Minnesota Session Laws - 1999, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 221-S.F.No. 1721 
                  An act relating to public employees; ratifying certain 
                  labor agreements and compensation plans; providing for 
                  transfer of vacation and sick leave for certain 
                  employees; modifying per diem provision for special 
                  mediators; modifying procedures for the listing of 
                  arbitrators; exempting epidemiologists from a salary 
                  cap; making technical changes; amending Minnesota 
                  Statutes 1998, sections 3.096; 43A.17, subdivision 4; 
                  179.02, subdivision 2; 179A.03, subdivision 14; 
                  179A.04, subdivision 3; 179A.10, subdivision 1; and 
                  179A.16, subdivision 2; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
                  1998, section 43A.17, subdivision 12. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  [RATIFICATIONS.] 
           Subdivision 1.  [STATE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATIVE AND 
        SERVICE FACULTY.] The labor agreement between the state of 
        Minnesota and the Minnesota state university association of 
        administrative and service faculty, approved by the legislative 
        coordinating commission subcommittee on employee relations on 
        June 24, 1998, is ratified. 
           Subd. 2.  [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 June 24, 1998, 
        is ratified. 
           Subd. 3.  [UNREPRESENTED EMPLOYEES; HIGHER EDUCATION 
        SERVICES OFFICE.] The plan for unrepresented, unclassified 
        employees of the higher education services office, as approved 
        by the legislative coordinating commission subcommittee on 
        employee relations on June 24, 1998, is ratified. 
           Subd. 4.  [STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY.] The labor agreement 
        between the state of Minnesota and the interfaculty 
        organization, as approved by the legislative coordinating 
        commission subcommittee on employee relations on November 24, 
        1998, is ratified. 
           Subd. 5.  [NURSES.] The arbitration award and labor 
        agreement between the state of Minnesota and the Minnesota 
        nurses association, as recommended by the legislative 
        coordinating commission subcommittee on employee relations on 
        November 24, 1998, is ratified. 
           Subd. 6.  [UNREPRESENTED MANAGERS; MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES 
        AND UNIVERSITIES.] The compensation plan for administrators of 
        the Minnesota state colleges and universities, as modified and 
        approved by the legislative coordinating commission subcommittee 
        on employee relations on November 24, 1998, is ratified. 
           Subd. 7.  [SALARIES FOR CERTAIN HEADS OF STATE 
        AGENCIES.] The proposals to increase the salaries of certain 
        heads of state agencies, as modified and approved by the 
        legislative coordinating commission subcommittee on employee 
        relations on November 24, 1998, are ratified. 
           Subd. 8.  [CHANCELLOR; MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND 
        UNIVERSITIES.] The salary proposal of the board of trustees of 
        the Minnesota state colleges and universities for the 
        chancellor, approved by the legislative coordinating commission 
        subcommittee on employee relations on November 24, 1998, is 
        ratified. 
           Subd. 9.  [CORRECTIONS OMBUDSMAN.] The salary of the 
        corrections ombudsman shall be $67,500 effective July 1, 1999. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 3.096, is amended 
        to read: 
           3.096 [TRANSFER OF LEAVE.] 
           An employee in the classified or unclassified service who 
        accepts a position as a permanent employee of the legislature 
        shall have accrued vacation or and sick leave transferred and 
        placed to the employee's credit on the legislative records.  A 
        permanent employee of the legislature who accepts a position in 
        the classified or unclassified service shall have accrued 
        vacation or and sick leave transferred and placed to the 
        employee's credit on the records of the new appointing 
        authority.  Vacation and sick leave are not transferred if the 
        new position does not provide for the leave.  The amount of 
        vacation and sick leave that may be transferred is subject to 
        any limitations imposed by the receiving agency's collective 
        bargaining agreement or compensation plan. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 43A.17, 
        subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [SPECIALISTS EXCEPTIONS.] (a) The commissioner 
        may without regard to subdivision 1 establish special salary 
        rates and plans of compensation designed to attract and retain 
        exceptionally qualified doctors of medicine.  These rates and 
        plans shall be included in the commissioner's plan.  In 
        establishing salary rates and eligibility for nomination for 
        payment at special rates, the commissioner shall consider the 
        standards of eligibility established by national medical 
        specialty boards where appropriate.  The incumbents assigned to 
        these special ranges shall be excluded from the collective 
        bargaining process. 
           (b) The commissioner may without regard to subdivision 1, 
        but subject to collective bargaining agreements or compensation 
        plans, establish special salary rates designed to attract and 
        retain exceptionally qualified information systems staff 
        employees in the following positions: 
           (1) information systems staff; 
           (2) actuaries in the departments of health, human services, 
        and commerce; and 
           (3) epidemiologists in the department of health. 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 179.02, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [SPECIAL MEDIATORS.] The commissioner may, from 
        time to time, appoint special mediators to aid in the settlement 
        of particular labor disputes or controversies who shall have the 
        same power and authority as the commissioner with respect to 
        such dispute and such appointment shall be for the duration only 
        of the particular dispute.  Such special mediators shall be paid 
        a per diem allowance not to exceed that established for 
        arbitrators in section 179A.16, subdivision 8 as determined by 
        the commissioner, while so engaged and their necessary expenses. 
           Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, 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 board of trustees of the Minnesota 
        state colleges and universities under the terms of a 
        professional or technical services contract as defined in 
        section 16C.08, 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 board 
        of trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities to 
        teach one course for up to four three or fewer credits for one 
        quarter semester 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 board of 
        trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities except 
        at the university established in section 136F.13 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. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 179A.04, 
        subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 3.  [OTHER DUTIES.] (a) The commissioner shall:  
           (1) provide mediation services as requested by the parties 
        until the parties reach agreement, and may continue to assist 
        parties after they have submitted their final positions for 
        interest arbitration; 
           (2) issue notices, subpoenas, and orders required by law to 
        carry out duties under sections 179A.01 to 179A.25; 
           (3) assist the parties in formulating petitions, notices, 
        and other papers required to be filed with the commissioner; 
           (4) conduct elections; 
           (5) certify the final results of any election or other 
        voting procedure conducted under sections 179A.01 to 179A.25; 
           (6) adopt rules relating to the administration of this 
        chapter and the conduct of hearings and elections; 
           (7) receive, catalogue, file, and make available to the 
        public all decisions of arbitrators and panels authorized by 
        sections 179A.01 to 179A.25, all grievance arbitration 
        decisions, and the commissioner's orders and decisions; 
           (8) adopt, subject to chapter 14, a grievance procedure 
        that fulfills the purposes of section 179A.20, subdivision 4, 
        does not provide for the services of the bureau of mediation 
        services and is available to any employee in a unit not covered 
        by a contractual grievance procedure; 
           (9) maintain a schedule of state employee classifications 
        or positions assigned to each unit established in section 
        179A.10, subdivision 2; 
           (10) collect fees established by rule for empanelment of 
        persons on the labor arbitrator roster maintained by the 
        commissioner or in conjunction with fair share fee challenges; 
           (11) provide technical support and assistance to voluntary 
        joint labor-management committees established for the purpose of 
        improving relationships between exclusive representatives and 
        employers, at the discretion of the commissioner; 
           (12) provide to the parties a list of arbitrators as 
        required by section 179A.16, subdivision 4; and 
           (13) maintain a list of up to 60 arbitrators for referral 
        to employers and exclusive representatives for the resolution of 
        grievance or interest disputes.  Each person on the list must be 
        knowledgeable about collective bargaining and labor relations in 
        the public sector, well versed in state and federal labor law, 
        and experienced in and knowledgeable about labor arbitration.  
        To the extent practicable, the commissioner shall appoint 
        members to the list so that the list is gender and racially 
        diverse. 
           (b) From the names provided by representative 
        organizations, the commissioner shall maintain a list of 
        arbitrators to conduct teacher discharge or termination hearings 
        according to section 122A.40 or 122A.41.  The persons on the 
        list must meet at least one of the following requirements: 
           (1) be a former or retired judge; 
           (2) be a qualified arbitrator on the list maintained by the 
        bureau; 
           (3) be a present, former, or retired administrative law 
        judge; or 
           (4) be a neutral individual who is learned in the law and 
        admitted to practice in Minnesota, who is qualified by 
        experience to conduct these hearings, and who is without bias to 
        either party. 
           Each year, the education Minnesota education association 
        shall provide a list of seven up to 14 names, the Minnesota 
        federation of teachers a list of seven names, and the Minnesota 
        school boards association a list of up to 14 names of persons to 
        be on the list.  The commissioner may adopt rules about 
        maintaining and updating the list. 
           Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, 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 Minnesota state colleges 
        and universities defined as managerial by their respective 
        boards the board of trustees; 
           (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. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 179A.16, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES.] An exclusive 
        representative or employer of a unit of essential employees may 
        petition for binding interest arbitration by filing a written 
        request with the other party and the commissioner.  The written 
        request must specify the items which that party wishes to submit 
        to binding arbitration.  Within 15 days of the request, the 
        commissioner shall determine whether further mediation of the 
        dispute would be appropriate and shall only certify matters to 
        the board for arbitration in cases where the commissioner 
        believes that both parties have made substantial, good-faith 
        bargaining efforts and that an impasse has occurred. 
           Sec. 9.  [REPEALER.] 
           Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 43A.17, subdivision 12, is 
        repealed. 
           Sec. 10.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Sections 1, 3, and 9 are effective the day following final 
        enactment. 
           Presented to the governor May 21, 1999 
           Signed by the governor May 24, 1999, 9:58 a.m.