct 
        that negotiations be conducted for one or more units in a common 
        proceeding or that supplemental negotiations be conducted for 
        portions of a unit or units defined on the basis of appointing 
        authority or geography.  
           Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 179A.11, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [UNITS.] The following are the appropriate 
        units of University of Minnesota employees.  All units shall 
        exclude managerial and confidential employees.  Supervisory 
        employees shall only be assigned to unit 13.  No additional 
        units of University of Minnesota employees shall be recognized 
        for the purpose of meeting and negotiating.  
           (1) The law enforcement unit consists of the positions of 
        all employees with the power of arrest.  
           (2) The craft and trades unit consists of the positions of 
        all employees whose work requires specialized manual skills and 
        knowledge acquired through formal training or apprenticeship or 
        equivalent on-the-job training or experience.  
           (3) The service, maintenance, and labor unit consists of 
        the positions of all employees whose work is typically that of 
        maintenance, service, or labor and which does not require 
        extensive previous training or experience, except as provided in 
        unit 4.  
           (4) The health care nonprofessional and service unit 
        consists of the positions of all nonprofessional employees of 
        the University of Minnesota hospitals, dental school, and health 
        service whose work is unique to those settings, excluding labor 
        and maintenance employees as defined in unit 3.  
           (5) The nursing professional unit consists of all positions 
        which are required to be filled by registered nurses.  
           (6) The clerical and office unit consists of the positions 
        of all employees whose work is typically clerical or 
        secretarial, including nontechnical data recording and retrieval 
        and general office work, except as provided in unit 4.  
           (7) The technical unit consists of the positions of all 
        employees whose work is not typically manual and which requires 
        specialized knowledge or skills acquired through two-year 
        academic programs or equivalent experience or on-the-job 
        training, except as provided in unit 4.  
           (8) The Twin Cities instructional unit consists of the 
        positions of all instructional employees with the rank of 
        professor, associate professor, assistant professor, including 
        research associate or instructor, including research fellow, 
        located on the Twin Cities campuses.  
           (9) The outstate instructional unit consists of the 
        positions of all instructional employees with the rank of 
        professor, associate professor, assistant professor, including 
        research associate or instructor, including research fellow, 
        located at the Duluth campus, provided that the positions of 
        instructional employees of the same ranks at the Morris, 
        Crookston, or Waseca campuses shall be included within this unit 
        if a majority of the eligible employees voting at a campus so 
        vote during an election conducted by the commissioner, provided 
        that the election shall not be held until the Duluth campus has 
        voted in favor of representation.  The election shall be held 
        when an employee organization or group of employees petitions 
        the commissioner stating that a majority of the eligible 
        employees at one of these campuses wishes to join the unit and 
        this petition is supported by a showing of at least 30 percent 
        support from eligible employees at that campus and is filed 
        between September 1 and November 1.  
           Should both units 8 and 9 elect exclusive bargaining 
        representatives, those representatives may by mutual agreement 
        jointly negotiate a contract with the regents, or may negotiate 
        separate contracts with the regents.  If the exclusive 
        bargaining representatives jointly negotiate a contract with the 
        regents, the contract shall be ratified by each unit.  
           (10) The graduate assistant unit consists of the positions 
        of all graduate assistants who are enrolled in the graduate 
        school and who hold the rank of research assistant, teaching 
        assistant, teaching associate I or II, project assistant, or 
        administrative fellow I or II.  
           (11) The academic professional and administrative staff 
        unit consists of all academic professional and administrative 
        staff positions that are not defined as included in an 
        instructional unit, the supervisory unit, the clerical unit, or 
        the technical unit. 
           (12) The noninstructional professional unit consists of the 
        positions of all employees meeting the requirements of section 
        179A.03, subdivision 14 13, clause (a) or (b), which are not 
        defined as included within an instructional unit, the academic 
        professional and administrative staff unit, or the supervisory 
        unit.  
           (13) The supervisory employees unit consists of the 
        positions of all supervisory employees. 
           Sec. 6.  [RATIFICATIONS.] 
           Subdivision 1.  [STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY.] The labor 
        agreement between the state of Minnesota and the interfaculty 
        organization, as approved by the legislative coordinating 
        commission joint subcommittee on employee relations on July 11, 
        1996, is ratified. 
           Subd. 2.  [UNREPRESENTED MANAGERS; MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES 
        AND UNIVERSITIES.] The compensation plan for excluded 
        administrators of the Minnesota state colleges and universities, 
        as approved by the legislative coordinating commission joint 
        subcommittee on employee relations on July 11, 1996, is ratified.
           Subd. 3.  [SALARIES FOR CERTAIN HEADS OF STATE 
        AGENCIES.] The proposal by the governor to increase the salaries 
        of certain heads of state agencies, as approved by the 
        legislative coordinating commission joint subcommittee on 
        employee relations on July 11, 1996, is ratified. 
           Subd. 4.  [TECHNICAL COLLEGE FACULTY.] The labor agreement 
        between the state of Minnesota and the united technical college 
        educators, as recommended by the legislative coordinating 
        commission subcommittee on employee relations on April 28, 1997, 
        is ratified. 
           Subd. 5.  [MANAGERIAL PLAN AMENDMENT.] The amendment to the 
        managerial plan as recommended by the legislative coordinating 
        commission subcommittee on employee relations on April 28, 1997, 
        is ratified. 
           Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 6 is effective the day following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor May 15, 1997 
           Signed by the governor May 16, 1997, 1:58 p.m.